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How Marketing Has Grown and Evolved the Modern Day Electronic Dance Music Industry

By Arielle Chraim

Submitted to the School of the Arts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

degree of Bachelor of Arts in Arts Management

Purchase College

State University of New York

December 2015

Accepted:

_________________________________, SponsorDawn Gibson-Brehon

__________________________________, Second ReaderInsert name of second readerAnnmarie Gatti

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Table of Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………. 13

Electronic Music Industry Analysis………………………………………………………3is 4

Electronic Music Industry History……………………………………………………….. 45

Insomniac Events History………………………………………………………………… 89

Insomniac Events Programming…………………………………………………………. 1110

Insomniac Events Experience……………………………………………………………. 1112

Insomniac Events Marketing…………………………………………………………….. 134

Good Looks Collective…………………………………………………………………... 156

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….. 178

Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………… 201

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Introduction

In an age when electronic dance music has become mainstream and many festivals that

are centered around the musical genre are boasting hundreds of thousands of attendees per year,

it is important to question how all of this has come to be. While many will say that the success of

electronic music festivals is simply due to the growing interest in the genre, this does not seem to

be the only factor at hand here. General admission tickets for Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas

2015, a festival put on by electronic music giant, Insomniac Events, sold out in early February,

while the festival does not take place until June. (Insomniac Editorial Team.) This begs the

question of how it is possible for a festival to have such a strong fan base that people will spend

upwards of $400 on a ticket before even knowing who will be headlining the event. For this

paper, I will be focusing on the marketing strategies and success of Insomniac Events, which is

unquestionably one of the largest and most successful organizations that hosts electronic music

events, and partners with corporations such as Live Nation and Interscope Records. This paper

will also include an analysis of Good Looks Collective.

This summer, I worked as a performer at Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival New York.

I was a hula hoop dancer for an art installation titled “The Dandelion Forest” by an organization

called SpinCycle. The art installation was in between two stages and consisted of large dandelion

sculptures and three turf covered platforms for the performers. We each were required to work

three two hour shifts on one day and then have one day off. I worked the first day and had the

second day off and was able to attend the festival for free. While walking around and attending

the festival, I thought about what it was about this event that so many people would pay

hundreds of dollars to attend. By working at and attending an event put on by Insomniac, I was

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able to get an insiders perspective. And through exploring the festival, I was able to get a better

understanding of what Insomniac’s CEO, Pasquale Rotella has in mind for what his events are

like for the audience and what it is that attracts so many people to them.

In addition to doing research into Insomniac Event’s marketing, I also did some research

on a smaller company that hosts electronic dance music events, to compare. This company is

Good Looks Collective. I was able to get an interview with Trevor Titley, the C.E.O. of the

company, and ask him a few questions about how he started the company and his goals for it.

This company is based more locally, out of New York City, and has only been around since

2012. Although it is still a fairly new company, Good Looks has already begun to make a name

for themselves in the electronic dance music and entertainment scene. They are an interesting

company to compare and contrast to a giant and very successful company like Insomniac Events

because of their similar humble beginnings and growing success in the industry.

Electronic Music Industry Analysis

So what exactly is electronic dance music? For the purpose of this paper, electronic

dance music will be defined as “a broad range of subgenres of electronic music that is created

with the use of computers and various disc jockey (DJ) equipment and is produced mainly for the

use of entertainment at nightclubs, raves and festivals.” The electronic music industry will be

defined as the organizations which host, promote and market events that consist of performances

by artists in the electronic dance music genre. In this paper, we will be looking specifically at

two organizations, Insomniac Events and Good Looks Collective. Insomniac Events was

established in 1993 in California, and hosts multi-million dollar events yearly. (Mac, Ryan.)

Good Looks Collective was initially established as a clothing company in 2011 in New York,

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and slowly became an electronic dance music event hosting organization over the past four

years. (Titley, Trevor.)

While many of the events that are thrown today by both Insomniac Events and Good

Looks Collective would not be considered raves, they are often lumped into the same category

by those who are unfamiliar with the difference. For this paper, a rave is considered an

underground electronic dance music party, often held illegally in a warehouse or other type of

abandoned venue. A concert is a legal show that is put on by a venue which hires a professional

artist or artists to perform for a night or multiple nights, usually in a row. A music festival, in the

case of what this paper pertains to, is a large outdoor event that hosts multiple stages and many

artists who have different set times, it usually will last an entire day or for multiple days in a row.

Electronic Music Industry History

The history of the electronic music industry can differ depending on one’s definition of

“electronic music”. While initially electronic music was the recording of sounds made from

instruments or other objects running on electricity, over time it became what we refer to it as

today, which could be more accurately referred to as “computer music”. The recording industry

began with the invention of the phonograph in 1877 by Thomas Edison. The invention of the

photograph, allowed for sounds to be recorded and played back for the first time. (Encyclopedia

Britannica, Inc.) In 1895, Thaddeus Cahill began experimenting creating electrical signals to

sound using rotary generators and telephone receivers which he called the telharmonium.

However, with amplifiers and loud speakers having not yet been invented, Cahill’s quiet,

complex and impractical instrument ultimately failed. (Hiller, Lejaren.)

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An Italian painter by the name of Luigi Russolo, was another early experimenter of

synthesized sound and electronic music. He built a number of instruments, but not much else is

known about his music, since most of it vanished during World War II. Technology began to

advance in the early 20th century and into the World Wars. Audio-frequency technology was

invented and by the late 1920s, electrical recording had replaced mechanical acoustical

recording. There was a burst of interest in the 1920s to create new instruments. A few notable

inventions include the theremin by Leon Theremin in 1920, the Ondes Martenot by Maurice

Martenot in 1928 and the trautonium by Friedrich Trautwein in 1930. Several inventors also

began creating electric organs around this time, the most successful being the Hammond organ,

which was patented in 1934 by Laurens Hammond. Musique concrète became popularized in

France in the 1940s. Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry began to produce tape collages in 1948

with the help of their associates at Radiodiffusion et Télévision Française in Paris. (Hiller,

Lejaren.)

By the 1950s, the tape recorder had been invented and gave composers an exciting new

instrument to work with. Some worried that tape music would begin to replace live

performances. As tape music began to gain popularity and support, electronic music studios

began to be established in Europe as well as the United States by the late 1950s. Musique

concrètre continued to be popular into the 50s, with pieces such as Schaeffer and

Henry’s Symphonie pour un homme seul (1950) and Henry’s Orphée (1953) were two of the

most popular and successful. In the mid-fifties, a composer by the name of Herbert Eimert

opened the first electronic music studio in Cologne, Germany. At the studio, electronically

generated sounds, rather than concrete sounds, were created. The studio was also the first to use

electronic sound modifications such as filtering and modulating while others were still using tape

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manipulation. The studio became famous for helping Germany reemerge as a dominant force in

new music. These type of studios began opening in cities all across Europe and eventually

reached the United States towards the end of the 1950s. In the early 1950s, most electronic music

that was created in the U.S. was done so under experimental and improvised circumstances. Two

American composers at Columbia University, Otto Luening and Vladimir Ussachevsky, created

their own studio at the university and gained attention collaborating to create unique and modern

compositions. By the late 50s, other electronic music studios were being built all over the

country in universities and became important in both composing and teaching. (Hiller, Lejaren.)

By about 1960, electronic music engineers began using a new circuit called the voltage-

controlled oscillator (VOC) to produce sound. Moderately priced compact synthesizers were first

developed by a man by the name of Robert Moog. In 1968, an album made with Moog’s

synthesizers by Walter Carlos called Switched-on-Bach became commercially successful.

(Hiller, Lejaren.) Popular bands of the late 60s and early 70s, such as Pink Floyd and The

Beatles, used synthesizers to create electronic sounds in their revolutionary music. Kraftwerk, a

band formed in the late 60s, used rhythms from other bands, such as Led Zeppelin, and paired

them with synthesizer produced electronic sounds. Their sounds began inspiring other artists to

create electronic music. A producer by the name of Giorgio Moroder, collaborated with popular

artists such as Donna Summer and David Bowie, to begin to bring music with electronically

produced sounds to the mainstream. (Gibson, Nick.)

During the 1980s, electronic music was becoming popular in nightclubs. Bands were able

to use new technology to create “synthpop”. Rock music was often combined with electronic

sounds by musicians of the time. People began to hate disco, and so it moved underground to

warehouses where DJs began to experiment with their own edits and remixes. As DJs began

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creating and recording their own music, record store owners coined the term “warehouse music”

to describe the genre, which later became shortened to simply “house music”. While house music

and techno originated in the United States, it was in Europe where the rave scene began to

evolve. Clubs in London became so rowdy that they were shut down by law enforcement, but

rather than stop the party, they moved it outdoors, to empty fields. These outdoor parties paved

the way for the rise of raves and music festivals. As the parties grew in attendance, law

enforcement had to try harder to shut down the events. In response, rather than stopping, the

parties just moved further underground into secret abandoned venues. (Godard, Thierry.)

Throughout the 1990s, electronic music became even more popular and different genres began to

emerge. With computer technology, producing electronic music became more accessible. Raves

became popularized for both the music and those who enjoyed a night out of dancing, often

accompanied by various party drugs. Insomniac was created in 1993, and this company as well

as others began hosting electronic dance music events on a weekly basis.

By the 2000s, electronic music had impacted the entire mainstream music industry. Pop

artists where using electronic music in their songs. Songs produced by DJs where making their

way to the top of the charts. There still remained a more underground aspect of some of the

genres under electronic dance music, and raves where still around. This was the decade in which

DJs, such as Daft Punk and Tiësto, began appearing at music festivals and creating huge fan

bases. The internet, mainly websites such as YouTube and SoundCloud, where aritsts could

share their work have made electronic music easier to access than ever. The late 2000s and early

2010s was when electronic music festivals started emerging and becoming a part of modern day

culture. Today there are electronic music festivals held on a yearly basis all over the world. Not

only has electronic dance music become a modern day cultural norm, but so has attending

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electronic music events and festivals. It has developed into multiple sub-cultures, including those

who like mainstream EDM and attend large festivals with popular DJs, and those who enjoy the

different and emerging artists who often play at more underground and no longer necessarily

illegal raves or concerts. (“The History of EDM”) Back in the 1990s, electronic music festivals

didn’t even exist. EDM lovers mainly attended raves which drew between several hundred to a

few thousand people, depending on the size of the venue and how many tickets promoters were

able to sell. In 2015, electronic dance music festivals are able to host their events in stadiums and

on campgrounds that are able to host hundreds of thousands of attendees. (Romero, Dennis.)

Electronic dance music has taken the modern day by storm and for those who wish to pursue a

career in producing or DJing, now is a better time than ever before.

Insomniac Events History

Insomniac Events was founded in 1993 by Pasquale Rotella in Los Angeles, California.

Rotella attended his first underground warehouse rave in 1990, when he was just 15 years old.

When Rotella was young, he worked at his parent’s deli, La Rotella in Venice, but spent most of

his time on the Venice boardwalk. When Rotella found out about raves, he became obsessed and

began attending them regularly. In 1992, at only 17 years old, Rotella hosted his first party. At

the time, the rave scene was beginning to receive bad press due to drug overdoses, but Rotella

was determined to keep the scene he loved alive. By 1993, he began hosting $5 weekly events

which he called “Insomniac” and when 500 people began showing up, he raised the price to $7.

Rotella was able to move his parties to different locations every week because of a friend he had

who was in real estate and would provide him with keys to unused spaces. Although his parties

were raided by police countless times, they were quickly becoming more popular, drawing in

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about 1,200 people per week. For Insomniac’s one year anniversary party, there were 4,000

people in attendance. Rotella was extremely passionate about his parties from the beginning. He

was always trying to figure out how to make the stages, lighting and theatrics bigger and better

for his next event. (Romero, Dennis.)

The rave scene was becoming increasingly popular. Drugs were becoming a huge issue at

these events, causing fights and overdoses among attendees, everything Rotella was against. But

this wasn’t enough to cause Rotella to let go of his dream and in February of 1995, he organized

a party in East L.A. which he called “Insomniac presents Nocturnal Wonderland”. The party sold

out and became one of Insomniac’s annual events, growing every year. (Romero, Dennis.) This

year’s Nocturnal Wonderland 2015 festival was the event’s 20th anniversary and was attended by

31,000 people, just to put into perspective how much Rotella’s events have grown.

Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) started as a yearly Fourth of July party in L.A. In 2007,

Rotella brought EDC to the L.A. Coliseum, a popular sports arena, and the party drew in 29,000

people. By 2009, the attendance number had increased to 120,000 and by 2010 the event had

become two days long and was attended by 160,000. The festival was so massive that it was now

much larger than any other electronic music festival in the country, including Ultra in Miami and

Electric Zoo in New York. Its mass led to chaos and in 2010, ravers crashed down a gate to get

to a lower level, more than 60 people were arrested and there were over 200 medical

emergencies. The age restriction for EDC was sixteen, but a girl by the name of Sasha Rodriguez

who was only fifteen years old was able to sneak past the lax security and get into the event.

While attending EDC, Rodriguez reportedly took ecstasy and fell into a coma. When Rodriguez

died in the hospital two days later, the city government began to question whether to allow

electronic music events to be held at the Coliseum. (Romero, Dennis.) Rotella did not want this

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to be the end of his Electric Daisy Carnival, so he moved the event to its current location in Las

Vegas.

Today Insomniac Events hosts events all over California and festivals all over the United

States and the world. The company’s festival brands include Electric Daisy Carnival, Nocturnal

Wonderland, Beyond Wonderland, Escape, Bassrush, Basscon, White Wonderland, We Are

NRG, Audiotistic, Crush, Life is Beautiful and Dreamstate. Upcoming EDC festivals for the year

2016 include stops in Mexico, New York, Las Vegas, the United Kingdom and Japan. Most of

the other events and festivals take place in or around California, where Insomniac Events was

originally created.

Insomniac Events Programming

The programming of certain artists is not as important to Pasquale Rotella as the overall

experience of the event. For his festivals, Rotella continuously chooses many of the same

extremely well known and popular DJs, but he does also tend to choose some that are a little less

known. On the lineup announcement posters for Insomniac’s large festivals, such as EDC, it is

important to note that the artists are listed in alphabetical order and all in the same font. This is

different from what many other festivals do, which is to list the most popular and well-known

artists first and in a larger font as headliners.

There are several DJs that Insomniac continues to work with. Most of these artists tend to

be the ones that are popular and draw huge crowds. One such DJ is Tiësto, “a Dutch DJ and

record producer of electronic dance music.” He was born in 1969, began producing in 1997 and

first became popular in the early 2000s. Before performing at events run by Insomniac, Tiësto

had already performed at many famous nightclubs and at concerts around the world. (Tiësto

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Biography) On average, booking Tiësto currently costs about $350.000. Calvin Harris is another

popular DJ whom Insomniac continues to book. This Scottish DJ is also a producer who

performs at events all around the world and costs approximately $350,000-$550,000 to book.

Other DJs that Insomniac Events continues to work with also charge tens or hundreds of

thousands of dollars to book and have had songs which have made it to the top of the charts,

some of these artists include, David Guetta, Hardwell, Martin Garrix, Afrojack, and Armin van

Buuren. (Ward, Nick.)

Insomniac Events Experience

An important part of Pasquale Rotella’s events, in addition to the music, has always been

the “experience” aspect. Coming from a background of attending and hosting raves and other

small electronic music events, Rotella has realized that the experience which one has in the scene

is perhaps even more important than the programming. Insomniac Events is well known for the

production value of their events. The trailers for the events display huge stages with lasers and

strobe lights, enormous art installations, fireworks, carnival rides, performers in exquisite

costumes and of course, attendees having the time of their lives.

The performers for the art installation, the “Dandelion Forest” at Electric Daisy Carnival

(EDC) New York were required to aid in creating an “experience” for the attendees. The girls

were instructed to smile at, be friendly to and be willing to pose for photos with the attendees.

Costumes where not provided, but the girls were specifically instructed to wear all white outfits.

Each of the girls was required to perform on one day and then was given the other day off to

attend and enjoy the festival. The festival was set up in the parking lot at MetLife Stadium and

was therefore held on concrete grounds. The festival set up consisted of four stages, two porta

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potty sections, two free water stations, a few merchandise vendors, carnival rides, two first aid

tents, an information/lost and found tent, an ATM, several food vendors and a few VIP sections

which included bars and air conditioned trailer bathrooms. There was a lack of comfortable and

shaded seating on the festival grounds, which posed as a problem for those who chose to dance

for hours under the sunny skies or partake in body temperature raising drugs or drinking alcohol

in excess. Free water stations were provided, but in order to use one, the attendee was required to

either buy a reusable bottle for ten dollars, or a disposable one from a vendor to reuse. The EMTs

were very responsive and quickly aided those who were sick or somehow in distress. As the day

went on, the crowd grew, leading to extremely long bathroom and food vendor lines. Many of

the DJs played their own remixes of the same songs all day and into the night. Various

performers were not only on stage and on the platforms in the “Dandelion Forest”, but also

walking through the crowd, taking photos with and entertaining attendees on a more personal

level. (Electric Daisy Carnival New York 2015.)

The immensity of every aspect, from the stages to performer’s costumes, to the art

installations, give a fairytale like quality to the event, which can be compared to something on a

larger and more permanent scale, such as Disney World. This event is unique in that it is very

compared to that which it is named after, a carnival. While they may not use any new and

emerging artists, Insomniac Events creates a unique experience for the attendees of their events,

providing aspects that are hard to find at any other type of festival or party. (Electric Daisy

Carnival New York 2015.)

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Insomniac Events Marketing

So what is it about the way Pasquale Rotella markets his company’s events that draws in

tens of thousands of loyal consumers? Aside from having the money to event’s that can host

such large crowds and provide special effects, performers, art installations and other services,

what is it that really draws people in? One idea that Rotella places notable focus on, is that the

event is more of an “experience” than a show. A great example of this is on the bottom of many

of his event posters which are used to announce the musical acts, he writes “And the most

important headliner of all: You”, usually in a larger font than the names of the artists who are

actually performing at the event. Rotella plays on the idea of making the attendee feel as if the

show depends on them and that by going to the event, they will be taking part in an experience

that would not be possible without their presence.

There is a major difference between how the events appear in the promotional video,

verses how the festivals play out in actuality. In announcement video for EDC New York 2015,

the shots that are used seem to be chosen very particularly and are shown quickly in a flashy

fashion with upbeat electronic music in the background. The video features several shots of

MetLife Stadium, where the festival takes place. There are also a few shots of New York City,

making it seem as though the festival takes place within the city, while in actuality, MetLife

Stadium is located in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The video itself is shot with many drones

and cranes that are able to get shots of the crowd from above, creating the illusion of a much

larger crowd. The promo video’s focus mainly on attendees who are smiling, dancing and appear

to be having fun. In addition to these shots there are quite a few of the performers in extravagant

costumes, shots of huge special effects such as fireworks, lasers, strobe lights, and art

installations that are lit up or have bursts of fire coming out of them. There is very little focus on

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the actual artists who are playing at the festival, rather the video seems to focus more on the

attendees having a great time and how extravagant the festival is as a whole. This plays into the

idea that Rotella is marketing his events as more of an experience for the fans, rather than a show

focusing on the artists. It is noticeable that clips taken a certain events are often used in the

trailers for other events, especially to does who have previously attended some of Insomniac’s

events. Upon viewing the trailer for Insomniac’s EDC Brasil 2015, there is a clip of a

“Dandelion Forest” hula hoop dancer performing, in which the sign for Metlife Stadium is visible

in the background.

Rotella markets Insomniac’s events as “experiences” and the way the videos depict the

events, he employs the strategy of “FOMO” otherwise known as fear of missing out. Rotella

successfully advertises Insomniac’s events as “experiences” that the attendee will never be able

to find anywhere else. Rotella wants the attendees to feel as if these events are home, where they

can express themselves without judgement and feel happy and free. There is a very emotional

and poetic introduction in the beginning of Insomniac’s EDC Las Vegas trailer, which was

posted on their YouTube channel on September 8, 2015. It goes:

“If it was your last day on earth, where would you wanna be?

Would you find a place, where love is a language,

and the light inside you shines as bright as the sun?

Who would you share it with?

That moment, lost in the arms of music, when time stands still,

when all the days of your life, fade into oblivion,

remember the day you found home.” (EDC Las Vegas 2016 Announcement Trailer, Insomniac

Events YouTube Channel.)

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This introduction dialogue is not only beautiful and extremely powerful but is also an

absolutely brilliant marketing tool. Here, Insomniac creates the ideas of EDC Las Vegas being so

wonderful that you will deeply regret not going for the rest of your life and that the event is a

“home” for attendees. The rest of the promo video is so well put together, that it is difficult to not

buy into it. In this video, like the other promo videos, it focuses mainly on the attendees, massive

production and performers in extravagant costumes. What Rotella is doing is creating the idea of

something that is not only a music festival, it’s a different world, an escape from reality. What is

happening is exactly what Rotella is aiming for, people are buying into the idea that the event

will be more of an experience rather than a music festival where they will be focused on seeing

certain artists. To Rotella, the artists don’t seem to matter nearly as much as the production of the

events. And this approach has worked for Insomniac so far, bringing attendees back year after

year as well as generating new consumers.

Good Looks Collective

Good Looks Collective started out of a company called Good Looks New York (GLNY),

which was started in 2012. Good Looks Collective was started in 2015 and is a group of

companies that includes Good Looks New York LLC, Good Looks Chicago LLC, Mr. Bugsly

Presents LLC, Licensed to Print, Inc., Good Looks Management LLC and Good Looks Silent

Disco. The original company, Good Looks New York was started by Trevor Titley and Yaron

Bernstein as a clothing line. The partners first expanded into running events at a local bar while

attending the University of Buffalo. Event planning slowly became their new priority over

clothing design. Good Looks Collective currently handles marketing, events, screen printing,

management and silent disco rentals. Before merging with Mr. Bugsly Presents, GLNY was

hosting about one event per month in the city of New York. Good Looks Collective now hosts

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about three or four events in New York City per month and two or three a week in Chicago. In

addition to hosting their own events, Good Looks Collective helps market and promote for

events that are not put on by their own company. (Titley, Trevor.)

Good Looks Collective is careful about the artists they choose for events. Titley feels

strongly that if he doesn’t choose the right acts, no one would come to his company’s

productions. Good Looks Management LLC, currently manages three artists. The company often

uses booking agents to find acts for their shows, while other times they host after parties for the

artists of shows they are already helping to market and promote. So say if there is a show at the

PlayStation Theater that Good Looks Collective is helping to promote and market, the company

might host their own after party at a club like Slake. In this case, the programming will cater to

the audience of the main show. Budget plays a key role in what Good Looks Collective is able to

do as far as production, as large stages, lighting and other aspects of a large production can get

expensive. The company brought in a new large custom stage for a recent event they hosted at

Slake which Titley feels brought the event to the next level. Although production is important,

Titley believes that it is essential to bring quality artists to Good Looks Collective’s events.

(Titley, Trevor.)

In order to market their events, Good Looks Collective uses their website, social media

and a mailing list. The company uses social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and

Instagram to post photos, videos and links pertaining to their events, the events they are

promoting and other relevant content that their fans my find interesting. The group of companies

under Good Looks Collective, each have their own website. The GLNY website includes

information about past and upcoming events as well as videos, review of shows and festivals,

interviews, relevant lifestyle articles and contests for fans. The Mr. Bugsly Presents website

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consists of information about events, a blog, photos, music and videos. The Good Looks

Management website is for the three artists that the company currently manages, Branx,

Brightside and Laetus, and includes links to each of the artist’s SoundCloud page. The Licensed

to Print website is for their clothing line and specializes in silk screen-printing. The Good Looks

Chicago website has all the information about the events that the company hosts in Chicago as

well as photos, videos and a store which sells apparel and photography services. Although some

websites are more developed than others, each makes clear what they are providing information

for. (Good Looks Collective, Inc.) The newsletters that are emailed out to fans include

information about upcoming shows in which Good Looks Collective is involved and contests or

ticket giveaways. (Good Looks New York.)

One of the major goals that Titley has for his company is to constantly go above and

beyond with everything they do. He believes that in order to accomplish this, the company must

provide quality service by completing tasks on time and with utmost professionalism. By

expanding the company into different ventures, Titley believes that his company will grow to

have a much larger and loyal fan base in time. In the future, Titley plans on expanding Good

Looks Collective into new markets. Within the next couple of years, he would like to expand the

company into Atlanta, Georgia and out to the West Coast. (Titley, Trevor.)

Conclusion

The electronic dance music scene is something that is very close to me and doing the

research for this paper has given me some new insight into the industry. When I went to Electric

Daisy Carnival New York this past summer, it was the first performance of that scale that I had

ever done and also the first time I had ever attended an Insomniac event. In comparing it to other

music festivals which I have attended, I can say for sure that I myself would never agree to spend

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hundreds of my hard earned dollars for the event but I can also see why so many other people

would.

Insomniac Event’s has a brilliant marketing strategy. They way Pasquale makes his

events seem like a once in a lifetime experience is something that his company uniquely excels

at. The promo videos for each event are beautiful, professional and is enough to boost your

adrenaline from just watching it on a computer screen. The marketing directors who put together

these videos use some amazing shots, many of them repetitively, that are clearly effective in

promoting Insomniac’s events. Each year thousands of tickets sell out for each for these events

and more of them are being held not only in the United States but in countries and cities around

the world. This is something that many of the owners of other companies that host events can

only dream of.

Good Looks Collective, on the other hand, is doing quite well for having only been

started in 2012 and not originally as an event hosting company. It is clear that the C.E.O. of the

company, Trevor Titley, has a different idea of what he believes will bring his company success.

While Pasquale Rotella focuses on the production and “experience” aspect of his events, Titley

feels as though it is more important to bring quality artists to his company’s events. Good Looks

Collective has also began spreading itself into various markets aside from event hosting and

marketing. Titely believes that this is another way that he will be able to get his company’s name

out and build a larger and more loyal fan base. It will be very interesting to watch Good Looks

Collective grow and evolve and see if it becomes just as, or even more successful than Insomniac

Events one day.

Electronic dance music is unquestionably a huge influence on all of today’s mainstream

and underground music. Strategic marketing has played a major role in the success of current

Chraim 20

electronic dance music events. Not only are audiences attending these events to hear the music,

but to get away from the stress of the real world and to have an experience. Electronic music has

revolutionized both the music and entertainment industries. It has changed how we view and go

about hosting live performance events. And one day, it may be looked back upon as one of the

greatest moments in musical history.

Chraim 21

Works Cited

Electric Daisy Carnival New York 2015. By Insomniac Events. MetLife Stadium, East

Rutherford, New Jersey. 23-24 May. 2015. Performance.

Gibson, Nick. “History of Electronic Music: From the 1970s to Today.” Udemy.com, 6 May.

2014. Web.

Good Looks Collective, Inc. Good Looks Collective, Inc., 2015. Web.

Good Looks New York. “Good Looking Newsletter.” Message to Arielle Chraim. 2 Dec. 2015.

E-mail.

Godard, Thierry. “The Economics of Electronic Dance Music Festivals.” SmartAsset, 12 Aug.

2015. Web.

Hiller, Lejaren. “Electronic Music.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 14 Jul. 2015. Web.

Insomniac Editorial Team. “EDC Las Vegas 2015 GA Tickets Are Sold Out.” Insomniac

Holdings, LLC, 2 Feb. 2015. Web.

Lombardo, Scott. “EDC Las Vegas sold out in record-breaking time…without a lineup

announcement.” EDMTunes, 3 Feb. 2015. Web.

Mac, Ryan. “Electric Daisy Carnival’s Pasquale Rotella On Building a $36 Million Dance Music

Festival” Forbes, 19 Aug. 2014. Web.

Romero, Dennis. “How Pasquale Rotella Built His Rave Empire.” LA Weekly, LP.,

12 Sep. 2013. Web.

“Tiësto Biography.” Tiëstoblog.com, 2015. Web.

Titley, Trevor. “Good Looks CEO Interview.” E-mail interview. 2 Dec. 2015.

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The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Phonograph.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2015.

Web.

“The History of EDM.” Sessions X. 29 Mar. 2015. Web.

Ward, Nick. “How Much it Costs to Book Calvin Harris, Tiesto, Martin Garrix & More.” Your

EDM, LLC. 22 Jan. 2015. Web.