Blog - EDM

Iconic EDM festival brand Tomorrowland is expanding its reach beyond the dancefloor after announcing its first-ever retail store in Ibiza, set to open this summer in the heart of the legendary party island.

Located in the new Ibiza Gallery retail and lifestyle complex near the famous Ushuaïa and Hï Ibiza clubs, the 478-square-meter shop is an ambitious fusion of retail, hospitality and entertainment that mirrors the immersive experience of the festival itself.

Designed by Tomorrowland's in-house architecture firm, Great Library Design Studio, the expansive property incorporates the festival's signature aesthetic elements, including its iconic butterflies.

Tomorrowland

The store will sell a slew of branded accessories, including t-shirts, tops, hoodies, caps, sweatshirts, shorts, swimwear, bucket hats, sunglasses, bags, towels, bathrobes, books, vinyl and jewelry. It's all been designed "with premium materials and signature festival motifs," according to a press release.

Shoppers will also find curated collections of premium homeware (Serax), candles (Baobab Collection), headphones and speakers (JBL) and even lingerie (Sarda).

Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland

Perhaps most striking is the 269.5-square-meter outdoor terrace, which is furnished with exclusive pieces from Tomorrowland's furniture brand, MORPHO, and transforms at night for "Sunset Sessions" featuring live DJ performances. This space will also offer curated selections of wine, liqueur and coffee, including Tomorrowland's own Solo Vida sparkling wine.

Open daily from 11am to 11pm, the shop also features a Tomorrowland tattoo studio. Visitors here can ink "exclusive, officially designed tattoos, inspired by the magical of the festival, in a safe, high-quality environment."

Tomorrowland

For a brand that has built its reputation on ephemeral moments of festival magic, establishing a permanent physical space in the world's preeminent nightlife destination marks another significant shift in its strategy to develop memorable experiences outside its Belgian grounds.

The organization recently joined forces with Insomniac Events, North America's leading electronic music event production company, to develop an ambitious series of co-branded events at the Vegas Sphere. Back in 2022, its proprietors opened a palatial desert resort, Terra Solis, which is billed as "a unique glamping experience" in Dubai.

Coinciding with Ibiza's peak summer season, Tomorrowland's new store is scheduled to launch on June 6th, 2025.

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Marshmello has signed on to voice a character in Paramount’s forthcoming Smurfs movie, Variety reports.

The film, a hybrid of live-action and CGI, was written by Pam Brady (South Park, Team America) and directed by Chris Miller (Puss in Boots, Shrek the Third). The story follows Smurfette as she leads the beloved blue characters on a mission into the real world to save Papa Smurf after being mysteriously taken by a pair of evil wizards, Razamel and Gargamel.

Smurfs already boasts an impressive cast with Rihanna slated to voice Smurfette, joined by John Goodman as Papa Smurf. Other cast members include Daniel Levy, Hannah Waddingham, Nick Kroll, Natasha Lyonne, Octavia Spencer, James Corden, Nick Offerman and Billie Lourd, among others.

Mello's role remains under wraps at the time of this writing. Meanwhile, the masked hitmaker has stayed busy in the studio, releasing his blistering The Roots album in late-2024 before teaming up with Jonas Brothers ("Slow Motion" and Trueno ("Fale Então) for new collaborations in 2025.

Smurfs is currently in production and a release date has not yet been announced. You can watch the official trailer below.

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Bringing the mainstage action to mobile screens globally, Insomniac has officially launched its Insomniac Radio app, a free 24/7 streaming platform. The app offers wall-to-wall coverage of all things EDM, including exclusive artist shows and live broadcasts from some of the world’s biggest festivals.

Landing just ahead of EDC Las Vegas 2025, Insomniac Radio aims to deliver an always-on soundtrack to the global dance music community. With no subscription fees and no barriers to entry, the app is poised to replicate the euphoric energy of Insomniac's festivals with four curated genre channels: "ONE," "ANALOG," "IMPACT" and "LUCID."

Whether it’s the booming anthems of kineticFIELD or the entrancing grooves of Factory 93, the platform is rooted in Insomniac’s sprawling event universe. Channel-to-stage pairings will bring real-time soundtracks to fans around the world: "ONE" features mainstage-ready heat from the likes of cosmicMEADOW and circuitGROUNDS, "ANALOG" dials into house and techno from stereoBLOOM, "IMPACT" blasts bass from wasteLAND and "LUCID" floats through trance and melodic techno straight from quantumVALLEY.

Beyond the music, the app boasts over 120 weekly shows, many led by the world's biggest DJs including featured hosts Amelie Lens, Martin Garrix, ILLENIUM, Purple Disco Machine, Hardwell, John Summit and Zeds Dead, to name a few. 

As fans plan their descent on Las Vegas for EDC from May 16-18, the app will go into overdrive as Insomniac Radio streams curated programming from a number of stages that will not be represented on the live feed, including stereoBLOOM wasteLAND and quantumVALLEY.

For more information and scheduled programming, download the new Insomniac Radio app here.

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Electronic dance music is emerging as a lifeline for Americans battling depression, suggests a new study shared with EDM.com by healthcare technology company Tebra.

The research, which surveyed 1,000 Americans and analyzed over 110,000 tracks from mental health-themed Spotify playlists, found that 14% of respondents turn to EDM as their "go-to genre" when feeling depressed. Arriving during Mental Health Awareness Month, the data expands on a similar study in late-2024, further positioning the genre as a noteworthy player in the budding music therapy market.

Those who listen to electronic music know that its magic lies in its ability to uplift. The edge-of-your-seat builds, euphoric drops and deep valleys can feel like a hug from a crowd you’ve never met. Think of Avicii’s "Wake Me Up," Calvin Harris' "Feel So Close" or Daft Punk’s "Lose Yourself to Dance," all of which speak to the genre's accessible, escapist nature.

Those three artists were the most sought-after in the electronic music category. Metal fans leaned hardest into music as therapy (59%) but reported worse mental health (47%), framing EDM as a compelling contrast by offering a respite that’s less about purging pain and more about chasing light.

Elsewhere in the study, an overwhelming 92% of respondents said music has "helped them through tough times," especially anxiety (55%), loneliness (52%) and depression (47%). Just over half said they turned to music instead of "traditional therapy" while 57% believed it was just as impactful.

You can read Tebra's full report here.

EDC, one of the world's most prominent EDM festivals, will launch in Colombia in October 2026, its organizer Insomniac Events announced today.

Transforming Medellín's Unidad Deportiva Atanasio Girardot sports complex, the festival is primed to continue EDC's global growth following successful editions across Asia, Europe and the Americas. The city offers what Insomniac founder and CEO Pasquale Rotella described as the perfect backdrop for EDC's blend of dance music, art and community engagement.

“We’re committed to growing this global community and sharing the magic of EDC with the world," Rotella said in a statement. "Choosing a new location for EDC is never random. It comes down to a few key factors. First, we look for a local partner who shares our values, understands the spirit of EDC, and has the vision and dedication to help bring it to life."

The inaugural EDC Colombia represents a partnership between Insomniac and Páramo Presenta, part of Latin American entertainment powerhouse OCESA. The company, with whom Insomniac has long collaborated to produce EDC Mexico, is "an incredible team that fits that perfectly," Rotella said.

"We are very proud to bring to Colombia such a major brand with so much history, and one that has been fundamental to the growth of electronic dance music worldwide, like EDC," added Páramo Presenta's Santiago Vélez. "Medellín will become the center of the electronic world in October 2026, and we hope to reveal more details soon about this festival that is returning to South America."

The festival will feature "a massive lineup of world-renowned electronic artists" as well as multiple stage designs, large-scale art installations and carnival rides while incorporating local cultural influences, according to a press release shared with EDM.com.

Additional details, including lineup, dates and ticketing information will be announced in the months ahead. Fans can register for updates on the festival via its official website.

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As AI continues to challenge the boundaries of creativity and copyright in the music industry, SoundCloud has found itself in the crosshairs of a growing conversation about trust, transparency and technology.

This past week, a clause buried in SoundCloud’s updated terms of service captured the artist community's attention. First flagged by Futurism, the clause suggests that music uploaded to the platform could, in some cases, be used to “inform, train, develop or serve as input to artificial intelligence."

The revelation is surfacing deep-seated anxieties among independent artists about how their content is being used behind the scenes. But SoundCloud, long considered a cornerstone of artist empowerment and grassroots discovery, is seeking to clarify intentions.

The company responded through a statement and unequivocally denied that its service has trained AI on the content of its users.

"SoundCloud has never used artist content to train AI models, nor do we develop AI tools or allow third parties to scrape or use SoundCloud content from our platform for AI training purposes," a SoundCloud spokesperson told Futurism. "In fact, we implemented technical safeguards, including a 'no AI' tag on our site to explicitly prohibit unauthorized use."

The company emphasized that its engagement with AI has been focused on enhancing user experience through tools such as personalized recommendations and fraud detection—not harvesting creative works to feed generative algorithms. 

Still, the terms, updated in February 2024, arrived just as legal and ethical scrutiny around generative AI in music hit a fever pitch. Labels have been battling with tech firms over training data and artists have voiced concerns about their identities being synthesized without permission.

For now, SoundCloud's message is one of reassurance, but the industry will be watching closely to see how that message holds up in practice. You can read their full statement below.

SoundCloud has always been and will remain artist-first. Our focus is on empowering artists with control, clarity, and meaningful opportunities to grow. We believe AI, when developed responsibly, can expand creative potential—especially when guided by principles of consent, attribution, and fair compensation.

SoundCloud has never used artist content to train AI models, nor do we develop AI tools or allow third parties to scrape or use SoundCloud content from our platform for AI training purposes. In fact, we implemented technical safeguards, including a “no AI” tag on our site to explicitly prohibit unauthorized use.

The February 2024 update to our Terms of Service was intended to clarify how content may interact with AI technologies within SoundCloud’s own platform. Use cases include personalized recommendations, content organization, fraud detection, and improvements to content identification with the help of AI Technologies.

Any future application of AI at SoundCloud will be designed to support human artists, enhancing the tools, capabilities, reach and opportunities available to them on our platform. Examples include improving music recommendations, generating playlists, organizing content, and detecting fraudulent activity. These efforts are aligned with existing licensing agreements and ethical standards. Tools like Musiio are strictly used to power artist discovery and content organization, not to train generative AI models.

We understand the concerns raised and remain committed to open dialogue. Artists will continue to have control over their work, and we’ll keep our community informed every step of the way as we explore innovation and apply AI technologies responsibly, especially as legal and commercial frameworks continue to evolve.

Planet 13, the world's largest cannabis dispensary, is poised for what its executives are calling the busiest weekend of the year: not New Year's Eve and not 4/20, but EDC.

The cannabis giant is celebrating the festival's return to Las Vegas by giving away 20 three-day passes to lucky visitors as it launches a slate of EDC-themed offerings in collaboration with RNBW, the Insomniac Events-affiliated cannabis brand.

"EDC has become the busiest weekend of the year at Planet 13 Las Vegas," said Bryant Ison, Planet 13's Vice President of Marketing. "It’s our Black Friday, busier than 4/20, Super Bowl and New Year's Eve. We see a 40% increase in revenues and close to a 30% increase in customer traffic at our flagship Vegas SuperStore during EDC."

The promotion, part of the dispensary’s "Daisy Daze" weekend, features a full-scale retail activation with live vendor pop-ups, food trucks, limited-edition merch and specially curated cannabis bundles. Hopeful festivalgoers receive raffle entries for every bundle purchased and winners will walk away with passes to EDC, North America's largest EDM festival.

The connection between Planet 13 and EDC Las Vegas runs deeper than seasonal marketing, however. RNBW is a luxury cannabis label co-developed through a strategic partnership between EDC's organizer, Insomniac, and industry stakeholders. RNBW’s "Dark Rainbow" strain, available exclusively at Planet 13, is the dispensary’s featured drop this year. 

Pasquale Rotella, Insomniac founder and CEO, has championed RNBW as part of a broader initiative "intersecting live music and cannabis culture," he said in a 2021 statement.

EDC returns to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend from May 16-18 with Martin Garrix, Alesso, Tiësto, REZZ and many more. You can find the festival's full lineup and read more about its 2025 edition here.

If you've ever been to Lightning in a Bottle, you know it's just as much a festival as it is an adult playground disguised as one. The team behind Do LaB continues to treat staging like sorcery.

The genius of their curation lies not just in their genre-spanning lineups, but in their understanding that context transforms sound. Watching a DJ spin beneath intricate geometric structures as desert winds carry notes across the water creates memories that streaming services could never replicate.

Lightning in a Bottle will once again guide attendees through its whimsical core stages, Lightning, Woogie and Thunder, onwards to its community-driven programming at The Stacks, The Junkyard and The Grand Artique. Each environment features its own unique aesthetic, vision and sound.

This year's lineup is a genre-fluid dream, dipping into indietronica, skittering across UKG and plunging headfirst into dubstep swamps and house grooves. Read on to discover a handful of performances you simply cannot miss in 2025.

Lightning in a Bottle returns over Memorial Day Weekend from May 21-25, 2025. Tickets are on sale via the festival's website.

Tape B, who was recently named to the EDM.com Class of 2025, is one today's most sought-after dubstep and bass music producers. Nostalgia is his love language, threading hip-hop throwbacks with growling beats while dusty vinyl crackles ripple through with analog warmth.

Girl Math is the formidable duo of Nala and VNSSA, who joined forces to infuse a punk edge into their hip-shaking house beats. The former brings Riot grrrl-influenced vocals to the table while the latter smashes it with metal-infused drums.

"I thought being a drummer in a metal band was the coolest thing you could ever do prior to being a DJ," Nala told EDM.com in a late-2024 interview. "So I was like, we need to incorporate this history on both sides and turn this into something that's rowdy and fun and chaotic."

Dirtybird founder Claude VonStroke recently took flight on a comeback tour following a two-year hiatus that saw him sell his prized record label. After dropping a stunning EP, he's now heading to Lightning in a Bottle for the tour's first festival performance, which is officially billed as "The Return of Claude VonStroke."

Few duos in electronic music have stood the test of time quite like Sultan + Shepard, whose emotionally charged sound blends textured synths with pulsating rhythms. Whether they're producing generational progressive house anthems like "Walls" or aching deep house tracks like "Under The Surface," they thread nostalgia and wonder through every release.

Mary Droppinz's music is a kaleidoscope of genre-defying sounds, fusing house, breakbeat, dubstep and drum & bass under one electrifying umbrella. She's also known to bring unbridled energy to the stage, and with upcoming performances at Lollapalooza, Red Rocks and many more, she's rising at a breakneck pace.

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Portola, which is quickly establishing itself as the Bay Area’s premier electronic music festival, returns to San Francisco's Pier 80 this September with an electrifying 2025 lineup and a wave of rare performances.

Presented by Goldenvoice, the two-day fest from September 20-21 follows a sold-out 2024 edition and promises a genre-spanning bill that includes dance-punk icons LCD Soundsystem and Australian house music superstar Dom Dolla in headlining slots.

In one of the festival's most surprising bookings, Christina Aguilera is set to bring her pop prowess to the electronic stage. Elsewhere on Portola's 2025 lineup are The Chemical Brothers, closing Saturday’s Warehouse with their only West Coast DJ set of the year; Moby, performing live in San Francisco for the first time in over a decade; and Anti Up, the formidable house duo of Chris Lake and Chris Lorenzo.

This year also marks the San Francisco debut of "DESPACIO," the vinyl-only, audiophile dancefloor environment co-created by James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, the Dewaele brothers of 2ManyDJs/Soulwax, and sound engineer John Klett. The trio will curate all-weekend DJ sets inside the "immersive audio experience," according to a press release.

Loyalty passes go on sale Wednesday, May 14th at 12pm PT before the general on-sale begins the following day at the same time. 2-day GA starts at $399.95 and 2-day VIP starts at $649.95, while single-day GA starts at $279.95 and single-day VIP starts at $399.95.

You can check out the full lineup below and purchase tickets here.

Goldenvoice

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In the perpetually evolving ecosystem of Ibiza nightlife, certain moments signal a shift in the island's cultural aesthetic. Francis Mercier's newly announced eight-week residency at Chinois is precisely one of those moments.

The Haitian DJ and producer is poised to plant his flag at Chinois with "Solèy," a unique DJ residency that treats global rhythms not as exotic accessories, but as essential ingredients. His choice of Chinois, nestled within the Ibiza Gran Hotel and rapidly establishing itself as "the club of Ibiza," speaks volumes about his ambitions.

c/o Press

"Solèy," Haitian Creole for "sun," serves as both the residency's name and its philosophical framework. Its radiant sound will pump from midnight to dawn, allowing you to dance literally until the sun comes up.

Mercier, who cut his teeth as a guest DJ at the venue last season, has committed to transforming Friday nights from June 13th through August 1st into a cross-cultural sonic expedition. His particular brand of musical cosmopolitanism carefully curates an experience where Afro-house beats intersect with Levantine melodics and Caribbean rhythms.

Mercier will also preset performances by Giolì & Assia, Nitefreak and Wakyin, who were named to EDM.com's Class of 2021, 2024 and 2025, respectively. Other notable artists include Something Else, the underground alias of Brazilian dance music superstar Alok; Major League DJz, the deeply influential Amapiano duo; and Sparrow & Barbossa, the Swiss-Uruguayan duo surging through the ranks of Afro-house.

Check out the 2025 schedule for Mercier's "Solèy" residency at Chinois below. Tickets are available now via the club's website.

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