Amsterdam Dance Event once again proves itself to be not just a conference but a vital part of the electronic music world, David Balfour reports.

24 October 2014 - Editorial

We’ve always been huge fans of Amsterdam Dance Event. It’s one of the most vital, interesting and useful events in our annual calendar. However, it’s hard to look back at the 2014 edition without being forced to reflect on four tragic deaths which marred the event. The fact that popular and respected UK executive Felix Hines was one of the deceased has cast an especially dark shadow over this year’s conference. 

Whilst the deaths at ADE 2014 were undoubtedly tragic, we feel it would be a mistake to try and come up with a summary or opinion of what happened. It’s been officially acknowledged that drugs were involved in some of those deaths. This raises questions over security, door policies, availability of drug testing facilities and even government policy. These are perennial questions for both the club industry and society at large. We feel that they have little directly to do with the ADE event itself. To suggest that the organisers can be held in any way responsible for the actions of all the individuals who attend the event would be wrong. We prefer therefore to focus on what makes ADE each and every year one of the most valuable and useful events we attend.

One clear theme of ADE 2014 was the increased presence of the US companies and the term EDM. This was slightly baffling to many European delegates, who view the electronic music world from a longterm perspective where development tends to be steady. Whilst there has always been a healthy presence of US labels and services at ADE, this year things exploded. What seemed especially new was a large number of individuals and businesses determined to cash in on / invest in the pop culture explosion that has been the rise of EDM and electronic music events in the US.

In many respects, the rush of new business interest in EDM didn’t seem like a positive development. Whilst any kind of growth in the music industry is to be welcomed, what seemed clear from meetings we held is that a significant number of new US businesses have no cultural connection with electronic music – for them it’s a pure investment and profit opportunity. EDM has arrived, it’s massive and investors want a piece of it. Should we be concerned?

One could argue that a rising tide lifts all boats and that the growth of the US market is generally good news for all participants in electronic music. Nevertheless, what concerned us about some of the presentations we witnessed is that some investors seemed determined to implant themselves within business models and revenue streams which previously worked relatively well without their participation. Do we really need to pay a service to track and attempt to monetise the use of mix content online, for instance? Isn’t that something that services should be taking care of, without rightsholders having to pay an additional revenue cut to a third party? This was just one example of several where companies had identified a ‘market opportunity’ and were trying to convince rightsholders that they needed to pay to make the most of it. Whilst these kind of arrangements might work for the David Guettas of the world, many of them feel like a speculative attempt to grab rights and the value contained within them. 

One theme which was unsurprisingly central to this year’s ADE was that of streaming. The electronic business has to date been strongly weighted towards the download model, not least because this is the preferred digital format of DJs. The growing popularity of streaming however, combined with the huge mainstream take-up of EDM in the US, has meant that streaming access to electronic music is now fully logical. Beatport, one of the corporate behemoths of the electronic business, has now acknowledged the importance of streaming, after sticking rigidly to its download model for years. It announced the launch of a streaming play at ADE which will be fully focused on the millions of EDM fans it can now access in a live context following its acquisition by SFX Entertainment. Beatport accounted plans to launch an ad-supported streaming service which will be also be integrated with ticketing sites and which will be focused unashamedly on the mainstream consumer, not the DJ audience that has traditionally formed its core user base.

Another major streaming play announced at this year’s ADE was the launch of a new enhanced model from US-based company Digitally Imported. This new service plans to expand its model beyond its traditional lean-back non-interactive radio service, adding on-demand streaming features alongside downloads and other new interactive features. Once again, this is a company targeted at an increasing number of electronic fans and looking to make a significant business from this genre alone.

The fact that these businesses are now preparing an electronic-only streaming play speaks not only for the growth of the genre, but suggests that the streaming model has developed to such an extent that a service which isn’t necessarily full-content can still be a realistic business proposal. What was also clear from this year’s ADE however was a belief that there are still plenty of legs left in downloads too. The format is still the best one for digital DJs and whilst DJ-focused streaming platforms are in existence, none have yet broken through.

Another interesting element of ADE 2014, as every year, is just how many people were attending the conference as delegates. The conference sold out weeks in advance, despite having a 5000+ capacity. There are a huge number of people engaged in electronic music. It would be true to say however that only a tiny proportion of them are solely involved in the recorded music business. A defining characteristic of electronic music is that labels, DJ and even executives tend to find their income from a variety of sources including live, recorded music, publishing, merchandising and beyond. We’d suggest that it is a relative few for whom live work is not by far the most important revenue stream. On that front, the future looks largely positive. Whilst Europe’s electronic scene has not enjoyed the huge recent growth seen in the US, it’s nevertheless healthy and well-developed. The addition of new international opportunities in the US only reinforces what was already a pretty sustainable music scene.

It will be interesting to see in coming years whether the explosion of US EDM can be sustained, or if it will wane as quickly as it arrived. We suspect the huge recent growth and speculation that follows is something of a bubble. The underlying health of electronic genres however is fully secure and fully sustainable. ADE, as one of the best-organised, best-located and most enjoyable conferences to be found anywhere in the world, looks assured of a bright and important longterm future. What ADE has, which so many conferences lack, is a place in the hearts and the actual businesses of the community it seeks to celebrate. Not only is ADE a popular event, it’s also a crucial contributor to the health of the entire electronic music scene. How many conferences can claim similar?