With access getting more exclusive and ticket prices rising, electronic music fans are at the heart of a new push to rebalance the scene.
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Electronic music is big business. According to a report by the International Music Summit, in 2021, the electronic music sector was valued at $6 billion dollars and that sector is poised for significant further growth. That $6 billion dollar figure marks a 71% increase from the industry’s valuation in 2020, which was understandably much smaller due to the effects of the pandemic. While revenue is down from where it was in 2019, barring further massive disruptions, the industry is on pace in 2022 to surpass its pre-pandemic heights.
This should be great news for artists and music lovers alike, but there is a caveat. As electronic music continues to flourish, access to festivals and concerts — the heart of the electronic music scene — has become increasingly exclusive. The price of concert tickets is up across the board throughout the entire music industry. Earlier this year, a furor was sparked when tickets to see Bruce Springsteen, an artist with a committed following among working-class people, went on sale for astronomical prices. The high prices were blamed on algorithms used by ticket-selling platforms, but this wasn’t an isolated incident.
Take Tomorrowland, one of the biggest electronic music festivals. In 2022, a general admission ticket to the festival cost about $280. These tickets get sold out very fast, leaving only the more expensive packages, which can cost several thousands of dollars. And that base price doesn’t take into account travel, food and all of the other expenses that go into attending one of these events. The total cost of going to one of these events can be anywhere from $1,500 to $50,000. That is simply not something that the vast majority of people can afford.
Electronic music festivals are about more than just the music. These are events that are supposed to bring together people from all walks of life in a communal setting. The way things currently operate, going to these events is becoming more of a privilege.
However, one blockchain project has decided to do something about this and use its platform to bring electronic music back to its roots. Klubcoin bills itself as the “1st cryptocurrency for all clubbers, festival goers and electronic music fans.” The project’s goal is to create a currency that is accepted by everyone in the electronic music scene. By using the Klubcoin currency, music fans get rewards that include access to VIP events, meet-and-greets with famous DJs and artists and more.
The model of operation is called “party-to-earn,” and has been positioned as a means of decentralizing the music and festival scene in a similar fashion to how play-to-earn games have shaken up the gaming industry. Klubcoin gives clubbers and festival goers the ability to earn rewards and gain access to exclusive events by doing what they love. Now, fans will not only be able to get into sold-out events for reasonable prices, once there, they will also be eligible for discounts on food and drinks, get cashback on all their purchases and have access to parties and meetups exclusive to the Klubcoin community. By introducing a means of exchange tailored to electronic music creators and fans, the project is aiming to bring those creators and fans back into focus.
Klubcoin has already met with some success in its efforts, forging partnerships with some of the biggest music festivals and DJs in the world. The project’s roster of partners now includes Amnesia Ibiza, Bootshaus, Caprices Festival, DJ Mag, Pacha Barcelona, Opium, Motel Particulier and many more. As it progresses, Klubcoin will be looking to integrate into even more festivals and partner with more artists to expand its ecosystem and offer more people alternatives to the current status quo.
For music creators, Klubcoin represents a unique opportunity to expand their audience and contribute to a more direct relationship between fans and artists. The sustained success of Klubcoin could have a profound impact on an industry that is becoming increasingly unrecognizable to its original creators.
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