genre dance
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At 5:10 p.m. ET on Thursday evening (May 1), Sara Landry’s agents got the call that would send their next three days into turmoil.
A rep from New York City venue Brooklyn Mirage was on the phone to say that Landry’s show at the club that night was canceled. The sold-out performance was meant to be Mirage’s first concert upon reopening after a months-long closure and extensive remodel, but the venue was forced to nix Landry’s show after building inspectors declined to grant the facility a permit to open.
Less than an hour after delivering this news to Landry’s team, Mirage posted an announcement explaining the situation to its hundreds of thousands of social media followers. The update was especially head-spinning for Landry’s team, given that they’d had dinner with Mirage operators the night prior and no one had mentioned there might be an issue.
“I had been paying very close attention and asking for lots of updates,” Landry tells Billboard of Mirage’s reopening. “Like ‘How are we looking? Is this going to happen?’ The response was, ‘We’re going to open; we have all the permits; everything’s on schedule.’ But when [the cancellation] happened, there was a part of me that was like, ‘Okay, this was a statistical possibility.’”
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When the call came, Landry was in a 2026 planning meeting with her entire team at the WME office in Manhattan. Their meeting space quickly became, as Landry now calls it, “the situation room,” where she, her agents, her publicist and the rest of her team scrambled to find another venue for the DJ and the 6,000 people who were scheduled to see her at the Mirage that same evening. It was a situation they’d repeat the next day when The Mirage announced it also could not open on Friday (May 2), effectively canceling Landry’s second show at the venue. (Additional opening weekend shows by party brand CityFox and South African producer Black Coffee were also cancelled, and Brooklyn Mirage has since announced that its reopening is delayed “indefinitely.”)
“Obviously, opening the Mirage was a big deal for us, especially coming out of such a massive Coachella,” says Tracey Manner, Landry’s publicist and founder of PR agency Sequel. “We had been working on things to make this another moment for her.”
The Mirage was meant to host the New York debut of a large-scale show called Eternalism that the hard techno producer and her team had spent the last year creating, which made its U.S. debut last month at Coachella’s Sahara tent and which by Thursday was set up inside the Mirage for a performance that, as it turned out, was never going to happen.
By the time Manner got the cancellation update and left another meeting to join the team at WME, she says, “Sara had eight agents in the room, everyone on a call with another venue, talking to legal, talking about ticketing with Dice, about how this could all work. WME pulled into one room… and every single person pulled out their own version of expertise.”
“There was never going to be an option where I sat in my hotel room without doing anything, knowing that thousands of people spent money in this economy to buy tickets and fly in,” says Landry.
While Landry’s agents, Bailey Greenwood and Annie Chung, along with other WME agents, including the agency’s head of electronic music Stephanie LaFera, worked the phones, Landry and Manner strategized on messaging. They decided it was important to post videos of Landry explaining the situation, so fans could see and hear her, a move they knew would humanize the situation.
“We talked about getting things across as clearly as possible and not getting stuck in anything about the Mirage,” says Manner. “We were always going to take the high road.”
“The key piece is always being transparent,” says Chung. “In the absence of information, people tend to start creating their own narratives or spinning out, and so it was important for us to update people as we went along and say, ‘This is what we know right now. This is what’s feasible.’ Fans were so receptive to Sara being the face of trying to make something happen.”
Within an hour of getting the news of the Thursday cancellation, Landry posted a video of herself to her social media accounts explaining that she and her team were working on solutions. An hour after that, the WME team had secured the Brooklyn Storehouse for a show that would happen the following day, Friday (May 2). Landry went back on social media and posted another video explaining that Brooklyn Mirage Thursday ticketholders would have their original tickets refunded by Mirage and receive an email with tickets to the Brooklyn Storehouse show.
Not long after, Landry posted another video saying she and her team had also secured Knockdown Center in Queens for a show that night, Thursday (May 1). Anyone, whether they had a Mirage ticket or not, could RSVP for free to this show, with Landry requesting that people who lived in New York skip this Thursday night set and go to the Friday show at Storehouse, to prioritize people who’d traveled to New York for the Thursday event. By this point, it was impossible for the Eternalism production to be moved to either venue, necessitating a much sparer set-up for these shows.
While Landry’s team was reconfiguring her Thursday performance, they also had to prepare for the possibility of Friday’s show cancelling, which it ultimately was. When this Friday cancellation happened, Landry’s team was able to add two more shows at Knockdown, one on Friday night and the other on Saturday afternoon (May 3), to accommodate the roughly 6,000 Mirage ticketholders at the 3,100 capacity Knockdown.
Meanwhile, the team combed through emails to prioritize getting tickets to the Thursday show to people who needed to see it that night, including those who’d traveled to New York and could only stay in the city for one day (this included a couple who’d received Thursday night tickets as a wedding gift). As the WME team was working through the complicated process of getting new tickets sent out through Dice, Manner was responding to comments on social media to help clarify the situation.
“We all split up the tasks and called different people, purely based on everyone’s relationships and who we could probably get the quickest answer from,” says Greenwood. “For example, Knockdown Center did the two shows with Sara last year and have booked her for years, so it was honestly a really great moment for them to have her back, and they were heroes.”
Chung, Greenwood and the team were cognizant, however, of the organization required when relocating thousands of people to a new venue. They note that most city “takeovers” by artists, which find acts playing myriad venues over a couple of days, typically take months of planning.
“When you do a pop-up at that capacity and scope, there’s always the chance that it can do more harm than good in terms of creating chaos and sending people to a venue that can’t withstand the demand,” says Chung. “For us, it was springing into action to figure out a game plan that made it possible for everyone who was planning to see Sara to safely see her.”
Sara Landry at Brooklyn Storehouse
Simon’s Playground
Greenwood also nods to the strength of the local dance music community in having Knockdown Center and Brooklyn Storehouse fully staffed and ready in terms of lighting and sound with just hours’ notice. Ultimately, Landry played the pop-up show at Knockdown Center on Thursday night, the Friday early evening show at Brooklyn Storehouse, then another show later that night at Knockdown Center and another Knockdown Center show on Saturday, performing for 15,000 people altogether over the weekend — a number exceeding the 12,000 she’d been scheduled to play for at Mirage — all of whom were admitted free of charge.
The artists who’d flown in to be her support acts at the Mirage, Amsterdam-based producer Diøn and French artist Shlømo, both also got to play, as did the local support acts who’d been booked on the Mirage bills. The financial elements of the entire weekend are still being worked through by WME and the various venues involved. (Typically, with these types of cancellations, the venue is on the hook for paying 100% of the artist fee.)
Landry adds that “obviously I wanted nothing more than to go through with things at The Mirage, and I know for a fact that the Mirage team wanted nothing more than for that to go ahead. They had so many people on the ground that were working hard and passionately to bring their vision to life. I think that, unfortunately, sometimes the construction gods are not on your side and sometimes the bureaucracy gods are just not on your side. Stuff can always go wrong.”
While New York has yet to see Eternalism, Landry says, “I did give them four crazy underground type sets, so I think they were happy.” (She ultimately DJ-ed for nine hours over the weekend, and when we talk on Tuesday morning, she’s planted in bed, where she’s been since Sunday, intermittently napping, eating artichoke pizza, scrolling TikTok and watching Hacks.)
Greenwood, Chung and Manner all agree the vibe was extra special at the Storehouse and Knockdown shows, with the cheers a bit louder and longer, as people seemed grateful just to be in the room.
“It definitely felt extra special for us,” Greenwood says. “This was really a stress test. Cancellations happen; production stuff happens. This is where our training and expertise are the most important, in how quickly can you pivot.”
Illenium has signed with Republic Records. The move comes after the electronic producer’s tenure at Warner Records, where he released two albums dating back to 2021. Prior to that, he was signed to UMG and the indie labels Seeking Blue and Kasaya Records.
“This is a completely new chapter for me,” the artist born Nick Miller tells Billboard of signing with Republic. “When I had my meeting with Republic, I just felt a family sort of love. I want people working my music that are as passionate as I am and truly have my best interest in mind. Republic absolutely has that for me.”
“I just felt an energy at Republic that was really inspiring,” he continues. “They’re also the best at what they do, so it’s hard to even consider anywhere else.”
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Illenium says that within the next six months, he’ll reveal information about a new project that he calls “my most ambitious, without a doubt.” He doesn’t say whether or not this project is a new album, but notes that “I’m working every day, but don’t have an exact ETA yet. But I’m moving at light speed.”
The last Illenium album was a 2023 self-titled project and an attendant remix album. Since then, the Colorado-based producer has released a handful of singles and remixes. His forthcoming work will include what he calls “a sick drum n bass style song” with Kid Kudi. He also says that “Ryan Tedder and I wrote something beautiful with Amy Allen and Lostboy,” and there additionally is “a bunch of other stuff that’s awesome but not ready to share yet.” On Tuesday (May 6), Illenium and Hayla also teased a new collaboration they say is “coming soon.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Illenium and his expert team to the Republic family,” Glenn Mendlinger, the evp of Republic Records and president of IMPERIAL & Casablanca Records tells Billboard. “The world he has created and the fandom he has built over the last decade is nothing short of remarkable. Nick is a true pioneer in the electronic music landscape and has carved out a lane that is distinctly Illenium. His anthemic, emotional music and signature production has touched people globally and his landmark live shows have created incredible communal moments for his fans. Together our ambitions are grand and the team is already setting up for a historic year ahead.”
In addition to his recorded music, Illenium has carved out a wildly successful touring career, becoming one of the few electronic artists able to play and sell out stadiums and arenas. His Trilogy shows have taken place at a handful of stadiums across the U.S., with a 2023 show in Denver grossing $3.9 million and selling 47,000 tickets, according to numbers reported to Billboard Boxscore.
Billboard’s Dance Moves roundup serves as a guide to the biggest movers and shakers across Billboard’s many dance charts — new No. 1s, new top 10s, first-timers and more.
This week (on charts dated May 10), Beyoncé, Gryffin, PinkPantheress and others achieve new feats. Check out key movers below.
Beyoncé
Beyoncé’s 2022 LP Renaissance rises 8-5 on the Top Dance Albums chart, earning 6,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the April 25-May 1 tracking week (up 26%), according to Luminate, as the superstar kicked off her Cowboy Carter Tour April 28 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. While the setlist primarily highlights her 2024 country album Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé included several Renaissance tracks during the tour’s first three shows (all at SoFi), including “America Has a Problem,” “My House,” “Cuff It” and “Alien Superstar.”
The album wasn’t Beyoncé’s only beneficiary: Her entire solo catalog sports gains following the tour’s launch. Her catalog raked in 57 million official U.S. streams during the tracking week, up 18% from the 48.3 million streams the week before. Cowboy Carter had the largest gains and surges 193-64 on the Billboard 200 with a 73% increase in units.
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Gryffin, Excision & Julia Michaels
Gryffin, Excision and Julia Michaels’ new collaboration, “Air,” debuts at No. 25 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, fueled entirely by its 620,000 first-week streams. The track arrived April 25 via 10K Projects.
“Air” earns Gryffin his 38th career entry on the chart, and his second of 2025, after “In My Head,” with Kaskade and Nu-La, peaked at No. 15 in February. It also becomes Excision’s 10th entry and Michaels’ fifth.
PinkPantheress
PinkPantheress lands her second entry on the Hot Dance/Pop Songs chart with “Stateside.” Released April 25 on Parlophone/Elektra/Atlantic Records, the track debuts at No. 11 and joins her previous single, “Tonight,” which ranks at No. 13 after debuting at No. 5 in April. Both songs are set to appear on her second mixtape, Fancy That, a nine-track project due out Friday (May 9).
PinkPantheress previously charted two tracks on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs: “Way Back” with Skrillex and Trippie Redd (No. 13 in January 2023), and Kaytranada’s “Snap My Finger,” on which she’s featured (No. 40 last June). Her breakthrough collaboration with Ice Spice, “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2,” climbed to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 2023.
MEDUZA, Innellea, GENESI & Nu-La
MEDUZA, Innellea and GENESI’s “Edge of the World,” featuring Nu-La, debuts at No. 33 on the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, marking the highest new entry of the week. It gained by 33% in plays among 24/7 dance reporters and pop stations’ mix show hours.
The release marks a milestone for Italian house group MEDUZA, which scores its 10th career entry and first since “Another World,” with HAYLA, hit No. 1 in December, becoming the act’s third leader. It’s also the first entry for both Innellea and GENESI and the second for Nu-La, whose “In My Head,” with Gryffin and Kaskade, rises to a new No. 14 high.
In a fun twist, the chart’s second-highest debut is the similarly titled “End of the World” — Miley Cyrus’ latest single. It enters at No. 35 with a 30% gain in plays, becoming her 12th career hit on the chart.
Create Music Group (CMG) has acquired indie electronic label Monstercat.
Founded in Waterloo, Canada, in 2011 and now with offices in Toronto and Los Angeles, Monstercat will continue to be operated by president Daniel Turcotte, vp Orri Sachar and director of finance Rob Hill. Monstercat founders Mike Darlington and Ari Paunonen will have advisory roles.
The acquisition will provide Monstercat with access to CMG’s global infrastructure, media portfolio and capital — enabling it to offer more competitive deal structures and better marketing support while expanding its global presence.
Beyond the acquisition, Create plans to invest an additional $50 million into the label over the next two years, with the money specifically going towards artist development, advances, and support for new signees and longtime roster artists.
Since 2011, Monstercat has released more than 8,000 recordings from artists across the electronic spectrum, including Kaskade, Alan Walker, Vicetone, Punctual, Whipped, DJ Diesel (the artist name of Shaquille O’Neal), Koven and more. Monstercat sublabels servicing various subgenres include Uncaged, Silk and Instinct.
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“Our mission has always been to build sustainable, long-term careers for exceptional artists,” Turcotte said in a statement. “Create gives us the reach and support to do that at a larger scale, without changing what makes Monstercat special. We’re still artist-first — only now with more tools to serve them.”
“Monstercat is everything an independent label should strive to be — exclusive, globally trusted and capable of breaking artists and songs at the highest levels,” added Create Music Group co-founder/CEO Jonathan Strauss. “Mike, Ari, Daniel, Orri, and the entire Monstercat team have built a culture and community at a scale rarely achieved in the music industry. We are excited to support their mission.”
The news marks the continuation of a recent acquisition spree by Create, with the company announcing in March that it acquired both the deadmau5 catalog and the catalog of the producer’s mau5trap label in a deal valued at $55 million. In April, it announced its acquisition of longtime indie electronic label !K7.
In 2024, Create received $165 million in backing from private equity company Flexpoint Ford, with Strauss at the time saying that the money would be used to scale operations, expand services and fund acquisitions.
The company is now aggressively pursuing acquisitions and investments in key indie labels and artists, with a goal of building intellectual property that can be successfully exploited via its platform. A representative for Create says this platform includes distribution and an owned audience that generates more than 200 billion monthly music streams on digital service providers.
Kaytranada isn’t the biggest fan of how audiences choose to enjoy live shows in the age of smartphones and social media. Over the weekend, the Montreal-based producer responded to a fan on X who apologized on behalf of “real fans” who dance at his shows as opposed to “standing still” in order to capture content […]
It was a match made in brat heaven when Charli xcx met some 15,000 Minnesotan fans at Minneapolis’ Target Center on Saturday (April 26) night for the 17th stop on her brat tour. Her co-headlining Sweat Tour with Troye Sivan last year didn’t include a stop in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but if you […]
It’s a warm Tuesday afternoon in the deep San Fernando Valley, and the only day of the week Claude VonStroke is currently taking meetings.
The producer takes me through the cozy kitchen of his sprawling home, then across the verdant backyard, to a guest house that’s been converted into an office space. Here, his wife Aundy works in a room just behind the gleaming grand piano that dominates the primary space. Upstairs, where he works, the little attic is hot with many humming music machines.
He’s been up here most days lately, getting into creative flows that didn’t come as easily when he and Aundy were running Dirtybird — the label, events company, merch brand and long-running cultural hub that was synonymous with Claude VonStroke, the artist born with the all-time cool name Barclay Crenshaw.
VonStroke sold Dirtybird to EMPIRE in 2022, leaving the company he’d created alongside his wife, and which was home to a sprawling community of artists and signature sound that helped shift house music culture in the United States over the last ten-plus years. As fun as the Dirtybird Campouts, other brand parties and music all had been, running a company whose success was predicated on streams, relentless touring and ticket sales was also acutely stressful.
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Now that he’s no longer spending his days fretting about P&L, VonStroke spends most of his time making music — except for this day of the week, when he sends emails, takes meetings, schedules social gatherings and generally tends to business. This new phase of his life is something that his publicist enthusiastically describes as “a full-on reintroduction to the world of Claude VonStroke, complete with a new creative direction and sound.”
The reinvention that VonStroke has been privately working on for years publicly starts today (April 25), with the release of a two-track EP, I Was the Wolf, which contains the title track and its cinematic B-side “Move With the Pack.” The project is the first release of a load of new music created in a time where much of the week just consists of being up in the little room, unbothered and happily toiling away.
At the family picnic table, Claude VonStroke sits down to talk about selling Dirtybird, the soul searching that followed and why now, he just wants to be like Bill Murray.
The way that this project has been framed is Claude VonStroke 2.0, a complete new era.
I mean, kind of.
Unpack that for me.
I started Dirtybird Records after a bunch of us started these free park parties, and I did it for 20 years. By the end, it was not a record label — it was a festival company, a clothing company, a record label and a pipeline for every new tech house artist ever. Like, every name came through there.
So I was listening to 600 demos a week, putting on a festival ourselves with no additional money, building cities in the middle of nowhere, freaking out about tickets every single day of the year. Doing 10 BBQ [parties], another circuit of parties. I got to a point where I was like, “This is so awesome. I got way further than I could have ever imagined. I did 10 festivals at least, and it was fantastic.” I knew during the last festival that it was [done]. I always told myself that when it stops being fun, I should just get out before it becomes un-fun. So I found someone who wanted to keep it going at EMPIRE, and that all worked out really well. So it was just a win-win scenario where they took it over, and I’m able to do whatever I want, and it’s fantastic.
So how is your life different today than it was before you sold the label?
The label sale happened at the end of 2022, and we just sold them the events company. They didn’t buy them together, which is why all of these [new Dirtybird] events just popped up… We tried to sell it all the first time. They didn’t want everything at first, and then they realized what we told them, that you actually need it. The label and the events go together. They’re symbiotic. Which is kind of what I’m doing again, but the new idea is the opposite of that idea, where now I’m kind of in my Moodymann phase where it’s like — I did everything that was hard, and now I only want to go to the rooms that are fun and interesting and it doesn’t matter what the money is. I just want to make tracks I think are interesting. And it’s more about space in my head and the love of music.
Versus relentless pushing every day?
Versus just keep going up the ladder, and “We need to do this to get this.”
I imagine there was a decompression phase?
I was probably the most annoying person to my wife for the six months after the sale. I got all in a funk and was like, “What am I doing?” I read about when other people sold their companies, and it was very similar. Like, you did something forever and you’re not doing it.
“What’s my identity, now that I’m not that guy?”
I actually went and figured it out. I went and did my bass project for 18 months. That was super fun, and then at the end of that, I was like, “Well, I’ll keep doing that, but I still like house music, but I’m glad I had a break. And now I can come back to it with a different perspective.”
How has the perspective changed?
It’s like what I was saying before. I’m just doing it for fun, only. I’m just doing it for me, I guess.
At what point did Dirtybird stop being fun?
Well it was always fun, but it was hard. It was maybe the last two or three years that I felt the sound had been kind of boxed in. As the tech house bro sound emerged, we got blamed for it, and then it went that way.
Do you take any of that blame?
Oh yeah. We brought Fisher through, John Summit, Shiba San. Even if we had their first record, they all came through our shop. So yes, of course. I wasn’t going in that direction anymore, so for me to be like “Okay, somebody wants this, because it’s freaking going crazy,” that was a good point to leave.
The two new tracks that are out sound pretty different than your previous stuff. How do define what you’re doing now, and what phase would you say you’re in?
It is kind of pulling back to 2005, 2006 German stuff that I was really into. My favorite label is Playhouse, which doesn’t even exist anymore, and artists like Roman Flügel and Isolée and these kind of guys. I was always obsessed with that stuff, and it’s kind of like that stuff, but also none of that stuff holds up sonically anymore. They’re still unbelievable tracks, but over the last 18 months producing bass music I’ve learned a lot of great production stuff. Honestly I’m probably a three times better DJ, because bass is all fast cuts and chops and moving around, and house music seems like it’s DJ-ing for dummies at this point.
That might have to be a pull quote.
I just got way better and way more skilled doing bass music, because it’s all sound design, and highly intensive and figuring out that I’m going to use five sounds, and they’re the best possible sounds, versus using 14 and just layering them up until they work. It’s a different philosophy of working.
One of the biggest things that I can’t even really explain is that for seven years that I worked here [at the house], I spent all this money on the downstairs room to try to fix a room that was never going to be fixed. The bass and everything is just f—ed in that room. My wife told me to move upstairs five years ago, and I didn’t listen to her. Then as soon as I moved upstairs, it’s the perfect shape and all my stuff just went [he makes a motion like his mind is being blown]. You make a song and it actually sounds the same in the club. All my rooms were bad until this year or last year. My entire career! I would have to go play like, 30 gigs before I could finish a track.
That’s bananas.
It’s a lot of getting depressed at the show, like, “This song sucks.”
Does that now give you a new level of confidence that you can go out and know things are right from the jump?
Yeah, it’s crazy. It’s a life-changing moment, actually, that the room actually works.
What is the music sounding like, beyond the two tracks that are out now?
It’s interesting the way this is all shaping up. You know how people say that you just say something, and it starts coming true? It’s rolling out like that, which is always fascinating. It does happen. I found a beat that I liked, and was trying to hammer it out, then I accidentally moved some of the sounds around and it became a completely different thing, and I finished the whole thing in one day, which I the best possible scenario. Every time that happens, it’s very good. [He talks about a collaboration he made a few days ago with Reggie Watts, who came over to the house to record vocals.] I’m probably not even supposed to be talking about it, but who cares, because no one’s in charge of me! There’s no record label telling me that I can’t talk about releases coming up, there’s no one telling me I can’t talk about who I’m working with.
In terms of a label, who’s releasing this music?
I’m just doing it DIY. No label. Just distribution.
Do you have an idea of what success for the music will look like for you?
No. I don’t know. [laughs] I think as long as I like them a lot. I guess that’s really Rick Rubin to say, but that’s all it is. I can’t control it, really. I hope certain tracks find their way to the people that they’re meant for. But I’m not trying to get the biggest tech house artist to play “I Was the Wolf.” That’s not a track for them. I just hope they make it into their niches.
Where does this new music bring you in terms of touring?
I really just want to go to the rooms that I either know that I already love, or that I want to try out. But that’s one thing you can get wrapped up in, that I was definitely wrapped up in. Like, “Oh, we better play this, so this guy will let us play this, so we can over here and play this show so we can be in this.” Politics. I’m not doing any of that.
What rooms do you love?
I love this room in Dallas called It’ll Do. Perfect house club, perfect layout. I like Coda in Toronto. I like Walter Wherehouse [in Phoenix]. I’m trusting my agent, and he says Knockdown Center is the coolest and most fun place in New York, so I’m going to check it out.
You’ve been doing this for a long time. Do you have any particular feelings about being a veteran in the scene?
There were people that I looked at like, “That looks like absolute best life.” It was people like DJ Harvey and Moodymann and people who are just living on their own timeline and their own sphere of influence and not really caring if they miss five phone calls or answer everyone’s emails. I remember towards the last few years, being like “these guys are f—ing geniuses.” DJ Koze too. This little enclave of guys where you can’t really contact them. Nobody knows what they’re doing.
They’re playing a flute in a cave on a mountain.
That’s kind of where I’m headed, if I can. It’s like the Shangri-La of DJ-ing. I’ll be with the goats on the mountain and people will be like “fly in the helicopter! He’s got to take this phone call!” Like the Bill Murray of DJ-ing.
How do you think Dirtybird shifted dance music culture?
Dirtybird made this shift in American house music, because in 2015 I said, “Okay my kids are at this age, I can’t go to Europe every other week anymore, so let’s literally be the best house music label in America and only crush America.” Then it was, “Let’s do festivals, crazy merch, hammering it through this US based producer pool.”
That changed what people thought of house music. There were these original Detroit and Chicago labels, but they weren’t bridging this gap to 18-year-olds, so we were like, “Here we are.” I always say we were like a gateway drug between Damian Lazarus and commercial dance. You start here and then you come to us and then you end up in a K-hole. I’m kidding! But you know what I mean.
So to what extent does this shift you’re in now have to do with your kids being older and you being able to go back out to Europe?
Everything. All the pieces make sense. Now my son’s in college, my daughter is applying to college. Everything is just making it easy to be like this. I’m not killing myself because this is due and this is due. It’s just a totally different thing.
Veteran record label executive Gina Tucci has launched a new independent dance label, 146 Records. Today’s launch happens in conjunction with the label’s first release, “Sunrise,” by rising Swedish producer Discrete.
146 Records is based in New York City and currently has a team of four. Distribution is being handled by Virgin Music Group, where, Tucci says, “we benefit from their extensive industry expertise, global reach and robust distribution capabilities to effectively launch and scale our artists’ music.”
“For years, I’ve envisioned an electronic dance music label that nurtures artists with a song-first approach, prioritizing the music above all else,” she continues. “At 146, we provide artists the necessary time, resources and attention to produce their best work. My goal is to discover and develop the next generation of dance music talent, crafting the kind of hits that become classics, hits that resonate decades from now. I want 146 to feel like a creative home — a place artists can experiment, collaborate closely with me and our team, and leverage cutting-edge technology. The goal is to build enduring music catalogs that sustain lifelong careers.”
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Prior to founding 146, Tucci was the longtime head of Atlantic Records’ dance imprint Big Beat Records, the label founded by Atlantic Records CEO Craig Kallman in 1986. Here, Tucci helped lead the label’s 2010 relaunch and over the next 14 years broke acts including Skrillex, Clean Bandit, Icona Pop and Joel Corry, bringing dance music to new levels of visibility in tandem with the genre’s early 2010’s explosion in America. In the role she also led A&R creative for Galantis, Martin Solveig, Cash Cash, The Knocks, 100 gecs, Tiësto and more. Tucci has appeared on myriad Billboard Dance Power lists through the years.
“I bring to 146 the rigorous standards and global perspective I developed running Big Beat at Atlantic Records under Craig Kallman for over a decade,” Tucci says. “At Big Beat, I learned firsthand the intricacies of successfully launching and breaking dance records globally, recognizing that each rollout requires a uniquely tailored strategy. Dance music has always thrived on global connectivity, and I’m adept at leveraging data-driven insights to map out precise, effective release strategies that connect deeply with audiences worldwide.”
Today’s release from Discrete begins a weekly release schedule where, says Tucci, “we’re diving headfirst into exploring the new sound designs and grooves, but the art of great melodies will always remain paramount.” Discrete’s upcoming tour dates include May shows at Elsewhere in New York City and EDC Las Vegas.
“A lot of today’s tracks flash moments of brilliance but don’t fully ignite,” Tucci continues. “At 146, we’re closing that gap. We’re committed to sweating every detail, inspiring our artists to leave no creative stone unturned. It’s about elevating dance music from disposable moments into timeless anthems.”
PinkPantheress was born in Bath, England, and raised in Kent, but on Friday (April 25), she came “Stateside” for her latest single. “Stateside” arrives three weeks after “Tonight,” the lead single from her upcoming mixtape, Fancy That, which is out May 9 via Parlophone and Warner Records. The club anthem, which samples Panic! At the […]
The Chainsmokers dropped a remix of Chappell Roan‘s “Pink Pony Club” on Thursday (April 24), with the duo shaving down the original from four-plus minutes to a tight two-minute and 11-second edit. The remix bounces along on a dark house beat before taking a turn into brighter and quintessentially Chainsmokers sonic terrain around the one-minute […]