EDC is just around the corner and like a lot of you, we can’t wait to be under the electric sky. If you can’t make it, check out the live stream. There is however, one important conference that takes place right before EDC, and that is EDMbiz. EDMbiz is a conference that takes place June 16th-18th. It is the fourth annual conference and this year it is taking place at the Cosmopolitan on the Las Vegas strip. The final list of speakers and programming was released June 9th, including USC’s Chad Anderson. Great keynote events, panel discussions and networking events are standard fare at EDMbiz. This year though, there are two new initiatives that focus on going beyond just industry folk. There are two new initiatives which are the Startup Contest and Best Record/A&R Contest.
The Startup Contest is perfect for those with new ideas with anything having to do with the EDM community business side of things. For people who are coming up with new ideas either for clubs, festivals, new technologies and anything else, this contest is for them. Those that submit their ideas will then be picked and only five finalists will be chosen. Judges will then carefully consider all of the business propositions and consider them based on various criteria such as presentation, innovation and potential to disrupt. The winner of this contest will be select by A-list capital investors and other executives with the possibility of funding and starting the idea.
The second contest is the Best Record/A&R contest which aims to quickly elevate an artist’s career. This contest works similar like the Startup Contest but in this case the artists submits their tracks online and it gets voted on for points.The artists that end up with the most votes will move on to the final stage where they will get judged by EDMbiz’s own judges. Those that make it past the judges will then get the chance to present their track(s) live to a panel of A&R executives from the industry’s best record labels. The lucky winner will get their track released by Insomniac Records and the exposure and released tracks could definitely boost any starting artists career.
Although EDMbiz already has a big focus on the dance music community, business and technology is always growing and expanding. These two new contests shine the spotlight on those that may not already be in the business but have amazing ideas or talent. With these two new contests, as well as the plenty of keynote speeches, EDMbiz is a great way to get to know more about the industry and make new contacts and leads. If you didn’t get a chance to make it this year be sure to check out the contests for next year. Will you be going to EDMbiz or EDC? Let us know what you are looking forward to below, on Facebook or Twitter.
Important things happen in Pacific Northwest nightlife, and DMNW will send you alerts!