After founder Pete Tong and Ben Turner welcomed the 250 attendees, the CEO of Billboard kicked off the day encouraging the industry audience to think big about the future of our genre. We had arrived at at the feet of the mainstream but we still needed to grow up. Two negatives he spoke of was not clearing rights in advance, as shown by Bauer's ' viral hit Harlem Shake', leading for it not to be commercially viable. Also that mainstream media will never understand dance culture, often tarring us with drug connatations which must be worked around to create our own hype and credibility.
The positives he spoke of included the current distribution of our music and culture. What used to be only available via Pete Tong's BBC1 radio show and is now available online through platforms like You Tube, Spotify and Beatport. There is no need for A&R from major labels to develop artists. Now smash viral hits such as Psy and Baauer are breaking through via these channels. Songs are now not broken from state to state territory to territory but can be broken to the mass market seemingly over night!
Finkel spoke about in Las Vegas how the DJ's are the new superstars, getting offered huge amounts for resident sets. The casino moguls such as Steve Wynn can afford the significant artist fee due to the spend coming over the gambling tables. No longer is Frank Sinatra or Celine Dion the drawcard show business acts in the world's entertainment capital. Now is all Calvin Harris and Steve Aoki - with huge billboards of these DJ's greeting visitors to the desert oasis. His overall goals, although commercial of course, is how can they improve and develop the culture and industry? They did so with the live music industry back in the early 2000's with the creation of Live Nation so watch this space!
Diplo and Instagram founder Kevin Systrom gave a more colourful speech about social media and how relevant it is for artists to engage their fans. This was when Diplo made the now famous comment about DJ Bl3nd having unrealistic number of facebook followers. This led to the manager and Wes havinga debate about his status and popularity and whether it was. A brawl soon enthralled and security called to break it up. Was an off hand comment but it was great to see passion and people standing up for themselves.
I was especially excited to see uber managers Amy Thompson (Swedish House Mafia) and Troy Carter (Lady Gaga) chat. They have similar traits in that their artists have a huge social media community and also make a huge part of their revenue from touring. Lady Gaga is on the road and tries to spend a week in each country she plays, meeting locals, making that connection with her fans. As a result she has planted seeds around the world that continue to germinate. The Swedes on the other hand have just come off a world tour before retiring at the top of their game. They are the first EDM act to sell out Madison Square Garden, after selling it out in minutes.
Carter spoke about great artists who never had social media (Bob Dylan, The Beatles etc) still developed loyal followings. Do it right and the fans will follow. He spoke about the path of an artist is 'to say yes to everything then once you become successful, saying no to everything'. With 35 trucks on the road and investments in 40 odd tech start ups like Littlemonsters.com and Uber, Carter is one busy man. His philosophy on tech investing is based on finding out what drives you and where your curiosities lie. Then put your money where your mouth is!
Amy Thompson spoke passionately (if not slightly potty-mouthed) about the potential threats to the current EDM boom. Having finally gained acceptance in credible music scenes throughout the world we need to be careful not to over expose or exploit it. The absurd valuations may lead to disappointments and financial disasters bringing down artists, sponsors and promoters alike. Saturation may lead to kids getting sick of the culture. She was however more than happy for her artists to work with corporate sponsors such as Absolute Vodka and Carlsberg, saying that this money helps pays for the things that are cool as fuck (I assume she is meaning LED, virtual viral videos and lear jets)
Questions were asked about the future of Swedish House Mafia who are taking a well earned break. Axwell and Engrosso are continuing the Wednesday night residency at Ushuaia in Ibiza while Steve Angello is heading down a more niche and possibly more credible techier house path. For them it is paramount to build a great fan experience. They try not to get caught up with what every other EDM act is doing. Alesso is being groomed as the new protege with a big headline tour underway. Studio time is booked for the fall. Thompson surely plays the role of compromise balancing everyones interests and often bears the brunt of having to make a decision that goes against one or two members interests.
Patrick Moxley the undisputed king of EDM distribution in the US via his label Ultra Music and Sony, spoke with hip hop founding father Russell Simmons of Def Jam fame. He was instrumental in taking the scene off the streets via Run DMC and Beastie Boys to new commercial and mainstream heights. His influcence is still being felt today with urban acts like Jay-Z and Beyonce at the top of the game.
Simmons spoke about busting down the doors of the corporate gatekeepers who were trying to pass up his scene as a passing fad. They hustled their way to the top, fans couldn't hold them back. They gave their music away until the market (that they created) couldn't live with out it.
Def Jam didn't change their ethos or philosophy either, they just got bigger distribution via a major label. Moxley compared it to Sony and Ultra working together now to release the best dance hits from Calvin Harris to Erik Morrillo. Get one foot in the building but protect your neck, keep things real. Love the culture - you should be happy just doing it. Be honest but be quirky. As Moxley said the club will always be the judge of the music.
Russell Simmons had some great quotes and philosophy. When you work the hardest the world will open up. Good givers are great getters. Put your head down and keep engaged. You can't make a good record unless you are fully engaged. Front up. Keep fronting, even when times are tough. He compared this to yoga where you still need to smile and breath even though it hurts. And through this pain come results. Keep giving. Keep fronting. Hip Hop, like the punk movement before it, found popularity with their honesty. Can't last unless it's your heart. Anything is possible. It can't fail until you quit. Operate from a good place. Good ideas come from presence. Once anxiety and stress is out the door ideas and creativity come.
Skrillex finally turned up (apparently he had been out with Diplo til late the night before) to have a discussion with Jeff Rosenthal one of the founders of entreprenuers conference Summit Series.
Sonny spoke about the renaissance on how artists are using technology. From 2004 - 2007 it was all indie or major labels. Now it is about community, having fun, being self made. Every space is ready to be blown up. His crew have been together for 10 years and now reside under his OWLSA label. After finding him self $30k in debt, 3 years later he is in the process of buying a building in Chinatown in downtown LA. He is transforming 11k square feet of facilities for up and coming artists to reside and create. He finds that things happen 50 times faster when all in the same room. Hear hear!
Take time bet on yourself. Any movement is power in numbers. Vibe location, music be inspired. He took a giant leap and is now opening a new chapter. He spent his first million dollars on production. He encouraged the listeners to be yourself and be clever with social media. He sold his Bangarang straight off facebook, no advertising at all! Lucky for some...
Jeff and friends from University philosophy on Summit Series is to gather cool people doing cool shit. They maxed out their credit cards and took 19 people on a ski trip to Park City to be inspired. Guest riders included the founder of Tom's shoes, Dustin Moskoviz from Facebook and the founders of College Humour. Now they want to inspire a generation and have purchased a mountain retreat where they are building an innovation center! They want it to become a modern day Aspen. They want to continue to have conversations with people that change YOU. Leaders create other leaders. Don't keep it real keep it surreal. Beyond imagination.
Key out takes were to invest in what you believe in. Not be in a crowd of people who influence you in negative ways. It is a pioneering world take a risk. Like Pay Pal founders Peter Thiel and Elon Musk who bent the rules of online. Exponential creativity is the by product of the technical world we now live in.
From here we met on the roof of the W for drinks and the networking continued. Was good to catch up with Wade Cawood from Pulse and meet some other agents from The Agency Group and WME. We headed over to Sound arguably the hottest spot in town to catch Boys Noize perform.
Los Angeles has become the undisputed industry home of EDM in the US, if not the world. With its rich musical history and its accessibility to Silicon Valley VC and tech solutions. It's proximity to new club super power Las Vegas and influential music festivals like Coachella and EDC. All coupled with amazing weather and a creative positive outlook. There is no better place to be right now!
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