EDM.com’s Better of 2021: Trade Leaders – EDM.com
EDM.com proudly publishes 4 installments of annual year-end protection: Trade Leaders, Performances, Music Producers, and Songs.
Oftentimes, end-of-year protection provided by the music business’s huge pool of publications is proscribed to its artists and performers.
In an effort to honor the extraordinary work of the music neighborhood’s unsung folks and types, we have acknowledged 10 business leaders whose contributions helped form the way forward for dance music in 2021.
EVENT ORGANIZER
Zouk Group
Las Vegas, one among EDM’s best markets, noticed a newcomer in Resorts World, who landed on the long-lasting Strip to the tune of $4.3 billion. The bold mission was simply the largest improvement on the block in over a decade.
Dealing with the property’s important nightlife operations is Zouk Group, an illustrious occasions powerhouse out of Singapore that had nearly no presence within the U.S. Although the prospect of testing the waters within the stateside market with a billion greenback mission in Sin Metropolis would possible overwhelm even essentially the most established corporations, Zouk is already displaying they’ve obtained the method and the expertise of their resident DJs to vary the material of Vegas nightlife.
Honorable Mentions: Teksupport | Space Yacht | Insomniac Events
MUSIC COMPANY
Sensorium Galaxy
Sensorium Galaxy
Because the music business raced to the metaverse in 2021, nobody made extra strides than Sensorium Galaxy, who adopted EDM on their quest to revolutionize stay music experiences as we all know it.
Sensorium’s jaw-dropping PRISM portal, which the corporate has referred to as “the world’s most superior metaverse,” affords a glimpse into the way forward for digital live shows and music festivals. It is right here the place a lot of essentially the most famend digital music artists on this planet, similar to Eric Prydz, David Guetta, and Black Espresso, will carry out in VR as a part of an Avengers-like DJ crew dubbed “The Chosen Ones.”
Sensorium’s expertise makes use of 3D scanning and movement seize to map photorealistic avatars of every artist. As well, they’ve additionally developed AI-powered avatars who’re capable of not solely talk with actual people in PRISM, but in addition perform as DJs.
Honorable Mentions: Audius | Beatport | UnitedMasters
MUSIC EXECUTIVE
LP Giobbi
LP Giobbi.
c/o Press
Affectionately often called the “Piano Home Queen,” LP Giobbi’s affect extends far past her music manufacturing skills. A powerhouse DJ and dance music beatsmith, she additionally operates as a pathfinding entrepreneur and business govt.
An ardent feminist, Giobbi based the FEMME HOUSE model in 2019 as a platform to deal with the obvious gender inequity and lack of illustration in digital music, aiming to empower girls to be taught the language of the studio. In just some brief years, the nonprofit has opened a web-based academy for music manufacturing, diversified phases with high-profile companions like Bandsintown, and hosted scores of free instructional workshops.
Along with her nonprofit work, Giobbi additionally holds the titles of North American Music Director for W Motels and Co-Founding father of Animal Speak, an influential file label and artist collective launched in collaboration with Grammy-nominated dance music duo SOFI TUKKER. An unstoppable pressure within the EDM enviornment, Giobbi is on a vigorous campaign to ameliorate its archaic requirements and foster a extra equitable ecosystem for all.
Honorable Mentions: Dušan Kovačević | Jonathan Belolo | Steve Stoute
VISUAL ARTIST
Greg Mike
Greg Mike.
Recess Studios
With NFTs promoting like hotcakes all through 2021, visible designers have been in notably excessive demand. Amongst them is Greg Mike, whose penchant for colorfully wacky, cartoonish characters has made him a family identify for artists seeking to construct communities within the red-hot audiovisual house.
Greg Mike kicked off the yr by reconnecting with NGHTMRE, whom he first met 9 years in the past, and collaborating with the bass music celebrity on a surprising sequence of NFTs referred to as “A Day In The Life.” Extra just lately, he and deadmau5 joined forces to combine and match a wide range of textures, shapes, and objects and use them to 3D-generate a group of 5,555 NFTs referred to as “head5.” Working alongside the legendary digital music producer, he additionally hand painted a lot of bodily mau5heads, which offered at packed pop-up retailers in Denver and Miami for tens of 1000’s every.
Honorable Mentions: Elyn Kazarian | jeeeoook | Anton Reva
RECORD LABEL
Astralwerks
Kito.
Elizabeth Miranda
Because of a dizzying stream of inventive releases and partnerships, the star of Astralwerks grew even brighter in 2021.
To honor the extraordinary work of the music neighborhood’s unsung folks and types, we have acknowledged 10 business leaders whose contributions helped form the way forward for dance music in 2021.
EDM.com’s Better of 2021: Trade Leaders
Groundbreaking long-form musical initiatives grew to become the norm for the Common Music Group-owned label this yr. In February, they joined forces with storied jazz imprint Blue Be aware Information to usher in a brand new wave of lo-fi music by launching their groundbreaking compilation sequence, Bluewerks. Astralwerks went on to launch ZHU’s luxurious DREAMLAND LP, Gorgon Metropolis’s expansive Olympia album, and Kito’s beautiful Blossom EP, amongst many different exceptional works. The latter file was a very modern endeavor that included a music video that includes dancers from Beyoncé’s acclaimed movie and visible album, Black Is King.
Astralwerks, who just lately signed Grammy-nominated duo Bob Moses, additionally dropped numerous celebrated singles in 2021. These embrace “A Drug From God,” a hotly anticipated membership file by Chris Lake and Grimes; California Dreamin’,” an ingenious home observe from Chris Lorenzo that samples the 1965 hit of the identical identify; and “Renegade,” the primary new music in eight years from synthwave pioneer Kavinsky.
Honorable Mentions: Night Bass | Anjunabeats | Drumcode
YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Boiler Room
As if the status of Boiler Room’s warehouse exhibits wasn’t sufficient, the dear acquisition of the fabled digital music model by ticketing platform DICE solely bolstered its significance within the scene this yr.
2021 additionally noticed Boiler Room’s occasions soar the pond from Europe to North America, with exhibits in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto and Miami serving to broaden its affect within the sturdy stateside dance music market. A fast scan of its YouTube channel will immerse you in “needed to be there” DJ units from a meticulously curated checklist of trendsetters, like Manuka Honey, Jordss and Ash Lauryn, in addition to scores of established artists similar to Boys Noize, DJ Boring, Shlømo and 박혜진 Park Hye Jin.
Honorable Mentions: Sol State | Emma Kapotes | Cercle
AUDIO ENGINEER
Kevin “KD” Davis
With decades-long relationships with a few of R&B and hip-hop’s largest artists, famend combine engineer Kevin Davis already has two Grammys beneath his belt for his indelible contributions to albums by OutKast and Ne-Yo. However after 2021, it’s now clear that he’s deeply embedded not solely in these communities, but in addition these within the digital music sphere.
Davis is credited on Virgil Abloh’s early-2021 single, “Delicate Limbs” (with serpentwithfeet), which proved to be the final authentic tune launched by the late DJ and style icon previous to his tragic dying in November. Davis’ stellar work on Subconsciously, the most recent album from legendary South African dance music producer Black Espresso, was very important to its Grammy Award nomination within the class of Finest Dance/Digital Album. He additionally had a hand in mixing Sofia Carson’s Go away Your Coronary heart on the Dance Ground, an EP comprising remixes produced by EDM luminaries Tiësto, R3hab, and Tracy Younger.
Honorable Mentions: DJ Swivel | Randy Merrill | Peppe Folliero
ARTIST MANAGEMENT
Blood Company
Deathpact.
Deathpact
Stewarding one of the influential rosters in each digital and up to date music, Blood Firm’s dedication to activating their shoppers’ artwork in modern methods is unmatched.
For instance, their dedication to intricate, mind-bending advertising and marketing methods for the enigmatic Deathpact left followers chasing the white rabbit like Neo and co. Blood Firm has additionally been very important in cultivating the breakneck profession of Kenny Beats, a former digital music artist and DJ who has solidified himself as one of the sought-after producers in hip-hop. Kenny is joined on the corporate’s roster by Skrillex, Mr. Carmack, Mija, 100 gecs, Boys Noize, Zedd, and lots of extra.
With a number of the most inventive behind-the-scenes work and a celebrity forged, Blood Firm made an announcement this yr. And because the digital dance music scene turns into increasingly more of a technological tinderbox, they maintain the match in 2022.
Honorable Mentions: 2 + 2 Management | Prodigy Artists | Metatone
MUSIC PUBLICITY FIRM
High Rise PR
Aluna.
From late night time tv to the covers of Rolling Stone, Excessive Rise’s A-list shoppers—from Billie Eilish to Tove Lo to Icona Pop—are virtually in every single place. However in 2021, a slew of the agency’s campaigns noticed the careers of their dance music artists attain new heights.
Aluna introduced her first-ever curated music pageant and was interviewed for the pages of Vogue. SG Lewis, whose breakthrough yr included a viral Bee Gees remix on TikTok and a pie-in-the-sky collab with Elton John, launched his debut album and acquired plaudits from Pitchfork, Billboard, Forbes, and NME, amongst different esteemed media retailers. Excessive Rise are ushering a few of dance-pop’s most prolific artists into the general public eye, and the attention for and recognition of their artists—together with Elohim, Ok.Flay and Years & Years—is barely rising stronger.
Honorable Mentions: Falcon Publicity | DK Projects | Sliding Doors Publicity
TALENT AGENCY
Creative Artists Agency
This yr the “large 4” companies grew to become the “large three” after CAA, in a daring assertion, moved to acquire their competitors, ICM Companions. Touted by many as the largest shakeup within the leisure enterprise within the final decade, the acquisition will merge CAA-repped artists like David Guetta and Oliver Heldens with the likes of Skrillex, Alison Wonderland and lots of extra, all beneath one roof.
The landmark deal’s monetary disclosures haven’t but been launched and the impression of the merger might not absolutely be realized for a while. Nevertheless, it’s troublesome to underestimate how its scale, by way of each market attain and negotiation energy, is more likely to profit each CAA and its formidable roster of artists nicely into the long run.
Honorable Mentions: United Talent Agency | Medium Rare | WME