Three major EDM industry players have joined forces to provide a new all-in-one record label on the Las Vegas Strip.

Formed in a partnership between Drai’s Entertainment, Turn First Artists and Capitol Records, the new After Hours label will draw on each business’ strengths in offering signees a recording contract and a nightclub residency, as well as comprehensive artist development and A&R consultancy.

“The artists who work with us will be developed with a unique opportunity to DJ as a resident at one of the most exciting clubs in the world,” says Turn First CEO Sarah Stennett. “These artists will be able to release through a label that has the clout of a major and the bespoke services of a fast moving independent dance label.”

Stennett says the idea of the joint label venture first came together over a series of conversations with Victor Drai, the entertainment mogul behind Vegas hotspots like Drai’s Beach Club & Nightclub, After Hours and Liaison. Drai was interested in developing the label brand, which he hailed as “the next logical step” for his company.

“We all share a unique vision to launch the first dance label on the strip in Vegas,” says Stennett. “We wanted to do something that hadn’t been done before. Obviously having a platform like Drai’s and the ability to tap in on the club level made us think ‘OK, we’ve got this platform, how can we make this into a unique collaboration?’”

After fleshing out the collaborative concept, Stennett says involving Capitol Records Chairman & CEO Steve Barnett and veteran label manager Duncan King were natural next steps for the partnership.

“The idea is to tie in the label with the development arm, which felt like a really natural approach,” says Stennett. “It made sense to all involved.”

“With Drai’s providing our joint venture with an extraordinary, one-of-a-kind nightclub venue in Las Vegas, we have an exciting platform from which to accelerate the careers of artists in the EDM realm and share their talents with audiences around the world,” says Barnett.

Stennett says After Hours will employ a two-prong stylistic approach with a sub-label aimed at showcasing underground sounds alongside the main label’s more commercial dance music fare.

“We want to have a cutting edge label concept to pick up on underground sounds within this fast-paced scene,” says Stennett. “We may focus more on what’s happening here with the deep house sound, but it could be anything from trap to tech house. It’s open.”

In addition to Las Vegas, After Hours will also boast offices in London, New York and Los Angeles, offering the label global reach and representation. Looking forward, Stennett says the label is already preparing for its initial artist signings.

“We’re just really excited about where dance music is at the moment,” says Stennett. “It’s such an open time and there are so many labels nurturing great talent and music. We’re excited to be in the mix.”

Posted by Matt Medved (Via Billboard)

An Avicii concert at Boston’s TD Gardens ended with multiple people taking trips to the hospital, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

Roughly 38 people, many of them teenagers, were hospitalized after using dangerous substances, The Boston Globe reports. The victims were treated for minor symptoms. At least five ambulances were on the scene, and bystanders said concertgoers were treated for dehydration after using drugs and alcohol, according to on-the-scene tweets from New England Cable News reporter Josh Brogadir.

The concert was part of Avicii’s True tour.

Posted by David Miller (Via The Hollywood Reporter)

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The EDM industry is currently worth $6.2 billion, per a recent report at IMS Ibiza — but depending on who you asked on Day 1 of the third annual EDMbiz conference in Las Vegas Wednesday, that number could be wildly conservative.

“$6.2 billion may be what’s spent on tickets or clubs or drinking, but I view it as the millennial industry in general, and advertising toward that audience,” said Kraig Fox, senior managing partner at Guggenheim Partners, one of the few major investment firms that hasn’t made a big play for EDM yet (but may soon: “You never know, we’ll see,” Fox later noted.) “You add that to that $6.2 billion and it’s something much bigger that you’re playing for.

The increasingly broad definition of today’s dance fan and where to reach them was a frequent topic of discussion throughout the first day of panels, including a presentation of exclusive research on the EDM audience recently conducted by Nielsen. Though the top-level findings were not surprising (EDM fans are still predominantly millennial, under-25-year-olds who are 50% more likely to buy energy drinks and over-index in their ability to set trends than any other age group), some of the nuances were eye-opening.

For example, the sixth largest U.S. market for EDM fans and listeners is Asheville, North Carolina — which indexes higher than Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles in terms of fan density. New York is still the number-one market, but Boston, the Bay Area, San Diego and Denver all rank in the top five. “If you’re thinking of other markets to break an artist, there are some great places for you,” said Tatiana Simonian, Nielsen Entertainment’s VP of branded content.

EDM fans also stream music more than fans of other genres, a behavior that several label execs still don’t think has achieved critical mass. “The average music consumer spends 40 to 45 dollars [a year] on recorded music,” said Robb McDaniels, CEO of independent distributor INgrooves. “So if you get the average spending $120 on streaming subscriptions, that’s three times the size of the pie that we all get to share and the artist gets to share. We just gotta get to that tipping point, which is about 6 to 9 months away.”

And with EDM artists like Calvin Harris, Zedd, Avicii and Tiesto starting to get a larger share of Top 40 radio airplay, labels will continue to scour platforms like Beatport and Soundcloud to discover the next breakout stars. Recognizing this crossover trend, Sean Glass, founder of dance boutique label Win Music, took a mainstream approach in breaking his U.K. artist Duke Dumont last year in the States. “Kid Kelly played the record for me before Geronimo did,” said Glass, referring to Siriux XM’s top 40 and EDM programmers, respectively. “I treated it like a pop record, not an EDM record.”

M&A activity in EDM has reached a frenzied pace over the last two years, and strategic partnerships like Insomniac and Live Nation or SFX and Clear Channel continue to proliferate. As the wave of consolidation continues to take shape at the major promoters and entertainment companies, senior execs debated what was next – including the role of promoters as record labels, as evidenced by Insomniac’s recent partnership with Interscope, which will release its first EP from “G-house” artist Destructo later this summer.

“The SFX rollup has really changed the way we have to move, and to a certain degree it affects everybody on this stage,” John Boyle, Insomniac’s chief growth officer and interim CFO said in a panel of heavy-hitters from the top promoters. “There’s a land grab happening right now — and so if we don’t do something, someone else will. Launching a record company is interesting, growing a business is interesting. We’re kind of having to do it at a pace that might be faster than it would be if it was organic.”

Boyle nodded to Rick Stevens, CEO of Y Entertainment Group, whose company just announced three Isle of Dreams festivals in Turkey, Israel and Switzerland for later this summer. “You’re launching three festivals – those are territories we’d like to be in,” Boyle said. To which Stevens wryly replied, “We beat you to the low-hanging fruit.” He then noted that Y, a division of billionaire Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa, has an investment strategy that aims to let indies thrive. “Our style has historically been to empower the entrepreneur with additional capital and advice and support, which empower them to do a better job than they did on their own, rather than change what made them successful.”

But as the top promoters continue to expand, Goldenvoice COO Skip Paige considered “the jury’s still out” on the growth of promoters’ media platforms — the recently re-launched Insomniac.com among them. “Nothing is more important than a person buying a ticket,” he said. “If the media platform is the way you really wanna sell tickets, then it’s probably a good business model. If you think you’re gonna build a good media platform and it’s gonna be separate from your core business and it’s gonna generate a lot of money, the jury’s still out for me. However, diversificiation is what it’s all about – we own the ticket company, the VIP company, the food and beverage company. These are the things we’re doing to diversify…our company used to gross $50 million a year, now our whole company grosses $500 million a year

DJ Valid is the newest official member of the Club Killers family! Huge welcome to him. He brings us a great twerk / hip hop mix for our Club Killers Radio podcast & also for our DJ members you can now download some great exclusive remixes from Valid. Log in & download. For Full track click here: Continue reading →

It was that 2002 Mitsubishi Eclipse commercial. Remember the one where the chick was popping and locking in the front seat—grooving out to “Days Go By” by electronic act Dirty Vegas? That’s when I realized a shift toward the mainstream was occurring in the rave culture in which I had long participated, with Ticketmaster beginning to sell tickets to events where promoters had actually secured legal permits. But by then, I was already on the tail end of my rave days, with no idea electronic dance music would become the behemoth it is today.

As Insomniac Events holds the 18th Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas this weekend, I fondly look back at my days as an LA raver.

It was 1994, and my friends and I had discovered techno music and the parties that went with it. I was a sophomore at a San Fernando Valley high school, where being a “raver” made you an outcast, but our group reveled in it. I was completely taken with the scene which, back then, was small.

Parties popped up in abandoned warehouses downtown, privately owned farms and the middle of the Mojave Desert, usually with no more than one or two stages and 10 DJs. Turntables, strobe lights, fog machines and other equipment ran off generators. To find the parties, you had to call a hotline or be in the know, and go on a treasure hunt-like search around the city to finally acquire the address of the party.

It only took three years for the scene to exponentially grow. Official venues like the National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino, the Grand Olympic Auditorium and Alexandria Hotel in Downtown LA, and the Glass House in Pomona hosted legal raves.

In 1997, I got the flier for the first Electric Daisy Carnival, taking place one September night at the Shrine Expo Hall in Downtown LA. I was already familiar with Insomniac and its founder, Pasquale Rotella, from their weekly Friday night parties in North Hollywood, and they threw one helluva event, especially for the $20 ticket price.

The inaugural EDC had one stage, featuring a handful of techno DJs, black lights, strobes and a large backdrop projection screen continuously showing trippy, tie-dye-like visuals. The air was thick and poorly circulated, and distinctly smelled of Vicks VapoRub, which meant people sweating like they were running a marathon. Loud bass levels rocked our insides, provided by speaker cabinets piled high. Shrill whistle-blowing complemented the beats. The surrounding area boasted booths selling rave clothes, water (read: no alcohol) and hemp jewelry, and the only outdoor area was for smokers and those needing to cool off.

As for the attendees: It was a sea of pigtails, JNCO pants, stuffed-animal backpacks, Adidas shell-toe sneakers and visors, Looney Tunes T-shirts, Kangol hats, oversize track suits, rainbow-colored accessories, pacifiers … and lots of smiles. There were thousands, but only a few—it would take nearly 15 years for that scene to hit the six-figure attendance mark at an EDC just around the corner at the LA Coliseum. Our small community, however, maintained a vibe of love and celebration until the sun rose and the party ended.

That was as intimate as it got for EDC, as it later graduated to bigger venues, added more stages and booked bigger DJs.

I don’t need to explain the growth of the rave scene, EDM or Insomniac; or stand on a soapbox about our protest in front of the Wilshire Federal Building in 1997 for the right to rave; or wax poetic about the “underground vibe.” Nearly 20 years later, I’ve evolved, just like the scene. From what I hear now, there’s still a lot of hugs and PLUR (peace, love, unity and respect) going around. The music and the dancing—why we raved and why the culture keeps growing—remains the heart of the scene, still beating loudly.

This weekend, this old-school raver will return to EDC to check in with a culture that she fell in love with so long ago … and maybe relive those bygone days.

Posted by Kiko Miyasato (Via LV Weekly)

Do you know what’s better than the party? It would have to be that special After Party, but just that one-on-one private party. Club Killers presents “The After Party” with model Ceci. You can see her wearing the new Club Killers tank “Music Is My Life” because it just is. I mean what would life be without music? Certainly we wouldn’t be having any parties or maybe you could, but what’s a party without music. Heck! what’s a party without a dope DJ setting up the vibe. So just sit back and enjoy “The After Party.” and after worths go ahead and check out our online shop.

As FIFA’s 2014 tournament heats up this month, the world’s eyes will be on Brazil. But while dozens of brands are partnered with this year’s event, there’s one accessory you won’t be seeing at any World Cup matches – yes, Beats By Dre headphones are officially unwelcome.

The headphone giant has been banned from the pitch at this year’s World Cup for licensing reasons, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Players from all 32 of the teams competing in this year’s Cup will have to take their Beats headphones off when they’re in World Cup stadiums for official matches and media events, due to FIFA’s licensing agreement with rival brand Sony.

That hasn’t stopped some players – like Brazil’s Neymar and Uruguay’s Luis Suárez – wearing Beats to training sessions, despite Sony issuing all players with their own free set of headphones.

The popularity of Beats among World Cup players essentially gives Apple, who recently acquired Dre’s brand, a huge amount of unofficial advertising. “When fans see World Cup athletes wearing Beats in their downtime, by choice, it has as much impact as seeing them lace their Adidas or sip a sponsored beverage,” strategist Ellen Petry Leanse, a former Apple and Google executive, told the SMH.

Posted by ITM HQ (Via In The Mix)

Waiting For The Drop—Rise of The Superstar DJs traces the evolution of electronic dance music, from the late 80s Ibiza and the raves in the fields of the U.K. to the modern-day “EDM” industry estimated to be $6.2 billion in size and more global every day.

They explore the turning points that led to the creation of the “superstar DJ,” including the crash at the Millennium, and they feature some of the most important DJs in the historical timeline, including Tiësto, Carl Cox, Paul Oakenfold, Fat Boy Slim, Alfredo Fiorito, Sebastian Ingrosso (Swedish House Mafia) and Avicii. Alexei Barrionuevo, a former staffer at The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, is directing the documentary. Watch the trailer below.

Posted by David Miller

It was inevitable that as dayclub schedules expanded and temperatures climbed more nighttime pool parties would surface in Las Vegas. More importantly, the numbers don’t lie: On May 25, XS claimed 11,000 people entered its doors for Night Swim—which broke the venue’s attendance record set during last year’s Labor Day Weekend edition of the same event.

As such, the nighttime pool party ranks are growing. On June 10, Drai’s Beach Club & Nightclub debuted a Tuesday night bash called Drai’s Yacht Club. Artisan used Memorial Day Weekend to introduce a weekly, trap-themed twilighter. And on June 19, Daydream at M Resort piggybacks on EDC Week for Neon Night Swim, just one of a handful of post-sunset parties on its summer calendar.

Here’s a list of swim soirees to consider when you want to leave both the Coppertone and the collared shirts at home.

Thursdays: Encore Beach Club at Night

Sundays: Night Swim at XS, Trapical Nightswim at Naked Pool, Eclipse at Daylight

Tuesdays: Drai’s Yacht Club at Drai’s Beach Club & Nightclub

Various: Daydream

Posted by Mike Prevatt (Via LV Weekly)
Photo by Danny Mahoney

Eric Forbes returns to Club Killers Radio with another hard hitting mix with over 50 tracks. Yes, we said 50!!!

Eric is the newest resident DJ at the all new Drais Nightclub & Beachclub inside the new Cromwell Hotel, on the corner of Las Vegas Blvd & Flamingo, so next time you’re in Vegas make sure you stop by and say hello. Click “Continue Reading” to check out his full tracklist. Continue reading →

A Town Called Paradise, Tiësto’s first studio album in five years, will be released in a week — and now the superstar DJ/producer is opening up to talk all things surrounding the project. Tijs talks of influences coming from Sweden and Las Vegas, with “Wasted” coming from the prior and the album title coming from the latter. Speaking on much more throughout the two-part video now available on YouTube, he lets fans know that “Wasted” is being released in the form of another remix, this time from Yellow Claw.

Posted by David Miller (Via Dancing Astronaut)

You gotta hand it to PSY. The Korean superstar behind “Gangnam Style” writes about what he knows, with boozing it up being one of his particular areas of expertise. “Yes, I’m a heavy drinker,” PSY tells Billboard in a new interview. “I can honestly say [I’m hungover] half of the year.”

Naturally, his affinity for having a drink (or two or three or four…) has proven to be excellent song-fodder, with the explosive success right out of the gate for new single “Hangover,” featuring Snoop Dogg. In less than two days since its release, the song’s zany video has attracted more than 25 million views on YouTube.

PSY says he immediately thought of Snoop when the track’s title popped into his head.

“One day I wrote a hip-hop track and I thought about one catchy word,” he says. “I was hungover and I thought about hangover, so I just recorded it right away. As soon as I got that hook part I thought about Snoop Dogg, because we all know he’s hanging over every day.”

Securing the D-O double G’s services also proved to be fairly simple. “I called him and said ‘I’m PSY, do you know me?’ and he was like ‘What?'” he recalls of what must have been the weirdest phone conversation ever. “I said ‘can you feature on my song’ and he’s asking the title and I say ‘Hangover.’ And he said, ‘Oh, I’m doing it.’ So, that’s how we met.”

Posted by Phil Gallo (via Billboard)