Fast Money: the Tech Bro & the Million Dollar DJ Gig

The spectacular implosion of a tech startup called "Fast" reveals how venture capital, start-ups & influencer culture are burning up the EDM scene.

Your AirPods Are Tiny Bombs

Your AirPods will last longer on this planet than your bones, if they doesn't explode first.

2021: A Bass Idiocy

Harold Heath drags you through another tumultuous year in dance music. You're going to re-live it, and you're going to LIKE it

Spotify has made millionaires. Almost none of them are musicians.

Spotify's Serfs: A new report breaks down the Black Box of Streaming and the brutal financial realities of the music industry's streamonomics.

My Life in Analog Hell

It started with a Roland Juno-106. Thousands of dollars later, I had all this beautiful analog gear and couldn't write a note on it. A year in analog hell by Ed Martinez.

Spotify, which pays little, wants to pay artists even less

Spotify's last money-grab from artist royalties alarmed government investigators. Now they're grabbing even more.

Unbowed by past apologies, Tulum superspreader event Art With Me is coming to America

Meditation is free but the enlightenment will cost you.
Downsampled

Downsampled

How the frenzied sale of music publishing will change sample culture.
frankie knuckles

The house that Frankie Knuckles built for us

How we keep Frankie a part of our lives and the soul of the architect in the house he built for us.
Right Wing Dance Squads

Right Wing Dance Squads

UK dance music has always been about freedom. But are we really going to march with the far right?

Namaste Bros: superstar DJs and plague raves in paradise

The party never ended for the rich - or the superstar DJs capitalizing on slack lockdowns in Mexico.
Resident Advisor Tote Bag-a-Go-Go

Save Yourself

Nobody is coming to save our scene, especially not the ticket brokers who launched the hashtag.
Photo of record crate

In 2021, support people. Screw the brands.

If we say we care about the history of this music, we need to stop enabling the ones that fucked it up.
The Mic

#PassTheMic – Why dance music needs its singers

Why have the vocalists become almost invisible in dance music coverage these days? The answer (probably won't) surprise you.
Pioneer CDJ-3000

Why is Pioneer paying everyone to write about the CDJ-3000?

All discussion of the "industry standard" on the largest dance music media sites has been paid for by Pioneer itself.

The White House once again leaves nightclubs in limbo

America's music venues have been tossed a lifeline in the Save Our Stages Act, which is now part of the stimulus package being held hostage by the White House.
Ron Hardy and Robert Williams

Dancing While Black, Young and Queer in the 1970s

Lessons from Robert Williams: How dealing with the police was an essential part of dancing while Black, queer and young in the 1970s.

Purged: How a failed economic theory still rules the digital music marketplace

A discredited economic theory is still guiding the decisions of most digital music labels today - even if they don't know it. This is the dumb theory of the Long Tail and how a tsunami of shitmusic destroyed it.
Boiler Room Is Changing, But DJs Turning Knobs Is Forever

Boiler Room Is Changing

Boiler Room - the broadcasting platform which brought the party (and DJs turning knobs) into living rooms around the world - is changing. The company has unveiled parts of a new business model involving "brand fee/royalties" and a quasi-franchised version of the Boiler Room experience coming to a town near you.
DJ Streaming

What Happens When DJs Don’t “Own” Their Record Collections Anymore?

You don't own that file, you license it, and with streaming it can easily be taken away. Microsoft naturally shows us a dystopian vision of the future of licensed culture.

MUST READ!

Brutal layoffs at Bandcamp as new owner slashes 50% of staff

A week after promising to preserve many of the site's most beloved features, Bandcamp's new owner has gutted the company's staff. The writing team at Bandcamp Daily is reportedly down to just 3 people.