10 years of SUMMUS, still off the record

5 editions, 10 years of SUMMUS, 20 years of BMAT. We think that’s not bad for something that started with a simple idea: get the right people in a room, give them something worth talking about, and see what happens.

On 1-2 October 2026, we brought SUMMUS back to our hometown, welcoming friends, partners and thought leaders from all sectors to meet and discuss technology, copyright, music, and everything in between.

This time, we took our plans to make a few industry waves quite literally, setting things up by the water at Club Natació Barcelona.

Across 2 days, 7 panels and 35 speakers, conversations took on a life of their own, whether they started on stage or carried on much later at La Paloma.

As always, the agenda only tells part of the story.

What makes SUMMUS feel like SUMMUS

When we wrote about SUMMUS a while back, we explained the principles behind it: leave the harsh criticism outside, forget the sales pitches for good, and share what you know. It will all stay here. This is why we keep stressing on “What happens at SUMMUS stays at SUMMUS”. 

10 years in, those principles are still very much afloat.

There’s a name for the human tendency to assume everyone sees the world the way we do: the false consensus effect. We’re probably all guilty of it, and now we’ve built AI that agrees with us too.

When you spend most of your working life surrounded by people who share your perspective, it’s easy to forget that others might see the very same industry quite differently.

Put them all in one room, and things get interesting.

Behind closed doors and away from the outside world, people have more room to challenge the status quo, and sometimes even admit they don’t have all the answers. No one really does.

By now, we’ve concluded we’ll need to figure things out together. This is what we’ve been trying to do at SUMMUS all these years.

7 panels, 35 voices, all headliners

SUMMUS aims to bring together different perspectives from across music, technology and copyright. Big names and indies alike to address pressing topics, helping shape the next chapter of the industry. This edition was no different.

Day 1 packed in 4 steady panels, exploring the future of collective management, new ways to make music more money, the growing complexities of fragmented rights data and AI licensing.

People from GESAC, SACEM, IMPEL, SIAE, BMI, CISAC, Muserk, Soundtrack Technologies, Spotify, DDEX, Warner Chappell Music, UMPG, Koda, peermusic and Stability AI took the stage.

Day 2 picked up with neighbouring rights standards, Latin America’s music industry and a shift towards social-first music experiences, with peers from DDEX, Beggars Group, PPL, SGAE, UBC, SACM, ByteDance, Spotify, Meta and YouTube Music joining the conversation.

All sessions approached the industry from very different angles, and that was precisely the point. 

Agreement isn’t a prerequisite for a good conversation. Also, we’re in music, after all, where a little intentional dissonance can add some artistic flair.

The people make the summit SUMMUS

Same as always, conversations didn’t begin and end with the panels, and some of the most interesting exchanges probably happened nowhere near a mic.

That’s the thing about SUMMUS. We believe you can bring together an impressive lineup of forward-thinking individuals and industry leaders, but a lineup alone doesn’t make a summit worth attending.

It’s everyone’s willingness to listen and disagree constructively that makes the difference, especially when it means leaving with a few long-held assumptions challenged.

Bringing different perspectives together doesn’t always lead to neat conclusions. Sometimes it creates more friction, but they call it constructive conflict for a reason.

20 years look good on us all

On 1 October, we traded panel discussions for a dance floor and headed to La Paloma to celebrate BMAT’s 20 years with the friends and partners who’ve been part of the journey.

A vintage ballroom made the setting for a birthday party 2 decades in the making, with everyone coming together under a huge disco ball.

Catalan artist Maria Arnal treated us to a live performance, while the dance floor and a few memorable karaoke performances took care of the rest of the evening.

Some of those performances may live longer in our memories than anyone intended, but we’ll leave the reviews to the professionals.

Here’s to the next decade of necessary conversations

The industry looks quite different from the one that gathered for the first SUMMUS in 2016. Music now moves across more environments and business models, and there’s even more left to untangle between play and pay.

What hasn’t changed is the value of coming together and exchanging ideas as the world around us grows more complex, sometimes by the hour.

To everyone who joined us this year or has contributed to SUMMUS over the last decade, we’re deeply grateful for the curiosity and openness you bring to the room.

The waters ahead are still largely uncharted, but after our most recent days together in Barcelona, we’re feeling pretty good about who we’re navigating them with.

Until 2028, fins aviat.

•  
•  Linkedin