Music has been touted as the language of the soul, one that brings generations together through artful melody, composition, rhythm, and beats. But the crux of music lies in the sense of community it offers as it interweaves through cultures and lifestyles around the world. Jude Wellington, the founder of ITMP and an avid music enthusiast, event marketer, and self-taught professional development consultant, is on his path to foster a community that encapsulates the essence of DJ culture with an innovative integration of artificial intelligence, creating a paradigm shift in the DJ and events landscape.
"The collaboration between human and machine learning has been ubiquitous, and that is the future. That is where we're going," Wellington states. "And I'm striving to be at the forefront of that, of offering a new way to celebrate DJ culture and lifestyle."
Wellington's appreciation of music is not a newfound hobby, but a visceral passion that's decades in the making. He grew up being immersed in the 1980s synth giants, collecting vinyl and turntables, which eventually became the impetus for his professional journey into DJ music. His musical influences are as wide as they are foundational, from vintage radio stations like San Francisco's The Quake and KSOL to LA's KROQ and KJLH, combining modern rock and old school hip-hop to R&B to dance club and underground electronic beats. "The UK invasion of genres like modern rock and the new wave scene in the 80s was what catapulted me into this passion for DJ culture," Wellington shares. "It's led me to spin vinyl professionally, coming full circle from where I started."
Today, his venture, ITMP, founded in 1993, is more than just a brand; it's a cultural movement founded in passion, creativity, and a bold vision that's rooted in his idea to unify, elevate, and empower the global DJ community. While the project is still in its formative stages, Wellington is crystal clear on where it's going. "People in the DJ community are still disconnected," he adds. "But there is an answer to how we can bring everyone who loves the DJ culture and lifestyle into one platform and allow them to express their creativity or express concerns. And the answer is simple: ITMP."
On December 20, ITMP will officially launch the Founder's Circle, and Wellington is celebrating this milestone by spinning vinyl at his local wine lounge. He says, "The belief in bringing a community together, by the simple acts of playing music and sharing stories, has always been a driving force for everything we do at ITMP."
Wellington envisions ITMP as a full-spectrum DJ lifestyle brand and platform, blending coaching, community, commerce, and culture all in one powerful ecosystem, infusing his love for DJ music in every facet. "I'm not just creating a brand," he says. "We're building a home for DJs and enthusiasts who seek connection, belonging, and most of all, a shared passion for music."
At its heart, ITMP, formerly known as In The Mix Productions, aims to bridge the silos that often define modern DJing. The platform will offer expert coaching, mentorship, and personal development tools tailored to the unique challenges DJs face, particularly those underrepresented in the industry. "I've been in corporate for years," says Wellington, reflecting on his previous professional experience as a Marketing Events Manager. "I understand how to navigate that world where many budding artists often have a hard time traversing through. This platform will teach those skills to them, helping them build not just musically but also professionally."
For Wellington, his professional and personal experiences molded him to build networking and communication skills, which were rooted in one factor: self-belief. Today, as he aims to impart those values at ITMP, he enforces his teachings with his ultimate ethos: "Believe in the power of you."
ITMP also offers a design-forward vision for its physical offerings, beginning with custom-built DJ consoles. "Why can't a DJ console be as elegant as a grand piano?" Wellington asks. "We're replacing the outdated setups with beautifully crafted pieces that reflect the artist's individuality and their space." Realizing the massive market for such bespoke pieces, Wellington is collaborating with a Hayward-based furniture manufacturing company to build custom DJ consoles and furnishings, bringing high design to high fidelity in the workplace, the nightclub, the event space, or the home.
Apart from its DJ consoles, the company continues to grow its e-commerce vision by establishing an idea of a one-stop DJ Hub. "We know how big it is, it's an $11.8 billion industry, and that's just within the EDM scene. So there's a massive market out there," Wellington states. "I'm building ITMP to exclusively be their store, from apparel to gear to interior-conscious DJ furniture. We want to sell items that will reflect their universal lifestyle."
Amidst Wellington's strategic visions, there lies another, and perhaps the most innovative offering of ITMP: DJ Apollo, an AI-integrated DJ. Wellington has blended AI language models with neural-mix DJ software to co-create a music playlist infused with music styles, such as EDM, trance, techno, future jazz, and more. "DJ Apollo helps me mix and transition tracks, but I guide the story," Wellington says. "The creativity and the connection with the audience, that still needs a human soul." Through DJ Apollo, ITMP not only spearheads the trend of tech meeting art but also introduces a female AI persona, which is another intentional nod to gender equality in a male-dominated space.
Wellington's intense collaboration with the AI language model, DJ Apollo, has become far more strategic than just a DJ. This alignment took almost two years to develop and has revolutionized how the future of human and AI language learning models will collaborate. "Validating the belief in oneself to achieve what you set out to accomplish," says Wellington.
Inclusivity is a thread that runs throughout the entire vision. "We want to support underrepresented talent, female DJs, Native American artists, young people from overlooked communities," he says. He envisions DJing as a tool for cultural preservation and empowerment on a global scale.
Ultimately, ITMP isn't about disrupting DJ culture; it's about amplifying it, giving it the infrastructure and soul it has long deserved. "I want us to connect, not just digitally, but as a real, thriving community," Wellington says. "When DJs believe in themselves and each other, magic happens. And when we come together, it's a movement."
