Global Festivals’ Bubble Bursts
30 British music festivals went bankrupt last year, the Independent newspaper noted last week, in a feature which asked the question ‘are our field days over?’
Citing ‘an increasing feeling that festivals have shifted too far from their original hippie-spirited ethos’, writer Lena Corner blamed corporate sponsors for diluting many events’ sense of ‘alternative reality’ while eFestivals guide chief Scott Williams identified a new breed of ‘festival tourists’ for doing the same thing.
“(The festival tourist) is someone who would never have dreamt of going to a festival 10 years ago,” he said.
“They saw that festivals were fashionable so they go out and buy all the right kit from the high street – Cath Kidston tent, Hunter wellies”.
“The popular festival bubble has burst,” he declared. (Independent: http://ind.pn/wuuhAu )
Cowell To Compete With ‘Superstar DJ’ Show

Producers for an upcoming European DJ talent show ‘Superstar DJ’ reacted angrily to the news that Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment is planning a rival DJ talent show, suggesting this week that the karaoke king’s version will be inauthentic.
Show creator Gilly Da Silva said she’d been working on her series’ concept for over 11 months and said her winner will need to have ‘proved he/she has the stamina and is prepared to fight tooth and nail to be come one of the world’s most in demand DJs.’
‘It takes a lot of commitment and hard-work to become a Superstar DJ, its all about branding yourself, building a strong following and obviously keeping the audience engaged,” she told Televisual News, “It’s not something that can be judged on a stage like X Factor.” http://bit.ly/xrOloh
London Mayor Moves Against Ministry
Ministry Of Sound faced an uncertain future this week after the South London club warned that property developers and politicians are continuing to threaten their Elephant & Castle home.
Deadmau5 Supports Simon Cowell
Canadian rave star Deadmau5 predicted Simon Cowell’s X Factor superstar DJ show will ‘catapult the awareness of EDM through the roof’, in a lengthy diatribe posted on his blog.
“Theres just no way in hell im going to come out guns blazing with an attitude like “fuck this, this isnt real DJ’ing, or has nothing to do with anything and blah blah blah”, said Deadmau5, “And it sure seems that EDM has been deemed fashionable these days to warrant it’s own long overdue primetime slot to the masses.”
“Give the underdogs a shot, see what happens… and EVEN IF no massive worldwide careers busted out of it… well shit, sure would be entertaining to watch wouldnt it?” (Facebook: http://on.fb.me/yORx0z )
Chew The Fat Man Praises Tim Deluxe’s Message
London club promoter Paul Arnold chatted to Skrufff this week about moving his Chew The Fat parties to East London’s Xoyo and also revealed that he’d been particularly inspired by a recent Skrufff interview with Tim Deluxe in which Tim chatted candidly about the reality of life as an international DJ and club star.
“I really enjoyed the Tim Deluxe feature because it was fascinating and very truthful,” he said.
“I forwarded it to a few artists I manage who are in very similar situations. It’s so frustrating managing an artist who has such good opportunities but goes through those similar issues. This article has been a great help for them knowing it’s not just them,” said Paul.
Tiesto- I Am A Rockstar
William Conn from Las Vegas nightclub The Joint at Hard Rock praised Tiesto for being ‘our classic rock growing up’, in the official trailer for Tiesto’s new In The Booth series, this week declaring “He is your Led Zeppelin. He is your Bon Jovi. He is your U2.”
Speaking to the New York Times the same week, the Dutch trance-pop icon coincidentally agreed.
“DJs are the new rock stars,” he decreed, “We’ve been saying it for years, but now you can really see it.” http://nyti.ms/AnyYS8
Dubstep Dissed Yet Again
US gossip king Perez Hilton joined the growing list of high profile dubstep haters this week, Tweeting a five word declaration ‘Dubstep is officially dead, right?’
His dubstep dismissal coincided with a lengthy discourse on genres by superstar trance type Jono Grant from Above and Beyond, who chatting to Spinner magazine, launched a less overt attack on rivals jumping on the dubstep bandwagon.
“The weaker artists try to copy the successful ones, and try to make a record like someone else’s hit, and that’s just a very weak thing to do. We’d rather stick to our guns,” said Jono,
“The important thing is, who’s going to be left when the bubble bursts? Because it will burst at some point,” he predicted. (http://aol.it/A4iVr6 )
Dusty Kid Despairs at Cruise Ship Captain
Sardinian tech superstar Dusty Kid joined the chorus of Italians condemning Costa Concordia cruise ship captain, Francesco Schettino, for abandoning ship before his passengers, after steering the giant ship onto rocks.
The cowardly captain attracted increasing vitriol after tape recordings emerged of him ignoring coast-guard Gregorio De Falco’s requests to get back on board after the captain slipped away before any of his ships 4.200 passengers and crew had been evacuated,
As Captain De Falco equivocated, Mr De Falco became increasing angry eventually ordering “Vado a bordo, cazzo”- get back on board, fucker’.












