At first glance, the throbbing hubbub of Miami Music Week and the Ultra Music Festival, one of the marquee events on the global dance music calendar, looks as vibrant as ever. General admission and VIP tickets for Ultra, which takes over Bayfront Park Friday through Sunday, are sold out. Clubs and hotels in South Beach and downtown Miami are touting famous DJs and parties that extend past dawn.

But behind the booming façade, the situation is not quite so bright. Some of Miami’s top clubs, such as South Beach’s Cameo and downtown’s Grand Central, have closed recently. SFX Entertainment, which several years ago bought a host of top dance music promoters, festivals and websites, inspiring predictions that billionaire owner Robert Sillerman would take electronic dance music into the corporate and consumer mainstream, recently declared bankruptcy.

The 2016 edition of the TomorrowWorld festival in rural Georgia, one of SFX’s trophy events, has been canceled after a debacle last September that saw thousands of concertgoers stranded in mud and rain. Icon, the name new owners have given to Mansion, a longtime South Beach dance palace, has seen a sharp drop in crucial VIP liquor sales and is struggling to fill the massive space.

“EDM is over — it’s like disco,” says Vanessa Menkes, former head of communications for the now disbanded Opium Group, whose clubs including Mansion and Set dominated South Beach nightlife for years. “In 2005, you could open your doors on a random Saturday night and make $150,000. Those days are not coming back.”

In some ways, the music is falling victim to a success that appears to have peaked around 2013. Many of the music-loving clubgoers that are the genre’s core audience have been alienated by spiraling entry and drink prices that put the cost of even a minimal night out well over $100, even as clubs cater to wealthy customers who spend thousands in VIP sanctums. The performance circuit has become dominated by a small circle of famous DJ/artists like Calvin Harris, Tiesto, Diplo and Skrillex, leading to repeat appearances and fan burnout. According to one Miami music insider, when Mansion booked leading DJ Afrojack for more than $150,000 shortly before the club ended its 11-year run last fall, it couldn’t draw enough of an audience to break even.

Fans like Annie Tomlinson, 22, an ardent Ultra attendee when she could get a one-day ticket for around $100, are opting out. She last went to the festival in 2013, though she says her peak experience was the year before.

“I still like the music,” Tomlinson says. “But it’s not worth it for the money anymore. It’s so hyped up and I’ve already experienced it.”

Senthil Chidambaram, CEO and founder of popular EDM website Dancing Astronaut, says that kind of burnout is growing.

“You see someone DJ and throw his hands up and fireworks in the background, and that experience is replicated a hundred times,” Chidambaram says. “So how is it changing for you? What’s the selling point unless you’re a super fan?”

Soaring DJ fees have become part of their celebrity cachet. Harris, the top earner, can command $400,000 at a luxurious Las Vegas nightclub such as Omnia in Caesar’s Palace. Other elite acts make $200,000 to $250,000. Those costs contribute to a kind of nocturnal financial arms race, pushing up base prices at clubs and festivals. Meanwhile, frenzy over the profit potential from wealthy customers for festivals like Ultra, where VIP tickets are $1,512, or at clubs where a tiny circle of clients can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single night, conflated excitement over a show with the thrill of extravagant consumption.

The focus on finances could also shape the music. According to Chidambaram, as the scene peaked in 2013, many artists put out as much music as possible because each new release generated hits on social media and music sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Soundcloud — numbers that booking agents used to determine which acts to hire and how much to pay.

“There was so much content shoved down people’s throats, but it was not about the quality but the quantity,” Chidambaram says. “The more content you pushed the more opportunities to increase your number count.”

The buzz that led corporations to rush to sponsor what seemed the hottest genre for coveted millennial customers sometimes led to a blurring of music and marketing. The videos for two of EDM’s biggest hits, Avicci’s Wake Me Up, from 2013, and Swedish House Mafia’s Greyhound (the name of a vodka drink), in 2012, prominently showcased images of Ralph Lauren’s Denim & Supply logo and clothing line and Absolut vodka, respectively.

Meanwhile, the acts that haven’t produced a radio hit or are focused on the old school skills that keep a room full of dancers moving until dawn — what hardcore dance music aficionados call “telling a story” — are relegated to smaller clubs and fewer events. This limits the chances for the next creative DJ or cutting-edge style to emerge, or for a new generation of audiences to be drawn by music rather than celebrity and hype.

“The oversaturation and commercialization is the death of anything relevant in terms of artistry,” says Carmel Ophir, a longtime dance music promoter whose downtown club Vagabond closed in 2014, and who is presenting a week of old-school house music DJs like Louie Vega and Jellybean Benitez at Yuca on Lincoln Road this week. “The EDM world is one big KISS concert — we’re gonna give you bang for the buck, fire, explosions, blood.”

Dance music fireworks still dazzle many. EDM has become central to mainstream pop, as demonstrated in hits such as Where Are Ü Now, produced by Diplo and Skrillex for Justin Bieber. Ultra has franchises in Europe, Latin America and Asia, where a new luxury club market has opened up in countries like China and Singapore. Festivals such as Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas and New York, or European EDM celebrations such as Belgium’s TomorrowLand, continue to be popular.

David Grutman, operating partner of LIV in the Fontainebleau hotel, the most successful of the Beach’s remaining high-end clubs and whose lineup this week boasts David Guetta, Afrojack and Harris, says those kinds of acts are still a draw.

“The top guys are still pulling as much or more,” Grutman says. But he has had to adjust from the peak of several years ago. Costly star DJ’s are mostly reserved for special occasions like Miami Music Week, and hip-hop Sundays have become hugely popular. Grutman has seen a drop in VIP customers from Europe and South America, whose currency has been devalued against the dollar, and are spending less or going elsewhere. And Grutman has branched out, opening Komodo, an Asian fusion restaurant in the trendy Brickell area. His former competitor Eric Milon, one of Opium Group’s founders, now co-owns Coyo Taco, a hipster eatery and speakeasy in Wynwood.

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In a defining move, streaming service Apple Music has received a leg up on competitors. Following a newly formed partnership with Dubset Media Holdings, the service now has the ability to stream remixes, mash-ups and DJ mixes for the very first time.

Dubset is an organization involved with over 14,000 publishers and record labels, allowing their extensive roster of content to be utilized and streamed without fear of copyright-oriented consequences. The secret to this ability, however, rests with a form of technology called MixBank.

Using algorithms similar to those of Youtube and Soundcloud’s copyright detection service Zefr, MixBank scans remixed content with the intent of discovering the original rights holder. The company can locate the source, compensate them accordingly and even allow rights holders to limit the amount of times their material can be used in mixes.

This new partnership, some say, is a more effective alternative for remixers and DJs than Soundcloud’s highly controversial system. By giving rights holders more control over their work and allowing listeners to access previously forbidden content, the potential for an exodus across services is now in the balance.

So far, no word has been given as to the exact starting date for Apple’s inclusion of mixes on their service.

Posted by Micah Singleton (Via TheVerge)

Living legend DJ Craze drops a showcase routine, shares some personal anecdotes and talks about his inspirations.

Gain valuable insights into the innovations and techniques that have shaped turntablism, explore its lineage and culture and catch showcase performances. This edition of Native Sessions featured luminary DJs, DMC champs and dance floor innovators Craze, Rafik and Unkut.

Posted By JD Live (Via Native Instruments)

In 5 years of traveling all over the world, I have compiled a list of essentials that I carry with me to every gig. In this Decoded video, we go over bag contents for DJing on the road. Based on the good and bad; having alcohol spilled on his vinyl once, I now always carry back up vinyl. What other back ups and primary items are in a traveling DJs bag? Check out the video and find out!

Posted by DJ Konflikt

Back at again with another episode of Club Killers Radio! We have officially made the full transition on to Mixcloud (Follow us if you haven’t yet)! Tonight we take you back to Chicago with a debut mix of one of Chicago’s most talented DJ’s, B96 Mixmaster, & the official DJ of the Chicago Bulls: DJ Metro. Make sure you check out the mix & peep the full track list after the jump! Continue reading →

What does it take to be a superstar DJ? Just ask the Canadian dance don, who explains why principle, passion and a pheromone mist spray may help.

When I went to my first real club, I saw the DJs in the corner and wanted to be them. Not so much to be the centre of attention as to be occupied. Maybe even necessary. This strikes me as a radically different starting point than wanting to be the main attraction. I imagined the actual centre of attention was some cool guy at the party, you know, the kind with a collared shirt and a long curly hair. The DJ had a realistic role, a respectable one, and I set my sights on that niche. As it turned out, I had what it takes.

But what does it take?

Contrary to popular opinion, looks don’t really matter. Nobody is not good-looking enough to be a DJ. Also, it’s better if you’re not too smart. Real geniuses tend to get a horrified look on their faces about halfway through the set and wander off to look for something more meaningful, like speaking truth to power, or getting into finance. The proper point here is that a real DJ cannot be an egomaniac. You have to be selfless and/or airheaded enough to spend a good part of your life “caring about vibe”, which is a perpetual exercise in ego death; caring deeply for the crowd while also not giving a flying darn what they think of you. I’m not trying to hit crazy highs of “pure giving”, no matter how many people tell me that’s exactly what I’m doing, but it’s impossible to avoid that you are in fact sharing.

It’s this particular blend of self and selfless, combined with the other key watchwords of our times – “global”, “technology” and “curation” – that has positioned DJing as the most modern and culturally relevant profession on Earth. DJing might conceivably be the only profession that is a true representation of current social norms. Throw in the crucial “easy learning curve” and you have the perfect storm. Over the past decades only photography (in its amateur form) has seen a similar growth spurt, and that won’t get you paid.

Being a DJ takes a love of music. Not an understanding of music or the ability to play it, of which I have neither. Years after working with James Murphy, Gonzales or Soulwax, I know now more than ever how resolutely un-musical I am. I used to think there were three Phil Collinses: one drummer, one singer, and one dancer. But I always knew what I loved with a real conviction and certainty. In fact, that is power.

This sense of discovery led to an important epiphany and a principle that guides me to this day: you must be 100% in love with the tracks you play as a DJ. The lower that percentage dips, the more your set quality dips. The real takeaway here is that DJing is all about love. Not the fees. Not the opportunity to refuse sex on a daily basis. The raw, unvarnished love, rough like a carpenter’s hands.

It can be extremely easy to lose sight of this. An old DJ dog like myself wants to make fun of what it’s all become: Dutchmen playing Olympic ceremonies and progressive-house pool parties, and men in hooded capes existing in a landscape seemingly free from shame, irony and intelligence. Once you strip away the giant black T-shirt, though, DJing is still magic.

Why? Because real DJing is about something that can’t be packaged or replicated: it’s about timing. It’s like stand-up comedy: you’re only as good as the connections you make and the speed with which you make them. DJing is wit. Oscar Wilde said that. Sometimes you have seconds to make a good decision. It’s style (your choices) versus fashion (your collection), and no amount of money can change that. Although if you can afford a pheromone mist to spray on the crowd that can paper over a questionable call to “go hip-hop”, that helps.

I’m a romantic at heart. I believe that all DJs who deeply love what they play are doing things the right way. It doesn’t matter if people are pointing and broadcasting the set on the web for people to mock without pity. If you’re really feeling it, then you’re the luckiest laughing-stock in the world.

Posted By JD Live (Via Theguardian)

Over the weekend, Diplo and Major Lazer performed a free show in front of the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba. Their performance marked one of the first concerts from an American group since the U.S. restored diplomatic relations with the country last year. Charlie Rose chatted with Diplo before the gig, and their interview aired on today’s episode of “CBS This Morning.”

The two drove around Havana in a classic car and discussed the historical and cultural implications of the performance (and Major Lazer itself.) Diplo also revealed that he’s plotting new Jack Ü material with Skrillex for next month. He told Rose, “Before I came down to you, I was sitting on my computer editing some new songs for the Jack Ü project, because we want to put something out around Coachella.”

This is Diplo’s third interview with Charlie Rose; he previously appeared on Rose’s PBS show with Skrillex, and gave another solo interview in October.

Posted by David Miller

Sometimes you have to take a step back from the pulsing lights and pounding subs of the club and evaluate what this is really all about. In an era where we’re constantly reassessing and reevaluating the relevance and fruitfulness of dance music’s foundational sounds and scenes, we thought it’d be good to hear the perspectives of a few of the producers at the genre’s heart to determine the state of electronic music’s present and future.

THUMP traveled to the BPM Festival in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, and asked some top DJs performing at the festival to describe the best and worst parts of electronic music today.

BPM is a festival dedicated to house and techno, so the answers are expectedly skewed to reflect that, but there are some interesting points that apply across all styles of electronic music. Some express frustration with the uniformity of major festival lineups, but also acknowledge that the huge booking fees of headliners have started to trickle down and smaller artists are doing a bit better.

The highlight, IMO, is Lee Curtiss’s acapella imitation of poppy dubstep(?). The video is worth the watch for that alone.

Posted By Damian Good D. (Via Thump)

Major Lazer are no stranger’s to big, adoring crowd’s. Having globe-trotted the world over the past few year’s, their recent rise to the peak of headlining names is no accident. Infectious in sound, energy and ethos, their themed aurora has ignited millions of listeners worldwide.

However, when a crowd reaches nearly half a million people, the shear scale prompts a historical context.

TO THE PEOPLE AND THE COUNTRY OF CUBA THANK YOU. WE HAVE BEEN HUMBLED BY YOUR LOVE pic.twitter.com/4KkYBZb0ih

— PEACE IS THE MISSION (@MAJORLAZER) March 7, 2016

Since the USA’s embargo against Cuba was finally dropped nearly 50 years since its inception, relations and opportunities have only flourished. Which in turn has allowed dance music to enter the sphere of influence and popularity for the youthful population. Taking their ‘Peace is the Mission’ show with them to the iconic and characterful capital city of Havana, Major Lazer were met by 400,000 spectator’s. For them specially.

The free concert on the waterfront was a momentous occasion. It was the first time dance music had been played on the land mass. EDM didn’t exist last time international act’s came to perform. So it was in a way, a once in a lifetime circumstance, for Major Lazer and fan’s alike.

Posted By David Miller (Dancing Astronaut)

The name Funktion-One has become synonymous with extraordinary sound quality. Sublime response up and down the frequency spectrum, Funktion-One sound systems deliver crisp, clear highs, smashing lows, and everything in between.

After six years of development, the British company is only a month away from debuting its newest system, Vero, which they believe will redefine audio and operational performance expectations. The inspiration for Vero came out of frustration with declining live audio quality standards and an understanding for the need for a system that can be easily assembled, disassembled, and flown across the country while on tour.

To meet these needs, Funktion-One created Vero as a complete system, with each component designed, as part of the whole, to deliver optimum performance. Along with the hardware, which includes the speaker arrays and Funktion-One’s patented Lambda flying system, Vero comes with innovative Projection software that can calculate ideal settings for each array and the entire system to deliver peak audience coverage in each unique venue layout.

One of the founders of Funktion-One, Tony Andrews, believes that Vero will be one of the most important breakthroughs to come out in audio engineering world: “Talking from the perspective I have right now, just before we launch, I believe Vero will turn out to be one of the most important developments to come out of almost five decades working in audio,” Andrews says.

The system will be launched at Prolight + Sound Frankfurt, alongside the first touring product from the Evolution series, the Evo 7T, and a new horn-loaded bass enclosure, the F132, which has frequency response of 24Hz to 70Hz from a single 32-inch driver. The show will take place on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, and will certainly only further cement Funktion-One’s place at the top of the live audio industry.

Posted by Toby Reaper (via DancingAstronaut)

After Kanye West posted a screenshot to show fans what he was listening to on YouTube – in this case, Sufjan Stevens’ “Death With Dignity” – outspoken electronic artist Joel Zimmerman (a.k.a. deadmau5) was quick to call him out on pirating software.

What the fuck @kanyewest … Can't afford serum? Dick. pic.twitter.com/8B2aiyORZs

— deadmau5 (@deadmau5) March 2, 2016

The claim was based on West’s open browser tabs, which suggest he sought to rip digital synthesizer plug-in Serum using popular piracy website The Pirate Bay.

The issue is a bit personal for deadmau5, whose long-time friend and collaborator Steve Duda coded the software and sells it via his Xfer Records imprint. Zimmerman took his stance a step further by suggesting a Kickstarter campaign be launched so that West can purchase Serum.

Let's start a Kickstarter to help @kanyewest afford a copy of Serum.

— deadmau5 (@deadmau5) March 2, 2016

According to file-sharing weblog TorrentFreak, Yeezy’s album, The Life Of Pablo, was reportedly downloaded on BitTorrent by approximately 500,000 people after its first day on Tidal, topping The Pirate Bay’s list of “most shared music torrents by a landslide.”

Multiple outlets reported the following day that an anonymous source said, “Kanye is going to meet with his legal team to discuss the possibilities of starting legal action against torrent site Pirate Bay.”

Despite the alleged threat, West’s team has yet to pursue a potential lawsuit against the site.

Posted by David Miller

Here we gooo… This month DJ Vice is back with former USC superstar & NFL running back Reggie Bush on Electric Taco! From his first gig as a DJ to life as a dad, follow our ride to Cactus Tacos! Enjoy.

Posted by David Miller