BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA —
In 2001, Creamfields booked
Paul Oakenfold and several other DJs
to play its first electronic dance music
festival outside of England. The loca-
tion they chose was Buenos Aires.
At the time, Argentina was suffering
its worst economic crisis on record
and the electronic music scene had
yet to fully emerge from the discos.
But the bet paid off, in part because
of the hard times. Attendance at
Creamfields surged from 18,000 at the
inaugural event to 80,000 people in
2010, encouraging Moonpark, South
Fest, Time Warp and Ultra to enter the
market. In 2012, Live Nation snapped
up Creamfields’ parent company amid
a buying spree that also included
acquiring HARD Events and forming a
creative partnership with Insomniac,
which puts on Electric Daisy Carnival.
“There was a big change in society
during the economic crisis,” says Ma-
rio Morocco, an Argentine production
manager for the first six Creamfields.
“They wanted something new, and
they found it in electronic music.”
“Those early days were absolute-
ly fantastic,” recalls Oakenfold. It
got so big, says Richie Hawtin, the
British-Canadian DJ, that for several
years there were events every week-
end with high ticket prices in both
Argentina and Brazil. “It was a stop
on everybody’s calendar,” he says.
Now, South America’s biggest music
markets are once again suffering
economic problems — but this time,
organizers are struggling to afford top
talent and turn a profit. International
artists are instead opting to perform
for higher fees in Asia, Europe and
the United States. “I go every year, but
the days of high pay are gone,” says
Oakenfold. “It’s now more for the love
of the scene.”
While most music genres have been
affected, EDM is struggling the most,
in large part because DJ-producers
like Calvin Harris became pop stars
commanding high-six-figure pay-
checks for some shows. EDM festivals
have become massive and expensive
spectacles, and the global electron-
ic music industry has grown from
$4.5 billion in 2013 to $7.2 billion in
2019, according to the International
Music Summit business report.
The currency fluctuations in
Argentina and Brazil have made it
“impossible” to plan an EDM festival
in the two countries, says Matt Teper,
vp business development at Insomni-
ac. The Argentine peso has lost over
180% of its value against the dollar
since a financial crisis struck in April
- Brazil’s currency has lost about
half its value versus the dollar com-
pared with five years ago. The swings
could force promoters to pay a 25%
premium to artists, whose fees are
based in dollars or euros, says Teper.
“Bands have more opportunities
now to tour anywhere in the world
than they have ever had,” says Huston
Powell of C3 Presents, which produc-
es Lollapalooza festivals in Argentina,
Brazil and Chile. “If they can’t get the
South America’s Burst Bubble
As economic woes keep top international DJs away,
Brazil and Argentina are developing their own “monster acts”
BY CHARLES NEWBERY
money, they’ll choose not to come.”
A decade ago, fueled by an economic
boom in Brazil and Argentina, promot-
ers were able to afford top internation-
al talent. The scene began heating up
around 2005, when Fatboy Slim played
to 40,000 people on a beach five hours
from Buenos Aires. Two years later,
Tiësto spun at a free show in Rio de
Janeiro that drew over 200,000.
By 2015, Insomniac had mounted
the first-ever Electric Daisy Carnival in
São Paulo for more than 80,000 people
over two days, which grossed $2.8 mil-
lion, according to Billboard Boxscore.
Insomniac has yet to bring EDC
back to the region, and most of the oth-
er big EDM festivals have put Argen-
tina and Brazil on hold. The top EDM
talent that do make it down are playing
multigenre festivals like Lollapalooza
— which grossed $14.7 million in Brazil
this April, according to Billboard Box-
score — as well as built-in plays like
Rio Music Carnival, says Teper.
A capacity restriction in Buenos
Aires has complicated matters. Five
drug-related deaths at the Time Warp
Festival in 2016 sparked a clampdown
that has made it difficult for festivals
to run the economies-of-scale model
that many organizers rely on to make
a profit. “Festivals can’t pay top talent
prices, bring in world-class production
and charge low ticket prices unless
they are going for volume,” says Teper.
Lately, those restrictions are show-
ing signs of easing. But EDM has lost
its momentum, with fans turning to
other genres. Underground DJs like
Hawtin, Marco Carola and Solomun
still pull in crowds, says Ian Ruzal-
Bron, senior director of business
development at Insomniac. “Tickets to
underground shows are less expensive,
and the production less rigorous, than
an EDM show,” he says.
And local underground artists have
developed: In Brazil, DJs Alok and
Vintage Culture have become “mon-
ster acts,” says Powell, and festivals are
booking homegrown talent.
The big festival companies aren’t
giving up. Insomniac is having conver-
sations with “multiple people” about
bringing more events to Argentina and
Brazil in the future, says Ruzal-Bron.
When the economies rebound, he
believes it won’t be hard to attract
top talent again. “The fan bases in
these countries are so energetic and
passionate,” he says, “artists who
aren’t connecting in these markets are
missing out on lifelong fans.”
Additional reporting by Dave Brooks.
Electric Daisy Carnival in
São Paulo in 2015.
Hawtin
THE MARKET GLOBAL REPORT
● DELIA ORJUELA, BMI’s longtime vp Latin creative, resigned to “start a new chapter.” ● Warner Music Group promoted KEVIN GORE to president of global catalog, recorded music.
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