Remember when you were 17? Fresh out of high school, just getting your drivers license, setting records with your music… you dont remember that last part? Well for house music producer Martin Garrix the memory is fresh in his mind. If you were an attendee of EDC (or any rave or festival in the past week) I’m sure you’ve heard his latest track ‘Animals’ played through the speaker systems at LEAST once. If you’ve been out of the loop, it goes something like this:

With this track reaching the top of the Beatport Top 100 last week Martin has set a record for being the youngest producer at number one. Many of you probably remember Julian Jordan being sixteen when he was at number one with ‘Kangaroo’, but that was with the help of Sander Van Dorrn, making Garrix the youngest to pull off the feat alone. It is amazing to see young EDM producers make the music that they do, but to set records is another level entirely. Congratulations Martin!

Posted by Chris White (Via EDM Tunes)

There’s growing concern at the now-obvious effect that mega-nightclubs are having on Strip shows. Ticket brokers are demanding steeper discounting. Audiences are slipping to the point of several shows being no longer profitable. Major productions are hiding the fact that they’re selling only 50 percent of their seats. Even Cirque du Soleil shows are affected, with some tickets being widely advertised as low as $50.

Producers of several recently shuttered shows tell me candidly: “It’s getting slowly impossible to make a profit from a show in Las Vegas. That’s why you’re seeing a proliferation of solo performers and comics. No cast to pay. No scenery and stage crews. “The hotels looked at mega-clubs as a golden egg, but those crowds shelling out steep admission prices and highly expensive bottle service, sometimes running upwards of $5,000, don’t have any money left over for shows or gaming.

“It used to be tourists would book two or three shows on a visit here. Now we’re lucky if they see one. In years gone by, visitors would dine out every night, but now many are lugging in their own ice chests with drinks and food or buy burgers in fast-food places in town. Restaurants also are changing over from fine dining into casual, cheaper, pub-type menus.” The concern that Las Vegas shows might disappear and harm the image of this being The Entertainment Capital of the World and change it into The Nightclub Capital of the World has prompted action.

I’ve learned that four Las Vegas leaders in various show-connected positions have discussed the formation of an entertainment council to recruit key hotel and show executives. They want to find creative solutions to the potential problems and see if cooperation can help entertainment, shows and stars deal fairly with the economic impact of nightclubs and their patrons.

“We’ve got to get back to the intimacy of original, classic Las Vegas entertainment. The close-up factor. The superstar names. Where is today’s Rat Pack performers instead of unknown DJs playing other people’s music,” said one of the entertainment council advocates. “If we don’t change it soon, Las Vegas may never be the same again.
“Our town was filled with almost 200,000 electronic dance music fans last weekend, and only a handful of them went to see a Las Vegas show. There were too many empty seats in our theaters.”

Posted by Robin Leach (Via Las Vegas Sun)

This Saturday, Southern California’s #1 nightclub experience returns to the legendary Yost Theater. We’re celebrating the 6 year anniversary of IMKING Clothing and wil be featuring very special guest DJ sets from DJ Spryte & DJ Angle. If you’re in the Orange County area this weekend make sure to stop by. RSVP @ YostTheater.com

Posted by David Miller

In honor of the four year anniversary of Michael Jackson’s parting, DJ Fabian; who’s career has been heavily influenced by The King of Pop’s body of work has released this rare bootleg blending the funky, driving beat of Tradelove’s “The Black Project” and Michael’s 1979 original “Off The Wall” unreleased vocals.

This track was one of the hottest records in after hours clubs all over Las Vegas this past EDC weekend and is definitely one you’ll be hearing on the dance floors across the globe all summer!

Posted by Rico Avila

Follow Fabian on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/djfabian1

Massive news for all those in Southern California, EDC fanatics…or just ravers in general! We have our first hero in power: future mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti. Mr. Garcetti was posed the question on Reddit’s AMA (“Ask Me Anything”) last night: “Would he allow music festivals to happen in LA again, especially at the coliseum. Huge festivals like electric daisy carnival bring in a huge inflow of cash to the city and surrounding neighborhoods…” Eric responded to the question in no uncertain or waffling terms, “YES! I want some signature festivals here in LA, the music capital of the world. If you like electronic music, then L.A. is where the DJ scene is at.” Loaded, extremely concrete words coming from the future incumbent. However if you follow the future mayor at all, his statement doesn’t come as a surprise. Eric previously held a fundraiser at a massive club (Avalon Hollywood) with Steve Aoki himself DJ’ing the event. How progressive can you get? Yes, electronic music family…we have our new champion in the political world: EDMayor Eric Garcetti.

What a breath of fresh air this is to those who have faced early shutdowns of electronic music events in the SoCal area as of late, and especially after EDC’s 10-year run in L.A. ended after the unfortunate illegal entry and death on the premises of an underage girl which forced EDC’s departure from the City of Angels. Then the city watched the festivals’ epic explosion to a 3-day celebration in 2011 along with its relocation to Las Vegas Motor Speedway via a 10-year contract. After missing out on that massive moneymaker (speaking from a political point of view, of course…clearly Eric understands the genre and what it is about, unlike some media personalities *cough*Wendy Williams*cough*), it makes you wonder what kind of massive raves Eric has in mind for the Coliseum’s “signature festivals” in the near future!

Posted by Matt Fritsch (Via EDM Tunes)

Some of the world’s richest and most prominent celebrities are common guests at Las Vegas’s hottest nightclubs. Signs of excessive wealth and bar tabs that far exceed our annual income are nothing out of the ordinary. But the story you’re about to hear, reaches a level that will be sure to blow your mind. Recently, at a nightclub in Las Vegas, one wealthy man committed to ordering a $250,000 bottle of champagne so long as the DJ performing played a single track that he had requested. Ed Shapiro is the source of this information. Shapiro is the most active transactional lawyer for superstar DJs on the strip. He is responsible for the signing of $30 million in contracts for EDM artists in Vegas this year.

Shapiro, who represents artists such as Kaskade and Above and Beyond, refused to share the name of the club. the person who made the request, or the DJ performing. Several rumors are floating around that Marquee nightclub was the site of the transaction, but that has yet to be confirmed. Shapiro did however, share some details of the story. After a request made by the unnamed celebrity, a club representative approached the DJ performing and said, “I would never ask you this, but we have a gentleman who has got a table with a fairly large entourage with him. If you spin this one song … he will buy a $250,000 bottle of champagne.” The DJ was handed a USB drive with the song on it. He knew he wasn’t going to get a cut of the profits, but he figured that it would be in the best interest of future contract negotiations if he were to find a way to fit it in his set. He did exactly that, and the club got their $250,000.

This was just the beginning of the purchases for the wealthy guest. Shapiro mentioned that the subject of the story, “bought something like another 30 bottles for the whole place.”

So, any guesses as to what the quarter million dollar song was?

Posted byTyler Cole (Via Las Vegas Review)

If a lineup boasting all of the best DJs in the world didn’t woo you enough into making it to EDC Las Vegas (or at least idolizing those who are going), the 35 million dollars Pasquale Rotella and Insomniac is putting into the production of the event should be the icing on the cake. When asked for specifics about how the money would be spent, Rotella said, “We’re creating an environment along the lines of what you see at a theme park — but on an even larger scale.” To put $35 million into perspective that’s about 90% of Armin Van Buuren’s net worth. I think Armin could throw a pretty damn impressive party with virtually all of his money.

115,000 festival goers a day sure helps to allow for that massive budget, but you can’t help but wonder just how incredible the scene will be with by far the largest budget Insomniac has ever allocated for the event. The mayor of Las Vegas feels bad for those of you who can’t make it to the festival. He’s decided to make sure everyone in Vegas gets a taste of the experience. June 18-25 has been officially declared EDC Week in Las Vegas (what other place in the world would that happen?). Marquee, Steve Wynn’s Encore Resort, and the Hard Rock Rehab pool will offer incredible shows with the likes of Armin Van Buuren, Dash Berlin, Avicii, Kaskade, and many others all week long.

Posted by David Miller

The week I really love the featured freebie! Lana Del Rey’s “Summertime Sadness” reworked and flipped by JD Live! In my opinion, one of the best songs of the year. I love the video, music, lyrics, & concept of the original song and JD really gave it the underground club fix it needed. I wasn’t feeling the Cedric Gervais mix but this one is the perfect big room anthem you should throw in your progressive house sets. Enjoy.

Posted by Alex Dreamz

Connect with JD Live:
facebook.com/djjdlive
twitter.com/jdlive
soundcloud.com/jdlive

Dance music extraordinaire and recent Michael Jackson-record breaker, Calvin Harris has shelled out a reported $7 million on a Hollywood Hills home. At 4,000 square feet, Calvin’s new mansion features four bedrooms, seven baths, an infinity pool with panoramic views of Los Angeles, and a home theatre — just to name a few of the top-of-the-line amenities. It’s been reported that the producer payed a large sum upfront, taking out a mortgage of $4.9 million dollars.

Click below the break for a tour of Calvin Harris’s brand new Hollywood Hills mega-mansion.
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The sizzling sales statistics on Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories” just keep on coming.

“Random Access Memories” moved 19,000 vinyl LPs in its first week on sale — accounting for 15% of all vinyl albums sold last week (123,000), according to Nielsen SoundScan. “Random” also instantly becomes the year’s biggest-selling vinyl set, surpassing Mumford & Sons’ “Babel” (13,000). Naturally, “Random Access Memories” also debuts at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart, logging the biggest sales week for a vinyl LP since SoundScan launched the chart in the week ending Jan. 10, 2010.

“Random Access Memory’s” start could be the largest week for a vinyl title since 1994, though that information was unable to be confirmed at press time due to limitations in SoundScan’s database. That November, Pearl Jam’s “Vitalogy” sold 34,000 LPs in a single week, in advance of its bow on CD and cassette two weeks later. “Random Access Memories” wasn’t an inexpensive purchase for vinyl lovers, either. The double LP set is currently priced at $39.98 in Sony’s My Play Direct Web store, and $35.53 at Amazon.com.

Daft Punk’s vinyl victory comes shortly after Record Store Day (April 20) fueled the single-largest sales week for vinyl albums in SoundScan history. In the week ending April 21, a record total of 244,000 vinyl albums were sold.

Posted by Keith Caulfield (via Billboard Biz)

With one landmark performance after another, as well as producing tracks that steam roll their way to the top of the charts, Hardwell proves himself as an unstoppable force in the world of EDM. The young Dutch producer shows no signs of slowing down, in fact he may have only just begun. Hardwell has a major release coming up on June 21st with his fourth volume of Hardwell presents Revealed.

Expect Revealed Volume 4 to resemble that of a Hardwell show, full of big room anthems and hard hitting bangers seamlessly blended and mixed to create a high energy symphony that will keep you dancing all night long. On this mix compilation you will find 8 unreleased tracks from the best Revealed Recordings has to offer featuring the likes of Dyro, Dannic and Alvaro. In addition, the Beatport chart topping mega hits Alive – Krewella (Hardwell remix) and Never Say Goodbye – Hardwell and Dyro featuring Bright Lights will also be included. Also just like in his epic shows, the record includes a few original Hardwell mashups. Revealed Records Volume 4 is sure to become the soundtrack of the summer and will keep us dancing through festival season.

The official launch party will be held during EDC Week on June 20th at the brand new Hakkasan Night Club in Las Vegas where Hardwell holds his residency. This party is going to be huge, as it will feature Dyro and Dannic, as well as a special performance with Bright Lights. It’s going to be quite the event and will really capture the essence of Revealed Volume 4.

Posted by Marijke U. (via EDM Tunes)

Over his career so far, UK bass fiend Rusko has embraced the ‘work hard, play hard’ philosophy. Following his Songs album in 2012 and the collaborative EP with Cypress Hill, the producer is now prepping a new suite of songs for release on 2 July. The Lift Me Up EP is coming on Skrillex’s OWSLA label, and the first offering is Takeoff, an all-out drum & bass effort complete with Jay-Z snippets.

“I grew up listening to drum-and-bass and jungle music,” Rusko told Rolling Stone. “I felt it was time to reflect this by making some of my very own. This really is the definition of music from the heart.” Other OWSLA stars include Alvin Risk, KOAN Sound, Kill The Noise and Seven Lions.

Meanwhile, Rusko’s Facebook page continues to mostly document his love of marijuana. The last few days in particular have offered a succession of weed-related posts, with fans either cheering him on or chastising his undying love. One of the most common comments this past week: “Deadmau5 dislikes this”. As many ITMers will recall, the ‘mau5 once objected to Rusko smoking a spliff backstage at a festival in 2010. Some grammatically-suspect Twitter rants were exchanged, and the two stars haven’t been that friendly since.

“People have tried to reconcile us,” Rusko told DJ Mag in 2012. “I’m like, ‘Don’t bring that c**t near me.’ It’s still very much on. We haven’t really been in the same room since it happened, until we are put in the same room by accident or whatever, who knows? He might be chilled out; it’s still on for me. Once I hate someone, I hate ‘em forever.”

Rusko also went in-depth with DJ Mag on the epic drug binge that accompanied the making of Songs. “I made Opium entirely on Promethazine codeine syrup, which basically looks like opium in a bottle,” he cheerily detailed to the interviewer. “I managed to score a bottle of the real lean 100-percent codeine syrup. The album was very inspired by the drugs I was taking while I was making it.

“One day I took Rohypnol, the date-rape drug. I date-raped myself, and made a track, Dirty Sexy Money. I’m at this stage now, I’m drinking a bottle of vodka a night, enjoying drugs for what they are, and not being shy about it. This album wouldn’t sound as good as it does if I wasn’t taking a fuck-load of drugs.”

Posted by Jack Tregoning (via In The Mix)