Courtesy of Anglo Management
A heated dispute erupted in the electronic music scene earlier this week when producer John Summit leveled serious allegations against industry veteran Pete Tong, accusing him of misappropriating an unreleased remix of “Missing” by Everything But the Girl.
On July 8, Summit took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his frustration, writing: “Hey @petetong, thanks for promising to release my ‘Missing’ remix with me while doing nothing in terms of production, only to hijack my edit and release it with Franky Rizardo. A real class act. To think I actually looked up to you.”
Summit shared private text exchanges between himself and Tong, which purportedly discussed a collaborative orchestral arrangement of the track. Following the initial public fallout, Summit clarified that he had spoken with Dutch DJ Franky Rizardo, noting that the latter “had no idea about the situation.” Rizardo subsequently issued a statement on X, withdrawing from the project after learning about the surrounding controversy.
On July 10, Pete Tong addressed the accusations directly. In an interview with Alex Tripi, CEO of the Pete Tong DJ Academy, Tong asserted that the project was a transparent, multi-version endeavor. “It is common practice to have various interpretations of a song,” Tong stated. “My goal was to feature an orchestral version, alongside versions from Franky and John.”
Tong maintained that he had secured authorization from Everything But the Girl members Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt to proceed with these creative interpretations. He claimed the project stalled after his team struggled to receive a finalized session file from Summit’s camp following their initial discussions.
A formal statement provided by Tong’s team to Billboard emphasized that the Rizardo edit was a completely new production featuring re-recorded elements and vocals, rather than a repurposed version of Summit’s work. They further expressed disappointment in the lack of direct communication from Summit, stating, “We have attempted to reach out to clarify the facts, but those efforts have gone unanswered.”
As the dance community waits for a potential resolution, the controversy highlights the complexities of remix culture and intellectual property within electronic dance music. Billboard has reached out to John Summit’s representatives for further comment.
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