The International Music Summit (IMS) returns to Dubai this November for one of the most anticipated events in the electronic music world. Beatport Presents IMS Dubai 2025 will take place on November 13 and 14 at 25hours Hotel One Central Dubai.

After last year’s sold-out debut, IMS Dubai comes back with a broader program that captures the energy of a rapidly growing music scene in the Middle East.

Headlining the summit are internationally acclaimed artists HUGEL, Nicole Moudaber, and Bedouin, joined by regional talents such as Rolbac, Misty, Megatronic, and Jade.

The 2025 edition introduces some new names to the roster, including DJ Habibeats, Josh Baker, Vanco, AYA, Gawdat, and Sarah Hardan, artists who represent the cutting edge of contemporary sound and cultural fusion.

The event will be co-hosted by Pete Tong, IMS Co-Founder and BBC Radio 1 legend, alongside DJ and producer Nooriyah, who has become known for blending Middle Eastern sounds with modern electronic culture. Together, they’ll guide a program that connects global experience with regional creativity.

Across two main rooms, the summit will host deep discussions that explore everything from cultural evolution to financial innovation in the industry.

The Music & Culture track will examine how electronic music continues to evolve around the world, with panels such as The Pyramids Playbook: Staging Monumental Electronic Music Experiences, Mahraganat: From the Streets to the Mainstream, and The Story Behind the Song of the Summer: Vanco ft. AYA “Ma Tnsani.” Other sessions will dive into fashion’s growing role in nightlife with Is the DJ Booth the New Runway?, presented by Istituto Marangoni.

In parallel, the Tech & Finance track will focus on the business and technological forces driving the industry forward. Topics include how music is valued as an asset, the role of tokenization and blockchain in artist empowerment, and the rise of virtual concerts and in-game performances. Speakers from Spotify, TikTok, Sony Music Publishing, YouTube, IFPI, and Beatport will bring a global perspective to the conversation.

One of IMS Dubai’s most valuable contributions lies in its support for the next generation of artists and entrepreneurs. The IMS Accelerator, powered by KOR Protocol, will once again provide mentorship and exposure for early-stage music-tech founders.

Meanwhile, the Pete Tong DJ Academy is offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for aspiring DJs. One emerging talent will be selected to perform live at IMS Dubai 2025 and receive a full one-year PRO Scholarship, which includes comprehensive training in DJing, production, and mastering.

Partner venues such as Ushuaïa Dubai Harbour Experience, Surf Club, Be Beach, and Monkey Bar will also host exclusive showcases, reflecting Dubai’s fast-growing reputation as a nightlife capital.
The Venue: 25hours Hotel One Central

Set in the heart of Dubai and facing the Museum of the Future, 25hours Hotel One Central provides the perfect stage for the summit.

Beatport Presents IMS Dubai 2025 is more than a conference. It’s a space where ideas, people, and opportunities meet, where conversations about music’s future turn into collaborations that reshape the industry.

By bringing together leading voices from across the globe with emerging talent from the MENA region, IMS Dubai continues to strengthen Dubai’s role as a cultural and creative hub for electronic music.
Delegate badges for Beatport Presents IMS Dubai 2025 are available now. Secure your spot at the region’s leading electronic music summit through the official ticketing partner: Buy Tickets on Platinumlist

How SHAB’s Most Personal Song Became a Dance-Floor Release

Skin & Bones has always been one of SHAB’s most revealing works, a song rooted in loss, vulnerability, and the quiet strength that follows. The new remix by Damon Sharpe doesn’t dilute that emotion but reshapes it with care. Instead of pushing for volume or tempo, he focuses on her voice and the story behind it, turning reflection into movement. What began as a personal record about survival now reaches further, showing how shared emotion can exist in both stillness and sound.

The Story Behind the Remix

When SHAB first recorded Skin & Bones in Los Angeles, the session became a turning point in her career. Moments after she stepped out of the vocal booth, she learned that her partner had been in a serious car accident in Dallas. The shock of that news stayed with her long after the studio lights dimmed. What had started as a day of writing turned into an experience she could never separate from the music. From that moment, Skin & Bones carried the weight of that day, becoming a record of loss, fear, and eventual gratitude. It was the song she turned to when words failed, the one that reminded her of how fragile and precious everything around her could be.

Years later, Damon Sharpe approached the idea of revisiting the track with quiet respect. He had seen the story unfold firsthand and understood what it meant to her. Rather than reshaping it into a dance track, he treated the remix as an evolution of the same memory. The production centers on her voice and the emotion that threads through it, creating space rather than spectacle. The result feels like closure. It acknowledges the pain of what happened but also celebrates the healing that followed. Together they turned something once rooted in grief into a moment of reflection and strength.

The Creative Partnership

The connection between SHAB and Damon Sharpe runs deeper than one song. Their collaboration began several years ago through a shared understanding of what music can express. Damon Sharpe, known for his work with Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Minogue, and Alesso, recognised that SHAB’s voice carried a story beyond performance. As they continued to work together, the sessions became more open, built on trust rather than direction. He evolved from producer to collaborator, helping her shape ideas that felt personal but still reached a wider audience.

For SHAB, this creative relationship became a source of stability. After leaving Iran and beginning a new life in the United States, she found in music a way to rebuild her sense of self. Working with Damon Sharpe allowed her to put that experience into words and sound without fear of losing its meaning. Their process has always been about honesty. The remix of Skin & Bones reflects that same approach, showing two artists who understand each other’s purpose and share a belief that emotion, when treated with care, can move people more than perfection ever could.

A Second Life for Skin & Bones

The remix stands as more than another release for SHAB. It feels like a return to the place where everything began, only now with distance and perspective. Through Damon Sharpe’s production, the song takes on a new meaning that reflects how far she has come. What was once shaped by fear now moves with understanding. Every element holds a sense of growth, quiet but certain.

For SHAB, Skin & Bones remains a reminder of why she makes music at all. It captures the parts of her story that cannot be separated from her art. This version doesn’t try to replace the original; it extends it, keeping the emotion alive while allowing it to evolve. In doing so, it closes one chapter of her past and opens another, one defined by clarity, strength, and gratitude.

Science suggests that listening to music for extended periods, like an all-day set or a marathon festival weekend, triggers endorphins in the brain, helping the body manage fatigue and enhance endurance.

If you have ever danced through an eight-hour set or found yourself unusually alert after a long night at a festival, you are not imagining it. Science suggests that listening to music for extended periods can do more than lift your mood. It can also influence how your body manages fatigue and discomfort. Recent studies show that music triggers endorphins in the brain, the same chemicals responsible for easing pain and supporting motivation. For ravers, that might explain why events like Maddix’s all-day set at ADE or marathon weekends at EDC often feel less draining and more euphoric than expected.

How Music Keeps the Body Going Longer

Studies have shown that music stimulates brain regions responsible for both emotion and pain control. When people listen to music they genuinely like, endorphins and dopamine are released, helping the body manage fatigue and maintain attention. A 2020 meta-analysis in the Psychological Bulletin found that listening to music during exercise consistently delayed perceived exhaustion and enhanced endurance performance. Another experiment published in PLOS One showed that participants who moved in sync with music had a higher pain threshold than those who only listened. Together, these findings explain why music often makes endurance feel easier because it literally alters how effort is processed.

 

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At raves, those same mechanisms are amplified by time, volume, and community. Dancing for hours creates natural synchronization, not only between body and beat but also among people sharing the same rhythm. The repetition of kicks and melodies works like controlled breathing, steadying focus even as muscles tire. That may be why events like Tomorrowland, Sónar, or Awakenings can run deep into the morning without breaking the collective flow. Every drop resets attention, every familiar melody renews motivation, and by the time the lights rise, the exhaustion often feels secondary to what the body has already overcome.

The Collective Effect of Moving Together

Beyond individual responses, research shows that moving in unison with others can raise pain tolerance and strengthen social bonds. In a 2015 study by Bronwyn Tarr and Robin Dunbar, researchers found that “synchronisation and exertion had positive main effects on change in pain threshold.” The findings, reported by Oxford University, suggest that dancing in sync increases pain tolerance, likely through the release of endorphins and the sense of unity that physical coordination creates.

At large festivals, that connection becomes part of the physical experience. Thousands of people move to the same tempo, responding to shared cues and feeling the same build and release. When the crowd claps, jumps, or sways together, the brain perceives it as cooperation and rewards the group with feelings of trust and collective pleasure. That may explain why long hours can pass unnoticed on packed dance floors at Ultra, Creamfields, or Mysteryland. In these spaces, rhythm and motion turn into something larger than individual stamina, a shared state of focus, release, and belonging.

Recovery, Stress Relief and Long Music Sessions

Music’s influence on recovery is supported by clinical evidence. As noted in a recent Frontiers in Psychology review, “beneficial effects of exposure to music on pain relief have been reported across a wide range of acute and chronic conditions.” One paper observed that after group dancing or singing, participants showed higher pain thresholds, a common marker for endorphin release (National Library of Medicine). According to Harvard Health, playing music, dancing, or even drumming can trigger a “rush of endorphins, which research suggests might increase tolerance to pain.”

Extended music exposure at festivals can mirror these effects in real settings. After marathon sets, ravers often report feeling less drained than expected, as if the body processes fatigue differently. When music becomes continuous and immersive, and when thousands move together over hours, the stress on muscles and the strain of movement find balance in rhythm and emotion. The same mechanisms that aid post-training recovery in athletes, such as reduced perceived exertion, improved mood, and faster recovery times, appear to operate here too (Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research). For festival-goers, what happens after the set, the winding down, connection, and shared calm, is part of that same restorative cycle.