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Achille Lauro has had many different lives: that of a “street boy” in the Roman crew Quarto Blocco, then as protagonist of the Sanremo Festival and Eurovision Song Contest, a performer in sold-out arenas, entrepreneur and now a judge on The X Factor Italy. He is a person with solid, sincere and passionate convictions, who put their idea of an artist at the center of attention, capable of overlooking everything but never their own abilities and determination. Meeting Achille Lauro for this interview on a nice afternoon in Milan — after the release of his latest single “Amore Disperato,” with the delicate sound of a piano lesson in the background — was just the confirmation of all this.
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As an artist, but not only, you reinvented yourself several times. You are like a cat: you have nine lives.
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I hope, so I still have some to spend! For me, life is always full of opportunities for change. I don’t think I’m the only one. There are people who live just like this, changing their skin and their lives, chasing an idea, aiming for an increasingly distant goal. My curse, but also my blessing, is all of this. I often feel so projected toward the future that I can’t live well in the present. However, this is also my strength: being beyond the contemporary. The worst thing they wrote about me was that I always tried to amaze people, but instead I just tried to surpass myself, often ending up in territories I didn’t know. I don’t want my job to turn into an assembly line.
After all, you are artistically omnivorous and have nothing to defend other than your talent.
I like “omnivorous,” but I believe that talent is ultimately not enough. Dedication toward what you love and extreme commitment count. In the end, all this leads to great results, as well as always seeking innovation. It’s true, I’ve never been afraid of losing anything. Each of my albums is always different from the previous one, because I am looking for a new universe to immerse myself in. I think it was harder initially for a listener to understand my direction. But I’m not reassuring, I don’t want to bring you into a comfort zone by always doing the same thing.
You’ve been on the scene for 10 years, and in this decade, everything has happened musically in Italy: a real generational revolution in the charts, but also the renewal of Sanremo – and you have been the protagonist of the festival several times.
They have been 10 intense years because there has been a great evolution of our music scene, especially thanks to younger artists. Many of them have understood that the more unique and particular they make themselves, the more they strike the chords of the public’s feelings. I’m not even completely convinced that Auto-Tune was the stylistic hallmark of this era. Already in the ’70s funk bands used the Vocoder, then there were Daft Punk in the ’90s…. When I started, it was the era of street rap, in which you had to say certain things and maybe you were ashamed to show your feelings, your weaknesses. Today, however, there is room for emotions, which is very important for me. However, there has been a great evolution in the trap and urban scene. We went from a very dark production to something lighter. Above all, those kids who come from the suburbs didn’t ape the Americans but chose their own narrative path, going much higher in quality. They tell of miserable realities that are in contrast with the luxury that glitters 15 minutes away from them. Milan is the place par excellence to describe this discrepancy. For them, as for me, music is a path to redemption and redemption. Then it’s nice that pop is no longer considered synonymous with poor music, and this allows many young artists to try their hand at this genre without fear.
Achille Lauro
Marcello Junior Dino/Billboard Italy
What do you think about the fact that electronic dance music is connecting more and more with pop? It is a process that began many years ago but continues at a mainstream level in Italy, too.
True. I would like to open the top 50 and hear globally competitive productions and also an acceleration toward the contamination between dance and what really characterizes one’s culture, one’s country. Look at what is happening in Spain with Rosalía or C. Tangana, who take their tradition and mix it with something new.
What are you finding as a judge of The X Factor?
I’m trying to find something strong in identity in my team. My final three choices are slightly unconventional talents. I’m delighted to be able to try to do something different for the program. In the end, in Italy, only The X Factor and Sanremo are left to give great motivation to kids, to new talents…. Only in these contexts does something different and important really happen.
And you know a lot about Sanremo.
Let’s say that I was part of a change for the better. The festival was more permeable to the innovations seen in our music scene. It approached very distant worlds that never paid attention to before. Standing on stage with 10 million people watching you is an opportunity that I have always taken advantage of, even when I made mistakes.
Now, after four times at the festival, would you like to do Sanremo more as a guest or as a competitor?
If I have the right song I would go as a contestant. I love what I do and I want to take it to the top, but not in a grimly economic sense. I’ve always found my way, now I’m also an entrepreneur, I’ve opened a real estate company, so I’m not thinking about Sanremo for an economic question. But I’m ambitious: Sanremo is like the Champions League for a footballer. If you go there, you do it not only to participate but to win.
In your movie Ragazzi Madre: L’Iliade there is a passage where you reveal your great love for ballads, and the new single “Amore Disperato” is an intimate song, with acoustic sounds and a melancholic flavor.
I love ballads because they allow me to talk about my personal stories, to tell my experience, without inventing details to embellish them or make them more authentic. It’s all in that song. I want to maintain a certain simplicity, which for me goes hand in hand with authenticity. “Amore Disperato” is about a true story, so it was very easy for me to make it.
You recently went to the United States and talked about a future collaboration with Arturo Fratini, aka Lester Nowhere. We know he worked with Kanye West after giving him a CD with his phone number.
We did some things together during my work trip to Los Angeles, which was a very interesting and profitable period for me. Lester Nowhere is a very interesting artist and another demonstration that between obsession and attraction something incredible can happen. As in his case: meeting and then working with a great artist like Kanye West.
Achille Lauro
Marcello Junior Dino/Billboard Italy
Shawn Mendes, Benson Boone, RAYE, Teddy Swims and the Mexican-born sister trio The Warning are set to perform at the 2024 MTV EMAs. The show is set to be broadcast live on Nov. 10 from Co-op Live in Manchester, U.K.
Four of those artists – Boone, RAYE, Swims and The Warning – are also vying for Grammy nominations for best new artist. RAYE swept the Brit Awards on March 2. Boone won best alternative at the MTV VMAs on Sept. 11.
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In addition, Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale and screen stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Turner-Smith and Lucien Laviscount will take the stage as presenters. Ten of the 11 artists with the most nominations for the 2024 MTV EMAs are women. The only man who cracked the leaderboard is Kendrick Lamar, with four nods.
Taylor Swift leads with seven nods, including best artist, best video, best pop and biggest fans. Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter each scored five nominations. Closely following with four nods each are Ayra Starr, Beyoncé, Lamar, LISA, plus first-time nominees Chappell Roan and Tyla.
Fans can vote for their favorites on the EMAs website from now until 00:00 CET on Nov. 6.
The 2024 MTV EMAs will broadcast at 9 p.m. GMT Sunday, Nov. 10, on MTV UK, Channel 5 and Pluto TV, and will be available on demand on Paramount+ from Nov. 12. Tickets will be on sale at a later date.
Bruce Gillmer and Richard Godfrey are executive producers for the 2024 MTV EMAs. Debbie Phillips and Chloe Mason are producers.
This will be the eighth time the EMAs have been held in the U.K. Last year’s ceremony was set for Nov. 5 in Paris, but was canceled two weeks before the show due to the Israel–Hamas war, becoming the first EMAs to be canceled in its 30-year history.
In one of their first performances nearly two decades ago, a modest gig along the banks of the Nile in Egypt, Cairokee played to a silent crowd – no applause, no cheers. Reflecting on this moment in a recent interview, Cairokee’s lead singer Amir Eid shared this story to illustrate the mindset that has defined the band from the start. The band didn’t interpret the audience’s silence as failure; instead, they heard the hum of something new. Rather than retreat, they pushed forward, knowing deep within that they were planting the first seeds of a new musical landscape. What began that night wasn’t just a performance. It was a turning point for Arabic indie bands, signaling the potential to rise from the underground and become charting artists with a sound that would echo far beyond the river’s shores.
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Fast forward to today. These echoes eventually reached Europe and North America, where Cairokee embarked on various successful tours. The first one, in 2019, was followed by 2022’s tour which saw them perform in cities like New York, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco. More recently, they completed a multi-city tour across Europe, the U.S. and Canada, which wrapped up on Sept. 30, further solidifying their global presence. Meanwhile in August 2024, at the Alamain Festival on Egypt’s North Coast, they sold out a show of upwards of 27,000 fans, suggesting their echoes have become something of a roar, reverberating globally.
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Founded in 2003, and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Amir Eid, the Egyptian rock-pop band has maintained its original band members with Tamer Hashem on drums, Sherif Hawary on lead guitar, Adam El Alfy on bass and Sherif Mostafa on keys. While their early music carried political undertones, it was in 2011, during Egypt’s revolution, that Cairokee’s breakthrough single, “Sout El Horeya” (The Voice of Freedom), turned them into a voice of a generation, where the song became an anthem for Egypt’s youth and later found resonance with youth culture around the Arab region.
Cairokee’s Momentous Discography
In the time since, Cairokee has released six additional studio albums, each evolving musically: Wana Maa Nafsy Aaed (When I Sit Alone, 2012), Nas W Nas (Some People, and Others, 2015), El Sekka Shemal (Wrong Way Blues, 2014), Noaata Beida (A Drop of White, 2017), The Ugly Ducklings (2019) and Roma (2022), along with two compilations of their biggest hits. While every album carries with it Cairokee’s sonic fingerprint — largely driven by lead singer Amir’s Eid’s distinctive vocal quality — over time they broadened their sound to include a mix of rock, pop, elements of hip-hop and traditional Arabic sonic textures, showcasing their versatility.
In many ways, Cairokee have often been like a mirror to the times in which they exist, reflecting the sentiment of not only Egypt’s youth, but millennials and Gen Z across the Arab world. They weren’t the only band to launch at the time, alongside them we saw the rise of Massar Egbari, Jadal, Adonis, to name a few, but Cairokee have managed to achieve a level of pop and mainstream success with several songs finding a home on Billboard Arabia’s charts.
In early albums like Matloob Zaeem (A Leader is Wanted), we hear the political undertones they were first known for, particularly in songs like the title track, or “Ethbat Makanak” (Hold Your Position) and “Ehna El Shaab” (We Are the People). Musically, this album was driven by Amir and Hawary’s swirling soft rock guitar licks and riffs and sardonic political commentary. We find this sound continuing through to their follow-up album, Wana Maa Nafsy Aaed (When I Sit Alone), which sonically oscillates between heavily reverb guitar driven tracks like “Kol Youm Momken Yekoon Bedaya” to songs teetering on pop anthems like “Mestany.”
Their 2014 album, El Sekka Shemal, marked a turning point for Cairokee, presenting a more refined sound, while introducing an eclectic blend of musical references. El Sekka Shemal presented a fuller sound, both with atmosphere production and a deeper integration of Arabic textures, including the rababa and percussions, as heard in songs like “El Khat Dah Khatty.” This album sees Cairokee pushing the boundaries of genre while expanding their collaborations, as heard in “Agmal Ma Andy” featuring Souad Massi, and later the genre-bending “Ghareeb Fi Belad Gareeba” (Stranger in a Strange Land) with shaabi music icon Abdel Baset Hammouda.
In Nas W Nas, Amir Eid’s vocals come into focus, with different production elements supporting a more polished studio sound. The gentle guitar lines and keys in tracks like “Walla Ma Aayez (All I Really Want),” along with subtle Arabic textures – such as oud lines and percussions in “Geina El Dounia Fe Laffa” – create a fuller sonic backdrop. However, it’s in “Kol Haga Betaady” (This Too Shall Pass) that Eid’s pop sensibility shines, featuring Shahira Kamal. Their memorable duet presents an earworm exchange with memorable lines like “Everyone is scared of tomorrow/Tomorrow comes and they are still scared/Tomorrow isn’t a day/It’s an idea.” Amir Eid again manages to hold a mirror to the times, in 2015 reflecting the era’s political uncertainty.
Eid’s introspective lyricism drives Noaata Beida (A Drop of White, 2017), as seen in the title track featuring Abdelrahman Roshdy, which reflects a dualistic struggle playing out between the two vocal lines. Politically weary themes resurface in “Kont Faker” (I Thought) and “Hodna.” Musically, we see Cairokee embracing more eclecticism, offering diverse tracks like the rhythmic “Layla” and anthemic “Dinosaur” while nudging more into a pop sound.
This dynamism culminates in The Ugly Ducklings (2019), where a multiplicity of genres is presented, expanding Cairokee’s audience base by offering them each something. The album spans alt-rock tracks like “Benkhaf” (We Get Scared) to hits like “Ya Abyad Ya Eswed” (Either Black or White), which draws from popular Egyptian genres like shaabi and mahraganat. This cross-genre approach continues and peaks in Roma (2022). However, we see another turning point for Cairokee in the high production value, and synthpop influences as heard in the hit song “Samurai” to the beat driven “Basrah We Atooh” (Lost in My Headt), both of which continue to chart Billboard Arabia’s Hot 100. Meanwhile, seven songs from Roma continue holding ground on various Billboard Arabia lists, cementing Cairokee’s place as a pioneering force offering an alternative to the traditional pop landscape.
The Voice of Cairokee, Amir Eid
Amir Eid’s voice has a deep rasp in it, the kind of guttural texture that makes it feel like it has traveled from a far-off time to deliver a very important message. It’s not a prophetic voice, but rather one that transmits the timbre of falling in love in one song, and in another, cutting socio-political commentary. His vocal quality and lyricism have been central to Cairokee’s identity, and through his words, Eid expresses the frustrations, hope, and loneliness of a generation navigating everything from political uncertainty to personal challenges. His side passion projects, including the soundtrack for the hit series Rivo, andmhis EP Roxi (2024), have further showcased his artistic evolution.
Envisioned by Eid, Roxi’s elaborate and cinematic video rollout was presented in three chapters, where we see the artist blending his penchant for visual storytelling, distribution and a body of hit songs. Roxi takes on a different sonic aesthetic than Cairokee’s big band, rock and pop sound, where we see Amir’s songs like “Hagat Gowaya” (Things Inside Me) take on a darker, synthpop sound than what we heard on Roma’s “Samurai.” Lyrically, Amir combines his penchant for storytelling in this three-chapter cinematic story of falling in love, with lyrics bordering on existential explorations deep within himself. Shortly after the EP’s release, songs like “Esmek Eh” (What’s Your Name?), “Hagat Gowaya” and “Nasy Kol Haga” (I’ve Forgotten Everything) landed on Billboard Arabia’s Arabic Indie chart and remained in the No. 26, 36, and 44 positions, respectively. Meanwhile, Eid currently holds the No. 56 position on Billboard Arabia’s Top 100 Artists chart at the time of publishing this article.
From Cairo to North America, Cairokee’s Live Shows
It is only possible to tell the story of Cairokee and Amir Eid by also discussing the resonance of their live shows. After concluding their third multi-city North America tour, Cairokee has found an audience both at home and abroad. In August 2024, Cairokee sold out their show in Jeddah, and the very next day at the Al Alamein Festival on Egypt’s North Coast, Cairokee saw over 25,000 attendees, according to the artist’s team. Upon returning to Cairo in the aftermath of their tour, they sold out another show with upwards of 27,000 in attendance at ZED EAST in October 2024. Their concerts are riveting experiences, with iconic collaborative moments, in the past they have featured guest artists on their stage such Marwan Pablo, and later Muhab and Tult8e, highlighting their ability to blend genres and connect with a diverse audience.
After two decades of pushing boundaries and challenging the status quo, Cairokee’s journey is far from over. They continue to evolve musically while staying true to much of their original fan base, while their impact on the Arabic music scene only grows stronger with time.
Cairokee
Courtesy of Cairokee/Billboard Arabia
Global superstars like Adele, Harry Styles and Ed Sheeran helped British music exports climb to a record high of £775 million ($974 million) last year, though increasing competition from other international markets such as Latin America and South Korea is putting the U.K.’s long-held status as a “music superpower” at risk, according to labels trade body BPI.
BPI, which represents over 500 independent labels, as well as the U.K. arms of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group, says 2023’s export tally is the highest annual total since the organization began analyzing labels’ overseas income in 2000 and more than three times the amount recorded a decade ago.
However, last year’s 7.6% rise in export sales — comprising all physical music sales and streams of U.K. artists overseas — was less than half of the 20% increase reported in 2022, with BPI estimating that artists from the U.K. now account for less than 10% of global music streams, according to figures released Monday (Oct. 21).
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In comparison, as recently as 2015, U.K. artists were estimated to collectively account for 17% of music consumption worldwide, reports BPI, which bases its numbers upon label trade revenue.
“It is encouraging to see British recorded music continuing to perform strongly on the world stage, but we can and must do even better in the face of fierce global competition as rival markets grow at pace,” said BPI CEO Jo Twist in a statement.
BPI said the U.K. was no longer just competing against traditional “heavyweights” such as the U.S. and Canada but also with fast-growing music markets in Latin America and countries like South Korea where artists can receive significant government backing.
To maintain the U.K.’s “proud record as a music superpower,” said Twist, the British music businesses must receive government backing to create “a supportive policy environment” that encourages record label investment in talent. Future legislation around the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the U.K. must keep “human artistry at the heart of the creative process,” added the BPI boss.
Adele, Dua Lipa, Sheeran, Styles, The Beatles, Queen and Elton John all ranked among the most streamed U.K. artists globally last year, said the London-based trade organization, citing Luminate data.
Breakthrough acts Glass Animals, PinkPantheress, Raye and rapper Central Cee all received more than 1 billion streams worldwide in 2023, while around 500 U.K. artists accumulated more than 100 million global streams last year, up from almost 450 in 2022, reports BPI.
Worldwide, consumption of British music increased in every region last year, with export revenues rising by 8.2% in North America and 4.8% in Europe — the two biggest regions for U.K. music exports, accounting for almost 80% of the global total combined. There were also double-digit increases in Latin America (up 17%) and Africa (up 11%), although equivalent monetary values were not provided.
In terms of countries, the U.S. remains the biggest market for U.K. music sales, accounting for £321 million ($417 million) in trade revenue, a rise of 8.3% on the previous year. Germany stays in second place with revenue climbing 6.7% to £63 million ($82 million), followed by France (up 2.4% to $57 million). China overtook Sweden to claim tenth position, with British acts’ earnings rising by 11% to £14 million ($18 million) in the country.
The U.K. is the world’s third-biggest recorded music market behind the U.S. and Japan with sales of $1.9 billion in 2023, according to IFPI. It is also the second-largest exporter of recorded music worldwide behind the U.S.
LONDON — Jeff Jones will step down as the CEO of The Beatles’ Apple Corps Ltd after 17 years in the role, the company has announced (Oct. 21). Apple Corps Ltd was founded in 1968 by the Fab Four to control the band’s interests across music, film, publishing and more. The role of CEO was […]
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“When we learn the choreography for the first time, we usually learn choreography that is almost complete, but I feel like we have to include our own style,” RIWOO says of his creative specialty in the group. “If our members want to show something, I want to make sure we can express it and edit it a little so that it’s more BOYNEXTDOOR.”
After much fun and many late nights, the 2024 Ibiza season has come to a close. Some tracks commanded the dance floor more than others, with the 40 most-played songs over the summer at island clubbing mecca Pacha counted down below.
While the list includes a few global hits, like Tyla’s “Water,” and a few classic capital-B bangers (see: Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love”), the list is largely composed of underground dance music made by known stars and emerging producers alike.
“Pacha Ibiza has its own singular sounds, driven by the world’s best DJs, and is where music lovers first discover new artists and new, previously unheard of, tracks” Aloki Batra, FIVE Hospitality and The Pacha Group CEO, tells Billboard.
The data that created this list was collected by KUVO in partnership with DJ Monitor, which installs technology in clubs like Pacha that functions much like Shazam, identifying tracks within its library. This library is comprised of a database of nearly 80 million songs submitted to DJ Monitor by PROs, which allows DJ Monitor to create setlists with 93% accuracy, the company reports.
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FIVE Holdings acquired the Pacha Group in 2023 in a deal worth approximately $330 million. The deal encompassed the Ibiza flagship club, which opened in 1973, along with two hotel island hotel properties, Toy Room Club, which has multiple locations in Europe, India and the Middle East and WooMoon Storytellers, a party that happens primarily in Ibiza and Tulum.
2024 resident DJS at Pacha included Solomun, Marco Carola, Bedouin and many more. This year the club was also graced with the presence of stars including Katy Perry, Rita Ora, Jason Statham, Naomi Campbell, Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz and many others, the club reports.
“Pacha Ibiza believes in the universal language of music uniting a global community of music lovers for over 50 years. The central ethos of Pacha Ibiza remains the same as we move into a new chapter of our time tested values of love, joy, connection, celebration, inclusiveness and diversity. This is evident in Pacha Ibiza’s legendary Flower Power party that is reimagined for a new era in 2024 while preserving its core essence. Evolving from its roots, today’s Flower Power celebrations blend nostalgia with contemporary happy house sounds, offering an immersive experience that transcends generations.”
The Top 40 Songs Played at Pacha Ibiza in 2024
“Move” – Samm (BE)
“Pick Up the Phone” – Pawsa Feat. Nate Dogg
“Last Night” – Serite
“Nocturnal” – Joezi
“See You Sweat (Extended Mix)” – Genesi & Max Styler
“Sweet Moment” – Snirco
“Walk In Amsterdam” – Ugo Banchi
“It’s That Time (FISHER Remix)” – Marlon Hoffstadt
“Sing It Back” – Moloko
“Fuma Ernesto” – Carrera (ve)
“Love Desire” – Cassimm
“Miss You” – DJ Agos
“Umbrella” – Oppaacha
“We Are The People” – Empire Of The Sun
“Dance With Ibiza” – Ugo Banchi
“Famax” – Raffa Guido
“Freddie’s Warmup” – Vlado
“Hope” – Camelphat Feat. Max Milner
“On My Mind” – Ajna (BE)
“Pakit” – Ban Marian
“Somebody That I Used To Know” – James Cole
“Spektrum” – Camelphat
“Still Pushin’” – Youniverse
“Water” – Tyla
“At Night” – Shakedown
“If You Want My Loving” – Prospa
“Kill The Vibe” – David Guetta, Mason & Princess Superstar
“Last Night (Anyma x Layton Giordani Remix)” – Loofy
“Se Acabo” – Cid & Guz
“Shook Part 3” – Nick Morgan
“4Real” – Piem
“Asa” – Âme
“Crazy In Love” – Beyoncé
“Miriam (Extended)” – Robin M
“No Guest List San” – Pacho
“The Rhythm Of Dancing” – &lez
“Work” – Chris Lorenzo
“Black Dress (Anyma Remix)” – 070 Shake & Anyma
“Chase The 80’s” – Ugo Banchi
“House Anthem” – Clüb De Combat
If you work in dance music, there’s a good chance you’re currently on a plane or train or are otherwise somehow en route to Amsterdam.
Per mid-October dance music tradition, the Amsterdam Dance Music Event, or ADE, is happening this week in the Dutch capital, with thousands of dance industry execs, artists and fans taking part in a dizzyingly robust program that caters to professionals, people trying to get into the industry and people who just like the music. Programming includes representatives from companies including SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Tresor, Tunecore, Empire, Spotify and more.
While ADE always reliably draws industry types from around Europe, the event is also “seeing a notable increase in attendees from the U.S., Africa, and Asia this year,” says ADE’s managing director Jan-Willem van de Ven, “so it’s a good mix of electronic music industries and cultures and global territories that see ADE as a gateway to Europe in a number of different ways.”
With the thriving electronic music scene in Africa gaining more attention and global influence, ADE 2024 is also hosting representatives from the Nigerian festival Homecoming for a special five-panel series on the dance scene in the country and across the continent.
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“The roots of electronic music are deeply tied to African music and culture, so this focus felt timely and essential,” says van de Ven. “The culture across many African territories offers so much we can learn from, particularly in terms of creativity and community, and in return, we can hopefully contribute some knowledge of industry infrastructure, things like that. Our collaboration with Homecoming is designed as a mutual exchange, where both sides — artists, audiences, professionals and ourselves — can inspire and grow from each other’s experiences.”
In total, ADE programming is famous for offering more panels, networking events, performances and mixers than a single person could possibly attend, so van de Ven advises that those going create a schedule based on what they personally want to get out of the conference. He also recommends “making full use of networking sessions and our new matchmaking formats, which are great for connecting with the right people.”
Jan-Willem van de Ven
Sarah Wijzenbeek
This year, ADE has also launched a new ADE App that will help attendees navigate the program while keeping their personal agendas on hand, for maximum productivity and likely a fair amount of fun. As always, ADE 2024 is split between PRO programming for industry professionals, Lab programming for those coming into the scene, festival programming for fans, and arts and culture programming for everyone.
Even van de Ven himself acknowledges that it’s difficult to fit everything in over the conference, with his assistant helping ensure he gets everywhere he needs to be. “I’m also just a big fan of everything we do,” he adds, “so I really try my best to experience as much as possible.”
Below are van de Ven’s top ADE 2024 schedule picks across all categories. (All times are CEST.)
ADE Pro
20 Years of Tomorrowland: How to Rise and Stay on Top – Wednesday, Oct.16, 2:15 p.m.
In this talk, Tomorrowland founder Michiel Beers will discuss the 20 year anniversary of the annual Belgian dance mega-festival, offering insights on the strategies that have made it the world’s biggest dance festival.
SoundCloud – Essential Insider Knowledge – Thursday, Oct. 17, 12:30 p.m.
Representatives from SoundCloud will take part in a conversation with Dutch producer Mau P, focusing on how the platform supports independent artists and offering insights on how artists can find success on digital platforms.
From Detroit to Durban: The Learnings of 30 Years of Dance Music – Thursday, Oct. 17, 1:30 p.m.
Artists including Detroit legend Carl Craig and South African producers Major League DJz will take part in a panel exploring the origins and influence of the techno and amapiano genres. The conversation will focus on growing these genres while preserving their cultural heritage and ensuring creators retain ownership.
Amelie Lens x Charlotte de Witte – Friday, Oct. 18, 4:30 p.m.
The techno titans will take part in a panel focused on their individual careers and newfound partnership.
ADE LAB
BIIANCO: How I Play Live hosted by DJ Mag – Thursday, Oct. 17, 5:15 p.m.
Multi-instrumentalist, producer and DJ, BIIANCO — whose 2023 viral hit “Against The Wall” aggregated 35 million streams — will give a talk on live performance technology for creators looking to build a live show and integrate live elements into hybrid DJ sets.
DJ Babatr: The Story of Raptor House – Saturday, Oct. 19, 2:45 p.m.
Venezuelan DJ Babatr, a pioneer of the Raptor House genre, will discuss his role in creating a sound that encapsulates the energy of Caracas.
CLUB Lab – Live Showcases (in association with DJMag) – Saturday, Oct. 19, 8:30 p.m.
The nightclub element of ADE’s Lab programming will feature live music, A/V shows and dancing, offering a place for ADE Lab attendees to celebrate at the end of the event.
ADE Arts & Culture
ADE Opening Concert: 50 Years of J Dilla – Wednesday, Oct. 16, 11:00 a.m.
Speakers including Carl Craig and Miguel Atwood Ferguson will celebrate the legacy of game-changing producer J Dilla in the year that artist would have been 50 years old. Atwood-Ferguson & Metropole Orchestra will perform the longstanding Dilla tribute project Suite for Ma Dukes before the ‘Dilla 50’-talk.
ADE Opening Concert: COCON II – Wednesday, Oct. 16, 7:00 p.m.
Designed especially for ADE, the audiovisual live performance by Cello Octet Amsterdam and Nick Verstand will feature a combination of live playing and robotics.
ADE Opening Concert: 24classics presents Philip Glass by Lavinia Meijer & Nikki Hock – Wednesday, Oct. 16, 7:30 p.m.
Harpist Lavinia Meijer and multidisciplinary artist Nikki Hock will present an interpretation of Phillip’s Glass music, with Meijer getting special permission for Glass himself to transcribe his music for harp. Hock, meanwhile, will create visuals in the room.
Festival
Tomorrowland Presents Afterlife – Wednesday, Oct. 16 and Thursday, Oct. 17, 10:00 p.m.
Tale of Us and a collection of other artists will play the city’s famed Ziggo Dome venue for two nights of music.
Barry Can’t Swim – Thursday, Oct. 17, 8:30 p.m.
The rising, award-nominated Scottish producer will perform a show incorporating his signature synthesis of piano playing and electronic productions.
Awakenings Upclose ADE presents Four Tet, Friday, Oct. 18, 3:00 p.m.
The U.K. producer will play an extended six-and-a-half-hour set at Amsterdam venue Gashouder, a former industrial gasworks complex.
Jeff Mills presents: Tomorrow Comes The Harvest – Friday, Oct., 8:00 p.m.
The collaborative project Tomorrow Comes The Harvest was initiated by Nigerian afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen and Detroit techno icon Jeff Mills. Together with keyboardist Jean Phi Dary, the trio toured the globe until Allen’s death in 2020. Now playing with tabla virtuoso Prabha Edouard, Tomorrow Comes The Harvest will present a new chapter of genre-spanning sounds and rhythms.
AMF 2024 – Saturday, Oct. 19, 9:00 p.m.
The night-long festival will feature a host of producers including Maddix, Martin Garrix, Tiësto, Timmy Trumpet and more.
Sphere Entertainment Co. has reached an agreement with the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism to create a second Sphere in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital city.
“The vision for Sphere has always included a global network of venues, and today’s announcement is a significant milestone toward that goal,” said James L. Dolan, executive chairman/CEO of Sphere Entertainment who oversaw the construction of the Las Vegas Sphere in late 2023. Sphere Entertainment is a spinoff of Madison Square Garden Entertainment and is headquartered in L.A., where a small staff develops the audio and visual components for Sphere’s massive internal video screen.
The long-term success of Sphere has always been contingent on Dolan’s ability to scale the business model and build additional Sphere facilities to amortize the costs of producing content for the uniquely shaped arena. According to sources, video produced to accompany the 10-bout Noche UFC match in Las Vegas cost last month cost upwards of $20 million.
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A second Sphere location would provide Dolan and crew a chance to recoup some of their production costs from a new audience via projects like Postcard from Earth, a multi-sensory film directed by Darren Aronofsky that helped generate more than $1 million in average daily ticket sales on the days it ran during the company’s most recent fiscal quarter, according to a shareholders report.
There’s also an opportunity to save on production costs by staging concerts at both the Vegas and Abu Dhabi venues, although it’s unclear how much demand there would be in the Middle East for Western concerts. Since the end of the pandemic, only a handful of concerts from American artists performing in the UAE have been reported to Billboard Boxscore.
“We are excited to bring Sphere to Abu Dhabi in partnership with Sphere Entertainment, providing our residents and visitors with an extraordinary new form of entertainment,” said H.E. Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, in a statement. “Sphere Abu Dhabi will seamlessly integrate advanced technology with captivating storytelling, creating unforgettable memories for everyone who visits. This partnership aligns with our Tourism Strategy 2030, further establishing Abu Dhabi as a vibrant hub for culture and innovation. By embracing cutting-edge entertainment like Sphere, we’re not only elevating our global profile but also setting new standards in immersive experiences and cultural offerings.”
Under the terms of the partnership, which is subject to the finalization of definitive agreements, DCT Abu Dhabi will pay Sphere Entertainment a franchise initiation fee for the right to build the venue, utilizing Sphere Entertainment’s proprietary designs, technology and intellectual property. Construction will be funded by DCT Abu Dhabi, with Sphere Entertainment’s team of experts providing services related to development, construction and pre-opening of the venue.
Following the venue’s opening, Sphere Entertainment plans to maintain ongoing arrangements with DCT Abu Dhabi that are expected to include annual fees for creative and artistic content licensed by Sphere Entertainment, such as Sphere Experiences; use of Sphere’s brand, patents, proprietary technology and intellectual property; and operational services related to venue operations and technology, as well as commercial and strategic advisory support.
David Gray has been appointed U.K. managing director of Universal Music Publishing Group, succeeding Mike McCormack, who is stepping down from the role after almost nine years in charge to launch a new consultancy and joint venture with UMPG. In addition to taking the reins at the company’s U.K. arm, Gray will also take up the newly created post of head of global A&R at UMPG.
Gray’s promotion was announced Tuesday (Oct. 15) by UMPG chairman and CEO Jody Gerson, who called him “one of the best creative A&R executives I have ever known.”
Gray was most recently UMPG’s executive vice president and co-head of U.S. A&R, as well as head of the company’s Global Creative Group – a division which he and Gerson formed in 2022 to amplify opportunities for songwriters, producers, artists and executives on a worldwide scale.
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Successful projects that have spun out of the Global Creative Group include Colombian artist Feid and American hip-hop producer ATL Jacob‘s “Luna,” which topped the charts in multiple countries and Brazilian artist Luísa Sonza‘s album Escandalo Intimo, which became the third biggest debut of a female Latin album in the history of Spotify following its release last year.
Artists Gray has signed to UMPG include Sabrina Carpenter, Stephen Sanchez, Julia Michaels, Shawn Mendes, Nick Jonas, Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato.
In his new expanded role, Gray will be responsible for leading the management and creative direction of UMPG’s London office, overseeing the signing and development of songwriters, artists and producers, as well as supporting the company’s current roster. Gray will relocate to London from New York in January, said Universal Music Publishing Group.
Announcing the appointment, Gerson praised Gray’s “talent for identifying and building careers for songwriters, artists and producers,” as well as his “leadership and mentorship of the next generation of publishers.”
“I want to thank Jody for her constant belief in me and for shaping a company built upon A&R, creativity, and a belief in songwriters and artists that is at the heart of our ethos,” said Gray, who joined the company in 2013 having previously held A&R posts at Zomba, Sony Music International and Simon Cowell‘s Syco Music, where he developed artists signed to the label via TV shows X Factor and the Got Talent franchise.
Prior to becoming a music executive, Gray was signed to UMPG as lead singer of the band Idle Wilds.
Gerson also thanked McCormack for “his many contributions” to UMPG over his almost nine years as managing director of the U.K. division. “I value him greatly as a friend and colleague,” said Gerson in a statement. “I am delighted he will continue to be part of the UMPG family.”
In a memo sent to staff, which has been viewed by Billboard, McCormack said he would be stepping down from his role on Nov. 4 but would remain a partner of UMPG for the next few years via a new joint venture that is being set up. McCormack, who first joined UMPG’s U.K. business in 1999, said he would also continue to help manage some of the long-term relationships he has built over the years with the firm’s writers and catalogues.
“It’s been a real honour to lead the U.K. company for the past nine years,” said McCormack, paying tribute to what he described as an “exceptionally talented and wonderful” team of colleagues. “I’m very proud of our accomplishments, and the many awards we have won together, but my real fulfillment during the past 25 years at UMPG (as Deputy MD then MD) has come from working closely with artists, songwriters and producers when incredible music is being created,” he said.