Features
Pollstar Live! It’s An EDM World
Electronic dance music, known for better or worse as EDM, is here to stay and for those who feel like they just don’t get it, John Boyle of
Boyle explained that he wasn’t always into EDM. “I see some faces of people I’ve known for 20 years and they’re thinking, ‘What are you doing up there? You’re a rock guy,’” Boyle said. “I’m having my dance music epiphany now.”
See Also: Extended Pollstar Live! Coverage as well as Pollstar Live! Facebook and Twitter
Right off the bat, Boyle said, there are three things that define EDM: community, respect and (making a hand symbol for a heart) love. “That’s really what this is about,” he said.
Well, that and the fact there’s a lot of money to be made for those savvy enough of the culture to be successful.
EDM caught on first in Europe and the United Kingdom but is just catching on in the States, Boyle explained, with room to grow in the business space. And with that growth, Wall Street and the investment community is coming to the party.
“When you look at the production that these DJs are putting into shows, and producers into festivals, it’s comparable and in some cases exceeds biggest produced shows,” Boyle said. “Half the charts hits are by DJs. It’s completely mainstream now. Festivals are popping up. Established ones are getting better and bigger.
Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas drew 115,000 a night over three nights last year, making it the largest event in North America.”
Lamb, who caught the EDM bug in college nearly 30 years ago, explained the genre’s roots in the U.S. based on his own experience. What separates EDM from, say, rock concerts is that it is about the event – though it’s becoming about the artist now.
“You’d go to the vinyl record store and there would be flyers with just a phone number. Word of mouth. They wouldn’t announce the location until the day of the event. They’d give you a ‘map point’ where they’d sell you a ticket and tell you where it was. The journey was half of the experience,” Lamb said.
Shiva’s Erotic Banquet, an electronic event in 1993 was “a seminal event in L.A.,” Timothy Leary hosted the party, with DJs Psychic TV, DJ Dan, RZW, Expando and others playing 12” vinyl singles. Lamb explained various styles like trance, funky breaks, trip hop, dub and house. Promoters were “ordinary people” who were fans.
In the ‘90s, EDM began mainstreaming with ticketed shows in legitimate venues – rather than the fields and warehouses of old – such as American Legion halls, the Fillmore and, most notably, at the Snow Valley Ski Resort in San Bernardino County, Calif. That show featured The Chemical Brothers, The Orb, Orbital and other name artists. By 1996, “Perry Farrell caught on,” Lamb said.
The evolution culminated in the Electric Daisy Carnival at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum in 2010. “That event brought attention to the size and scope of the genre,” he said.
Boyle added some impressive statistics to show the explosion in EDM in just the last year. It’s the fasted selling genre, now comprising 15 percent of all music sold. In terms of Google searches, most come from California, Arizona, New Jersey, Massachussetts and Ohio. Why Ohio? “Probably because of its 12 massive colleges,” Boyle said. “It’s what college kids listen to.”
And, according to Boyle, more ticket sales are driven by social media, rather than by traditional marketing, than any other genre. Ticketfly, with its social-driven platform, has collected an impressive amount of data showing where EDM’s fans are and how to grab them.
Ticketfly’s Gannon Hall explained the importance of understanding the data and consumer behavior, pointing out that among 18- to 24-year-old “millenials,” EDM is the music of choice.
“The smartest promoters and artists recognize this and leverage local media to engage this audience,” Hall said. “Other promoters and genres can learn from what these folks are doing. One of the most amazing stats is that there are six times more tickets sold via social media for EDM events than non-EDM. The audience is very comfortable with it.
“An interesting factor is that rather than search-based discovery, it seems there’s a lot of social discovery in EDM.
Fans buy tickets based on what their friends are listening to. Facebook sales on mobile devices are about three times as high. This is an audience that is comfortable with mobile as a main computing device,” Lamb continued.
He found that people tend to buy single tickets for EDM events, rather than in pairs. “We think that these audiences are deciding to go as groups, in an online experience. It’s a very communal, community-based experience. They want to meet their friends, or maybe meet new ones there.” And the split, he said, between male and female buyers is nearly equal, compared to other genres that are about 70 percent male.
“Were in the first inning in terms of growth potential,” Boyle said. And he pointed to the interest in EDM by Robert F.X. Sillerman to drive home the point – and issue a warning.
“Sillerman is attempting SFX rollup part two,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “We’ll see.”
Boyle explained that EDM is now a $4 billion-plus annual business, and going up fast. He added he’s seeing signs of saturation of events in certain markets including Southern California. He predicted “ a proliferation of EDM festivals, but many will not succeed. Not because of demand, but because it’s a specialized production.” And woe to the uninitiated trying to jump on a hoped-for cash cow.
“We’re not thrilled about new entrants coming into the space,” Boyle said. “We’re not scared or think competition is unhealthy. But new entrants don’t have experience and knowledge. But what one does effects all the others. ‘The arms race’ – production quality and scale – will continue to expand; bigger stages, more lights, more special effects.” Along with more costs.
But “EDM will be a driver of humanity and community, and make the world a healthier and better place,” Boyle said. “This has the power to make a positive influence in the world.”