Today the Wall Street Journal reported that Live Nation Entertainment will be acquiring ~ 50% stake in Insomniac Events, the promotion company behind Electric Daisy Carnival. This has driven fans to decry Insomniac and Pasquale Rotella for selling out to corporate America.
Yes, this is the same Pasquale Rotella who was offered $100 million for Insomniac by SFX months ago and turned it down.
Lighten up dance music fans, it’s all going to be fine.
EDM right now is like hip hop was in the 90s. It’s fresh, exciting and it’s big money. The only difference is that you can book a top name dj that will spin a four hour set and sellout a venue that can hold 20,000 people or more. Very few artists in any genre can do this today and none will play for that long.
The market demand has created an EDM arms race that’s mainly between juggernauts SFX Entertainment and Live Nation.
Live Nation currently owns Cream Holdings (Creamsfield festivals) and HARD Events. Terms of the HARD Events deal weren’t disclosed, but for fans it’s been a frictionless transition.
No one is complaining about how “mainstream” or “corporate” Holyship is.
Live Nation failed with Identity Festival and are looking to secure their position in the market. The ownership stake in Insomniac is a perfect match.
Here’s why….
Pasquale Rotella is best at creating experiences. Electric Daisy Carnival has helped cultivate the electronic music festival scene and has really captured the energy and emotion behind dance music. From carnival rides, vivid art displays and the wild stage performers wandering the grounds, EDC sets themselves apart from most other festivals.
What Rotella and Insomniac have had issues with in the past are legal problems. From bribery allegations a the L.A. Coliseum to be called out by the LA Times, Rotella can’t seem to get away from the people who want to label us all as drug fueled ravers.
Live Nation has the backend to support whatever kind of expansion Insomniac plans. They own venues across the world (full list), the House of Blues chain in America and not to mention distribution through Ticketmaster as well. More importantly, Live Nation has the high level relationships in place and legal team to support Insomniac in whatever market they choose to enter.
In 2012, Live Nation did $5.8 billion dollars in revenue (Billboard). They could have easily purchased Insomniac entirely, but instead they’re taking an equity stake in the company, this isn’t a buyout.
Live Nation has a vested interest in Rotella’s success and must believe in his vision.
So instead of worrying about the Electric Daisy Apocalypse, be happy that Pasquale Rotella was able to find a company that supports Insomniac and will provide the means for them to grow.
You can’t say he didn’t deserve it.
Still worried?
Gary Richards, founder of HARD Events, on working with Live Nation after being acquired,
“Everything that we do is going to stay the same. I just have more resources to work with – more people to help me produce the festival, help me with finances, taxes, contracts – all the stuff that you gotta deal with when producing large shows.
That’s not what I want to really be doing so by working with Live Nation, I can go out and be more creative and do more of the fun stuff and not have to get bogged down with a lot of that nonsense. Everything will still come out of my head; they are just going to help me piece it together a lot more efficiently and run it a lot better.”
Richards says Live Nation will make HARD more efficient than ever: “Before we had an old Chevy and now we have the Ferrari that’s rolling on all cylinders.” via Billboard
It’s going to be okay.
Share On
