» 2011 will go down as the year when America finally tuned in and embraced electronic dance music. The dance revolution of 2011 was for everyone. And by the looks of things, this time it might be here to stay.
The numbers alone are staggering. The three-day festivals Electric Daisy Carnival (June 24-26 in Las Vegas) and Ultra Music Festival (March 25-27 in Miami) drew 230,000 and 150,000 attendees, respectively, topping all prior attendance records. Ultra Records broke the 100 million mark in monthly YouTube views: Its channel now has more than 1.3 billion total views, making it the fifth-most-watched music channel overall.
“The great thing about electronic music is that it’s a very forceful scene,” says DJ/producer Paul Oakenfold, one of the genre’s first superstars. “It’s 20 years old in Europe — it’s still getting bigger and better. America has finally caught up; now there’s a whole new generation that loves it.
“I believe we’re already in a place where the genre has crossed over, and that in 2012 and beyond, the industry will continue to grow and become more professional,” says Pasquale Rotella, president/CEO of Insomniac Events, which produces Electric Daisy Carnival.
If 2011 was big for EDM, 2012 looks even more mega.
