Reshaping the Dance Music Economy
A post-lockdown boom has turbo-charged the dance music economy, pushing up many artists' booking fees. But with some local promoters feeling the squeeze, how sustainable is this new reality?
The resurgence of clubbing and the wider live music industry has brought with it a higher demand for artists, driving up booking fees across the industry—sometimes to staggering degrees.
On paper, higher pay for artists is a reasonable proposition, especially after years of lockdowns, dancing bans and cost-of-living increases. But any gains from this recent spike will inevitably disproportionately benefit big-ticket names and their major agencies. On the losing end are the smaller clubs and promoters, and their customers—particularly outside of Western Europe, Australia and the US.
In the Czech Republic, where the economy has been disrupted severely by the war in Ukraine, many venues are operating on razor-thin budgets. Citing rampant inflation, high energy costs and a local population "generally going out less," Sanjin Nesimi, cofounder and head booker at Prague club Ankali, has had to adopt a "much harsher" negotiation approach with agents in order to ensure the club's survival.
"We've set a number we don't cross when it comes to artist fees and constantly push to achieve a better balance between local and international fees," he told Resident Advisor.
Rising booking fees can be attributed to several social and economic factors—inflation, economic instability, rising flight costs—most of which show no signs of subsiding. The ripple effects from these could threaten the growth and heterogeneity of emerging scenes.
Also, as the festival market continues to mushroom and new high-income markets (such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) open their doors, sky-high fees are becoming increasingly normalised, particularly during the summer season.
"The festival factor makes all the difference," said Miguel Lega, founder and creative director of Bogotá's AMB agency and The Hindie Corporation. "Agents, of course, get used to these kinds of fees over time."
When fees go up, promoters often have to make the difficult choice of either raising ticket prices or absorbing the costs themselves. As international bookings are generally settled in US dollars or euros, this becomes especially challenging in areas with weaker currencies, which generally sit outside of the richest parts of the world.
Exchange rates have been a long-standing concern in Lega's home of Colombia, where the peso has devalued 57 percent against the US dollar since 2018, effectively adding a massive premium on top of rising booking costs.
All industries are subject to global economic pressures, and the tendency of agents to maximise returns for themselves and their clients is a given in the framework of market capitalism. But things get murkier within the culture of underground dance music, where agencies, artists and promoters tend to profess a community-oriented ethos.
"The techno and house music industry was supposed to be underground, but I don't think it's the case anymore—it's at risk of becoming the new EDM, based on instant gratification," said Lega. "But I don't really blame the industry for going this way. At the end of the day, we have to eat."
From Prague, Nesimi questions whether this state of "constant growth" is worthwhile for the scene more broadly. "I'm not saying international artists who are touring and playing for years or decades don't deserve to be paid well," he said. "But the differences are often enormous, and these huge economic imbalances, in my opinion, don't reflect the values on which the underground scene should stand."
Indeed, a handful of established agencies have carved out increasingly powerful positions in the international tour sector, leveraging bidding wars and extensive artist rosters to manipulate prices in their favour. Several promoters suggested that some agents aren't always transparent with their clients, holding back offers that could lead to career development opportunities in favour of premium fees.
Of course, no two agents are alike. Some are receptive to offers that take local market conditions and long-term development potential into account. Hannah Shogbola, founder of creative consultancy Daju and agent at United Talent Agency, explained how this works.
"It's an agent's job to ensure good fees for their clients, but we have to be realistic and have to ensure a deep understanding of the promoters we work with and their circumstances," she told RA. "All of our decisions are on a case-by-case basis, so promoters should bring evidence to support their case. But if anyone is inflating their fees with no grounds, you should question that."
Mor Elian, a DJ, producer and label boss based in Berlin, agreed. "I think a rise in fees is expected and normal, but should be reasonable and a bit flexible," she told RA. "Deals have certainly changed for some promoters, with some festivals barely making money or ending up in deficit, even when they sell out or come close to selling out."
However, even a sympathetic understanding between booker and agent may not always be enough to reconcile challenging economic conditions. "Agents are sympathetic to a degree, and it's important to have an honest dialogue with them, but there's no avoiding the fact that we now have to play with very risky budgets," said Mathieu Constance, a talent booker for Courage! and Multicolore, the Montreal-based company behind Piknic Électronik and Igloofest. "More and more, we have to completely sell out our shows in order to make money."
He added: "We're rarely able to compete with bigger markets in North America when submitting Friday or Saturday night offers for major artists. We're lucky to be able to offer things like Sunday gigs at Piknic, but it's gotten more difficult for emerging crews who don't have the luxury to be as adaptable."
As well as competing with booking fees, promoters outside of the European tour circuit must also contend with longer flight times that may seem undesirable to artists faced with demanding tour schedules. Sometimes flight costs fall to the agency, directly impacting the artist's payout.
According to Shogbola, "in terms of the current economic situation, the biggest aspect for my clients is travel. It's just so expensive right now, sometimes four to five times more than it has been historically. This makes it difficult for clients to go outside the scenes they're based in, as we generally want to avoid big fee increases. So quite often, we just have to say no to international shows."
RA spoke to another internationally touring DJ (who asked to remain anonymous) about her recent experiences. "We recently did a tour in Australia and the flights were so expensive, like double what they were before," she said. "Because of that, we had to take on some shows that we wouldn't have normally to get ourselves there. Sometimes the better shows just pay less."
Already at a geographical disadvantage, the reduced financial muscle of bookers in peripheral markets threatens the worldwide growth of electronic music, which has introduced a laudable degree of diversity into an overwhelmingly white industry.
"We also tried to put together a South America tour and it just wasn't working," the anonymous artist added. "The fees that I was getting offered were just not enough to cover the cost of everything—it was basically a break-even situation."
In a bid to navigate this new reality—while keeping their events accessible, their organisations solvent and their bookings exciting—some promoters have had to adapt their tactics. For example, by reframing offers to include unique, localised benefits.
"All this has made me reflect more on the value Montreal offers touring artists, and had led me to better formulate this story when engaging with agents," Mathieu told RA. "It's a win for artists to become known in a new market, and we offer to invest in a long-term relationship to help them scale over time."
While some promoters have responded to economic fluctuations with safe, conservative programming, others have redoubled their focus on growing their local underground culture. Ouissam Mokretar, cofounder and head booker of Hanoi club Savage, stresses the importance of cultivating local and international relationships over time.
"For us, the best approach is to invest in strong residents and up-and-coming internationals while building trust with agents," he said. "If you consistently offer high-quality events, people will trust you, and if they trust you, they will always follow you."
On the value of local artists, Ankali's Nesimi agreed. "For years I've felt there's a huge imbalance in the scene when it comes to fees," he said. "It very often happens that so-called headliners (or, more precisely, international guests) don't bring that many extra people to the club. What does bring people to the club, on the contrary, are local artists and crews."
Recognizing the rise of a new generation of ravers who discovered dance music in the pandemic, some bookers have pivoted towards new sounds and artists. But betting on momentary hype also carries risks. For Lega in Bogotá, it's important to take an inclusive, educational approach with younger crowds.
"You have to view the industry as a diverse ecosystem that moves in cycles," he said. "We've been bringing in old-school artists who play the harder, faster style that is getting popular today, helping the different generations meet each other halfway without compromising on our creative vision. That's the only thing that will carry throughout the years."
Mor Elian also believes it's important that DJs remain flexible and adapt to their crowds. But she also warned that rapidly rising trends tend to fall out of favour just as quickly.
"You have a new generation in the club and there's been an 'infiltration' of the EDM aesthetic and culture in spaces that were previously considered more 'underground,'" she said. "With these new crowds and their different styles of consumption and shorter attention spans, we see more music being played that cosplays as underground when in reality it's EDM."
Ultimately, part of the solution for smaller promoters may lie in increased communication and coordination. This could help level the playing field in line with the communitarian ethics many underground collectives share.
"Nowadays we're seeing more discussion regarding the 'back-end' of the industry, with promoters coming out and sharing their knowledge and experiences," said Mathieu. "We need to have open and public dialogue on these issues to counter the gatekeepers and their secrets."
Credit: Resident Advisor
