Digital Perspectives on the EDM Industry

1
THOUGHT
SHARING
Perspectives on the EDM
industry, and how EDM-related
brands can harness the power
of technology to strengthen their
connection with their fans.
BEATS,
PIXELS AND
CROWDS

2
Contents
Created by the Keplar team
Directed by_ Jorian Bos
INTRODUCTION
THE EDM INDUSTRY
CHAPTER 1
THE LIVE EDM
LANDSCAPE
CHAPTER 2
THE LIVE CONTENT
EXPERIENCE
Social Media and Live Events
Live Streaming
The Event of the Future
CHAPTER 3
TICKET TECHNOLOGY
Smart Ticketing
Wearable Ticketing
Mobile Ticketing
SUMMARY
Reflections

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EDM is the music of the millennial.
An umbrella term covering a
diverse mix of electronically
produced music with over 200 sub-
genres ranging from dubstep and
trap to techno, trance and house,
EDM is the soundtrack for the
world’s modern twenty-somethings
who have grown up with technology
in the palm of their hand.
Introduction
THE EDM
INDUSTRY
Estimated worth in 2015
Record sales revenue generation
Calvin Harris (top EDM DJ) annual earning
Avicii’s “Wake Me Up” streamed on Spotify
EDM streams in the US
* sources: IMS Report 2015, Nielsen, Google, Spotify
THE GLOBAL EDM INDUSTRY AT A GLANCE, 2015*
$6.9 billion
$1.8 billion
$66 million
200 million
$12 million
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EDM is hardly a new phenomenon,
but its mainstream emergence
certainly is. Perhaps the rise of
this multi-billion dollar market
has to do with our increased
accessibility to newer and better
technologies, whether it is for
listening, experiencing or even
producing. Maybe it is because of
the music industry’s shift towards
a club-oriented sound, or perhaps
it is a response to something
bigger. Whatever the reason, it
makes sense that the music of
the millennials - a generation at
the centre of new technology - fits
our cultural and technological
landscape.
Want to create a hit track? It is
easy to get your hands on a mixer,
keyboard and Macbook (or the ever
popular Teenage Engineerings
op-1). Want to see what other DJs
are producing? Check out their
Soundcloud page. Need a playlist
for a night out? Hit up Spotify. Want
to buy a ticket for a festival? Just
get out your smartphone, search
and buy. Cannot afford one? Enjoy a
live stream from the comfort of your
bedroom.
More and more possibilities are
emerging. So how is the EDM
industry benefitting from new
digital techniques and even helping
to disrupt traditional approaches to
ticket sales, event marketing and
technology?
Better yet, how can it? It is these
questions that form the crux of this
paper.
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Female EDM fans
Male EDM fans
Go out more than twice a week
Average spent on a night out
Growth of interest in EDM amongst 35-49y/o
EDM FANS AT A GLANCE, 2015*
45%
55%
72%
$81
80%
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Chapter 1
THE LIVE
EDM
LANDSCAPE
Contents

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Europe
North America
South America
Asia
Australia
Africa
TOP 80 GLOBAL EDM FESTIVALS
44 events
21 events
6 events
5 events
3 events
1 event
With live music revenues driving a
considerable majority of the EDM
industry’s growth, the rise of the
‘new rave generation’ has given
life to a record number of festivals,
clubs and events associated with
the genre worldwide.
Where there were previously only a
handful of EDM-focused events and
festivals in a select few locations,
they have now penetrated almost
every continent.
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Live music revenue
Average attendance for the top 20 EDM festivals
Tickets sold in the US for EDM-related events
Increase in US festival attendance since 2007
Revenue for 12 largest EDM clubs in the US
LIVE EDM AT A GLANCE, 2015*
$4.4 billion
3.4 million
25%
80%
$505 million
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Europe is the most popular
market for live EDM festivals
and nightlife. As well as having a
high number of celebrated club
venues, it is home to some of the
biggest festivals in the world, with
Belgium’s Tomorrowland ranking
first in terms of prestige and
attendance (over 400,000 people
attended the festival over two
weekends). It also scored a hat trick
winning ‘Best Music Event’ at the
International Dance Music awards
three years in a row. Its success
saw the generation of a Brazilian
edition as well as the US-based
spin-off, Tomorrowworld. Other
notable festivals in the European
market include Mysteryland in the
Netherlands, Austria’s Electric
Love Festival and now Ultra Europe
- a European version of the most
popular US festival. This is a clear
indication of the global convergence
of the EDM market.
The number of EDM-oriented
festivals is rapidly growing, year
on year. But as there is a finite
amount of people to sell tickets
to, every event needs to find new
ways of gaining an advantage over
its competitors. As a result, the
big names behind these events are
continuing to develop new ways to
engage and entertain their legions
of fans and followers.
So with this immense capacity for
growth, what else needs to be done
to ensure that the EDM industry
fulfils its true potential? Let us take
a look at the digital side of things.
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Chapter 2
THE LIVE
CONTENT
EXPERIENCE
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Social media is the ultimate weapon
for any shareholder in the modern
media landscape. So how can the
EDM festivals and events of the
future best incorporate social media
platforms both as a tool to boost
consumer engagement as well as
to increase their digital reach and
presence?
DJs have utilised the power of
social media to great effect,
building and expanding their
fanbases on a global scale. This
is not limited to the obvious
contenders such as Facebook
and Twitter but also includes
content-oriented platforms such
as Soundcloud and Beatport. The
likes of Martin Garrix have taken
full advantage of the acceleration
of these channels, the young DJ
amassing over 22,000 users per
day.
An interesting comparison is that
of festival social media channels
and those of DJs themselves.
Festivals have begun to match and
even exceed the followings of DJs
on social media. The Facebook
following of renowned DJ Hardwell
currently stands at around 6
million likes in comparison to that
of Tomorrowland, which has just
over 5 million. However the real
difference is visible on YouTube.
David Guetta’s most popular
video has been viewed over 80
million times, whereas that of
SOCIAL MEDIA LIVE EVENTSContents

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View project
Tomorrowland has 120 million
views and counting. The Armin Only
Intense tour experience website is
reaching a million 2 minute average
visits.
This is a clear indication that
festivals have the opportunity to
capitalise on their own social media
following as well as that of their
DJ’s and position their own content
accordingly. When considering the
fact that EDM fans under the age
of 25 are more likely to consume
content on YouTube, it is of the
utmost importance that festivals
and all other EDM events leverage
the pulling power of their DJs.
Ultimately, they must focus on
the experience they are offering
to maximise their reach on social
media.
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View project
So how can they achieve this?
Firstly, by acknowledging the
importance of technology. All EDM
festival websites must be designed
with social media in mind. Take the
A State Of Trance Festival website
for example. As well as having
the ability to stream the event
live from YouTube, it also offered
users a media feed alongside the
video stream which was linked to
the #ASOT hashtag. Users could
then tweet and follow all of those
involved in the event, share content
and increase their own follower
count in the process.
However this is just a simple
example of how websites can
incorporate a social media feed that
facilitates real-time sharing. What
about the events themselves?
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Tomorrowland’s video views
Snapchat users under 25
Average tweets per day by EDM fans
EDM fans’ tweets about live experiences in
comparison to fans of other genres
Posts about EDM occurring during a live event
EDM SOCIAL MEDIA AT A GLANCE, 2015*
120 million
71%
11x
30% more
1 in 4
Many other events and festivals
have taken note of this ‘live’
approach to social media. The
incorporation of features like ‘social
media walls’, utilised by the likes
of Alda Events for their clients,
is one method for encouraging
more tweets. But what about the
social platforms themselves?
Snapchat’s exponential growth
and popularity for under 25 year
olds is not to be ignored. Therefore
festival organisers must look to use
popular content sharing platforms
such as Snapchat and Instagram to
promote their acts and engage their
primary ticket-buying demographic.
As millennials continue to exhibit
their appreciation for shared
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View project
experiences, EDM festivals serve
as the perfect trial for finding new
ways to integrate social media.
This could involve supporting the
marketing and digital efforts of the
event using the already extensive
followings of DJs and producers,
or making these experiences more
sharable, interactive and enjoyable
for fans. Live event industry players
should be encouraged to take
initiative with their social media,
leveraging powerful storytelling
and creating more experiences that
are socially and technologically
connected.
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LIVE STREAMING
As previously mentioned, the
number of views held by the world’s
top festivals exceed those of the
biggest DJs. This means that there
is a huge demand for on-demand
video content. However, this content
is usually released once the event
has passed. Those who cannot get
their hands on tickets are turning to
Twitter, Vine and recently Meerkat
and Periscope to see what’s going
on in real time. It is no secret that
post-event video content is always
of the best quality. The views that
Tomorrowland’s most popular
video raked in are testament to
this. However, what about the
content that is shared during the
live event? Should it really be left
up to a twitter feed and some music
journalists to keep millions of
fans without tickets entertained?
The answer is no. Several big
names in the EDM festival game
have stepped up to the plate to
deliver a better experience for fans
who get the chance to attend. A
State Of Trance Festival, based
on Armin Van Buuren’s popular
radio show, offered a live stream
of their 2015 festival which took
place in 8 different locations via
YouTube. 8,000 viewers watched the
Utrecht session, with thousands
more tuning in as the event moved
across the world. Likewise the
2014 Amsterdam Music Festival,
an important date in the European
EDM calendar, engaged over
300,000 fans worldwide with its live
stream offerings.
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Streaming a video in standard definition
EDM Fans willing to pay to see their favourite EDM
DJ’s perform via livestream
LIVE STREAMING AT A GLANCE, 2015*
2mpbs
53%
So why live streaming over
traditional broadcasting? With
almost every EDM fan in possession
of a 3G-ready smartphone and a
fraction of them using paid cable or
satellite subscriptions as detailed in
a recent Netflix survey, the demand
for 4G-capable smartphones will
only increase.
The millennial generation already
boast a higher-than-average
adoption rate of 4G-capable
smartphones. In turn, the demand
for multi-channel content will
also increase, meaning that live
streaming will not just be hoped for
but will be expected as part of all
future EDM events and festivals.
The key strength of live streaming
is its ubiquity. If acknowledged and
its power harnessed, it will place
the EDM industry at the forefront
of this live content experience
revolution.
2015 festival which took place in
8 different locations via YouTube.
8,000 viewers watched the Utrecht
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session, with thousands more
tuning in as the event moved
across the world. Likewise the
2014 Amsterdam Music Festival,
an important date in the European
EDM calendar, engaged over
300,000 fans worldwide with its live
stream offerings.
Contents
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THE EVENT OF THE FUTURE
What groundbreaking new
technologies should EDM
events look to start making
use of in the future? More
importantly, what can they
start developing concepts for
right now?
We’ve already seen the emergence
of 360-degree cameras and their
use for a variety of mainstream
EDM productions. An impressive
example is Tomorrowland’s
after-movie, which was created
in cooperation with YouTube. Its
release coincided with the launch of
a web browser feature that can tap
into a smartphone’s accelerometer.
It was viewed a whopping 5 million
times in the space of one month.
Once the video is fullscreen,
YouTube uses the phone’s
accelerometer to trigger the 360
capabilities, offering an immersive
experience that goes way beyond
traditional video. This feature was
launched on the 13th of March 2015
and stereoscopic 360 content (3D) is
not far behind.
In light of YouTube’s position as
the EDM fan’s go-to platform for
content, it is more than logical for
festivals to take advantage of this
groundbreaking new technology to
provide a post-event experience like
no other. But what about during the
event?
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Virtual reality (VR) is the
buzzword on everyone’s lips at
the moment. Why not create
a festival experience to be
enjoyed in the comfort of your
own home or take the physical
festival experience to the next
level?
It seems likely that in the near
future it will be possible to combine
live streaming with a 360-degree
camera setup to allow for users
to be able to actually feel like
they are at the event. Imagine
watching Hardwell in the middle
of a buzzing crowd without really
being there. This is only the
beginning of the opportunities
that VR will offer event organisers
who want to go the extra mile with
their festival experience. In its
current early stages, VR will not be
widely available for the consumer.
However, once it is and a vast
proportion of fans have access to a
VR console and headset, the world
will be the EDM industry’s sandbox
and they will have plenty of room to
play.
The mainstream music industry
have already taken a stab at
360-degree videos with releases
from the likes of David Guetta, but
imagine a space where people can
actually walk around, talk and listen
to live music without leaving their
houses. Think digital, interactive
music festivals.
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Google’s Cardboard project is
already a push in the right direction
with a product that provides an
inexpensive entry point to VR.
Simply by placing a suitable
smartphone into an inexpensive
stereoscopic headset ‘holder’,
the user has access to a fully
functioning VR setup that could
be used to feature anything from
a music video to an activation
campaign. This approach is ideal for
trialling on millions of attendees at
the world’s biggest festivals. As well
as this, Google recently revealed
‘Jump’, which encompasses a
16-camera ‘Jump Assembler’
mount as well as powerful software
that automatically assembles and
processes the footage captured.
This collaboration with GoPro
indicates that Google are aiming
to be at the forefront of VR
developments and we could not be
happier about it.
In any case, more EDM festivals and
events will soon be able to make
use of 360-degree cameras and VR
as the price barrier lowers. With
products like these being designed
for smartphones and other mass-
owned devices, it is likely that the
mainstream emergence of this
technology will take the millennial
generation and those even younger
by storm. What was merely a pipe
dream a decade ago is only round
the corner and the EDM industry is
in the perfect position to take full
advantage.
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View project
INNOVATION
Keplar Agency is constantly looking
to become a driving force of
innovation in the EDM and festival
industry. We do this by challenging
our clients through innovation-
focussed accelerator programs. We
are looking to push the boundaries
of innovation not only with
technology, but also by creating
ideas that have a positive effect on
the future of events.
An example of this is the award-
winning social engagement music
platform we created for Google+
in corporation with Point-Blank,
Armada Music and DJMag: the
Academy of Electronic Music.
Taking the experience further than
music streaming and live events,
we created an online podium for
upcoming talented producers and
EDM-lovers to share and vote for
each other’s work, connect with
other fans via Google Plus and
engage with the industry through
engaging content.
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Amsterdam-based Open House,
a not-for-profit organisation,
also play a large part in this
revolutionary shift towards creating
a sustainable dance scene.
Other contributors are IDT and
Amsterdam Dance Event with
their ADE Green event, a one-
day conference with a focus on
innovation and social change across
the entertainment industry.
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Chapter 3
TICKET
TECHNOLOGY
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As the number of EDM-oriented
festivals across the world is
expected to increase rapidly in the
coming years, the challenge of
allocating and selling tickets will
become more and more complex.
All promoters and event organisers
will look to make the most return
on their investment in the quickest
and fairest way possible, especially
for those large-scale events and
festivals whose tickets sell out in
record times. How can industry
players compete for the attention
of a growing, albeit limited number
of ticket buying fans? More
specifically, how can these ticketing
systems become more fun, useful
and effective?
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A solution that Keplar Agency has
worked on with Armada Music for
the Armin Only World Tour had
one clear aim: to make the often
stressful process of ticket buying
fun.
Once tickets were announced for
a festival, fans could sign up to
be placed in a queue. This queue
guaranteed them a place in line
for when the general ticket sales
began. The unique part of this
process was that their place in the
queue was not static. By completing
tasks such as inviting other friends
to join the queue, taking part in
surveys and more, users could
move their way up the queue. An
additional idea was that users could
compete with each other by means
of online games to vie for a higher
position. A system like this could
also be adapted to work around
different pricing tiers. The incentive
of being offered an earlybird ticket
in return for completing tasks such
as inviting friends as opposed to
waiting for a general access ticket
is a great one for impatient fans.
The advantage for the event? This
is a smart way to guarantee ticket
sales before any tickets have been
release, providing security for both
the event organisers and ticket
purchasers.
If such a system were to be
scaled for a smaller EDM festival
competitor, their customers
SMART TICKETINGContents

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WEARABLE TICKETS
A great example of a more dynamic
ticketing system that goes further
than simply buying the tickets
was that of Tomorrowworld 2014.
The US-based festival provided
tickets in the form of NFC capable
wristbands, not unlike Disney
World’s MagicBands, onto which
cash could be deposited to allow
for wireless, cashless payments. A
particularly novel use of the band
was found in the inbuilt colour
LEDs which could be controlled by
festival organisers. A sea of shifting
coloured lights made for a unique
visual spectacle.
The use of a wearable band with
smart capabilities allowed for
improvements not only from a
hospitality perspective, but also
offered the opportunity to gain large
amounts of customer data. With
the ability to track the movements
and behaviour of thousands of
attendees, such as seeing which
stages attract which audiences,
where the most popular areas are
for different age brackets and so
forth, festival organisers have the
insights to truly design the ultimate
festival of the future. What if tickets
could be used to enhance the way
we interact with one another?
What if it was possible to curate a
social feed of ticket-holding users
that could communicate online at
a festival? Think of it as a private
twitter channel for those lucky
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enough to be there: an exclusive
privilege. What if by touching
wristbands together, wearers could
automatically follow each other
on Twitter, Instagram and more?
Or perhaps by using an official
app they could locate each other,
using the GPS capabilities of the
wristbands. The wearable trend is
only just taking off and there is still
a lot more to be explored. What if
by touching wristbands together,
wearers could automatically follow
each other on Twitter, Instagram
and more? Or perhaps by using an
official app they could locate each
other, using the GPS capabilities of
the wristbands. The wearable trend
is only just taking off and there is
still a lot more to be explored.
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MOBILE TICKETS
As smartphone batteries get better,
there could be a shift from wearable
tickets to smartphone-based
ticketing systems. Companies are
now striving to innovate and develop
frictionless ticketing systems.
With an abundance of on-hand
technology to leverage off of, events
do not have recreate this technology
in the form of a wristband.
As well as the technologies
mentioned above, there are
ticketing apps making use of clever
methods for ticket verification
such as selfie recognition or colour
synchronising. These use smart
algorithms to synchronise the
display on the user’s phone with the
entry device to quickly glance at and
easily verify entry.
Where will tomorrow’s ticketing
technology take us? Regardless, we
will see more of a shift to smarter
systems that do not simply rely
on crossing fingers in the hope
for a server response. There will
be more uses of NFC, BLE and
wearable technology as the cost-
effectiveness of deploying these
solutions increases. We are to see
more events using new ways to
gain competitive advantages and
the big names putting their weight
behind bespoke systems designed
purely to enhance their attendees’
experiences.
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eeds to do to
The EDM industry - valued
at $6.9 billion - continues
its rapid growth with a staggering
$4.4 billion derived from live music
revenues
The number of EDM festivals
across the world is
increasing, as well as audience
capacity with a tenfold increase in
attendance in US festivals alone
since 2007
The largest EDM festivals are
matching and exceeding
the social media following of the
world’s biggest DJs with YouTube
being the most important channel
to deliver on- demand content
To ensure future growth, EDM
festivals and events need
to use the right social platforms,
leverage powerful storytelling
SUMMARY
REFLECTIONS
The EDM industry is already
helping to disrupt traditional
approaches to ticketing,
marketing and technology in
a number of ways. Here is a
summary of where it stands
and what it needs to do to
make that growth bigger and
better:
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and create more experiences that
are socially and technologically
connected
Developments in technology
and the abundance of
high-speed internet access
combined with an internet-savvy
demographic means delivering live
stream content will become more
important to the EDM industry as a
whole
With lower price entry
barriers, 360-degree camera
technology and VR will be the
perfect solutions for the EDM
industry to create more immersive
and interactive live events
Smarter ticketing solutions
will be of greater
importance as EDM events look to
improve consumer engagement
opportunities and gain competitive
advantages in the marketplace
The rise of wearable
technology for tickets can be
used to design more efficient events
and create more socially-integrated
experiences, both physically and
digitally
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Thanks for reading Keplar
Agency’s vision for the
digital future of the live EDM
industry.
We hope you were inspired by what
we touched upon. If you have any
thoughts, questions or issues you
would like to raise with us, please
do not hesitate to get in touch.
THOUGHT
SHARING

33
RESEARCH SOURCES
International Music Summit: IMS Business Report, 2014
The EDM industry is worth how much?!?!: Chris Coplan, Consequence of Sound, 2014
EDM Biz Worth $6.2bn (Report): Andrew Hemp, Billboardbiz, 2014
EDM industry continues to boom, though new opportunities should be pursued: CMU Editorial, CMU, 2012
Electronic Dance Music (EDM) Fan Behavior Differs Greatly From That of Other Music Fans: EventBrite, 2013
The Economics of Electronic Dance Music Festivals: Thierry Godard, Smartasset, 2015
EDM Social Media Listening Project: Eventbrite, Beatswitch, 2014
Electronic Dance Music (EDM): The Digital Panagea: Chairman’s Letter, Massive Advisors, 2015
EDM Festival Attendance Dominates All Genres: Amber Lashbaugh, Raverafting, 2013
Google Releases New Statistics On EDM’s Growth In 2014: Lucas, YourEDM, 2015
EDM Fans: The Breakdown: Katie Bain, insomniac, 2014
An annual study of the Electronic Music industry: Kevin Watson, IMS Business Report, 2015
Electronic Dance Music Study Identifies Hyper Social Sharing: Eventbrite, 2015

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