PK Sound had the pleasure of partnering with the 2017 Alberta Electronic Music Conference (AEMCON) at The National Music Centre in Calgary, AB, Canada. Founded in 2016, AEMCON is a multi-day conference that brings together industry professionals, production specialists, and emerging musicians representing all genres. With a vision to incubate a community that would inspire and augment the industry nationwide, AEMCON did not fail to deliver this year.

After a very successful 2016 kickoff, the AEMCON team has continued to grow alongside the popularization of electronic music production. Extending throughout The Billboard Hot 100 and into traditional genres such as country and jazz, electronic music is more relevant than ever before. Its popularization is multifactorial, though accessibility plays a major role. AEMCON 2017 featured keynotes by international headliners and over 100 guest speakers and performers combined. The event also hosted a trade show with recognizable industry brands such as Moog, Pioneer DJ, Roland, and PK Sound. Overall, AEMCON experienced substantial growth, doubling the number of guest speakers and acts from its inaugural year.

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Workshop highlights included the 'Hacking Music Production Workflow' session by CEO of Warp Academy and producer, Vespers. This session delved into advanced music production workflow techniques and encouraged producers of all types to "work smarter, not harder.” Vespers acknowledged the PK Sound system while demoing his sub-bass production, being able to showcase the true sonic potential of his track. Other notable sessions were hosted by Nomine, who shared his 20 years of production and engineering experience; he provided a 90-minute workflow master class in addition to teaming up with Native Instruments and MetaPop to discuss the art of the remix. To cap off the conference, PK’s very own Matt Simmers, AKA Woofax presented a Bass Music mixing and mastering workshop where he offered a first-hand look into the methods of an all-around audio expert.

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Aside from the technical discussions, AEMCON provided events for established and upcoming artists to learn more about the music industry. Workshops and panels included Content Marketing for Musicians & Promoters, Record Labels in a Changing Industry, and A Song Writer's Look Inside the Music Publishing Business, to name a few.

In an industry where concerts, events, and festivals are often split up by genre, AEMCON does a wonderful job of uniting artists with the organizations who support them. It was a weekend of collaboration and creative dialogue between artists, music lovers, and industry. Isis Graham, co-founder of AEMCON, praised PK as a supportive sponsor and described the team as “people like you and me - people in this business because they love music.” Events like these are essential to Alberta’s developing arts scene; PK Sound is privileged to play a role in celebrating this growing community and looks forward to powering AEMCON in the future.

By: Karl Latkovic