Events
Ultra Music Festival and Label
Kostya V.
December 11th, 2014
Ultra Music Festival is one of the largest electronic dance music festivals in the world. It was the recipient of the International Dance Music Award for “Best Music Event” for several years though Tomorrowland in Belgium is now considered to be a bigger event.
Ultra Music Festival often takes place during the Winter Music Conference, and it is the only place where artists, DJs, executives, promoters and fans come together and celebrate their passion for music. People from over 70 different countries come to be seen, be heard, and dance.
Ultra 2015 Miami presents “United We Dance”. Miami is known to be where summer festivals and EDM begin. Ultra opens every year in March and is held in Downtown Miami at Bayfront Park. From 1999 to 2006 it was a two-day festival, and now it takes place over one incredible weekend. Ultra also holds festivals in: Ibiza, Spain; Buenos Aries, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; and Cape Town, South Africa; among many more international cities.
In 2014 Ultra Music Festivals brought together Armin van Buuren, Afrojack, Hardwell, Krewella, Tiësto, and Zedd, along with many other top DJs. Avicii was scheduled, but his poor health lead to him being replaced by Deadmau5. Performances during the festival included the premiere of Eric Prydz’s new live show, “Holo”, and the debut of Diplo and Skrillex’s side project, “Jack U”.
Ultra Music Festival 2015 is coming back to Miami, despite problems in 2014. Organizers are stepping up security by working with Miami PD. Ultra brings positive fiscal impact to the general fund of the City of Miami, and the city could lose millions in revenue if they ban Ultra from Miami. The City of Miami approved of the 2015 festival after requiring that Ultra would no longer admit minors, facilities were tightened up, and security was improved to help prevent drug usage and behavior issues.
Ultra’s flagship music festival in Miami is now restricted to 18 years of age or older in 2015. This is a move to make Ultra an event geared towards adults. There have been multiple deaths and injuries at the festival over the last few years, and 2014 began with the trampling injury of a security guard.
This is also a logical business move. EDM is maturing, and as the money increases, it is better to give the room to those with greater disposable income and (hopefully) more self-restraint.
Major EDM festivals now include artists who are not traditionally associated with EDM. This involves DJs featuring everyone from rappers to indie rock vocalists. These acts are not intended for patrons under 18.
Ultra Label
Ultra Music is the electronic dance music record label. The parts include Ultra Records, Ultra Music Publishing, and Empire Artist Management. Formed in New York City in 1995 by former Virgin Records executive, Patrick Moxey, Ultra merged with Sony Music in January 2013. All of Ultra’s artists, licensing rights, and music catalogs went to Sony in exchange for Sony’s investment in Ultra.
Ultra Music Label and Ultra Music Festival are loosely joined. They have agreed to collaborate with each other in order to utilize the same marketing promotions.
