Well, we did it. After more than two years in the making, ISMIR 2024 is over. It has been one of the most intense weeks of my life, but it was absolutely worth it. I am so humbled and honored to have been able to contribute to my favorite research community by organizing what I’ve considered for many years to be my favorite conference.

The bar was extremely high (this was my 12th ISMIR, and I feel they keep getting better!), and I hope we managed to meet expectations. The quality of the publications was top-notch, the keynotes delivered some of the most thought-provoking presentations I’ve seen at any conference, the banquet and the jam were incredibly fun and epic, creative practices panels connected artists with researchers, the virtual component was so engaging and ran amazingly smoothly, there was a wonderful industry meetup with live DJing, two exciting satellite events including the 5th NLP4Musa workshop, and we even had a rave inside one of the most exciting music AI generation startups in SF with celebrity DJs performing for us!

But the best part of it all was the incredible attendees. This research community is unparalleled. Everyone cares so deeply about music and musicians. People are so approachable, no matter how many papers, citations, or years of experience they have. There is so much passion in MIR, and this is what makes this field exciting and thriving.

Big shout out to Blair Kaneshiro and Gautham Mysore, my partners in crime in putting all of this together. Thanks to the rest of the organizers (especially Kennedy Knight) and volunteers for ensuring this week went as smoothly as possible. You are all absolute titans.

Here’s to many more ISMIRs. See you in Korea in 2025! <3