Perhaps this is how the bubble that the EDM world has speculated about for years finally bursts.
Organizers of inaugural SoCal festival One Tribe have released a statement announcing that the festival has been “indefinitely postponed due to a mix of unforeseen events and circumstances.” One Tribe would have been the first foray into the SoCal dance music market by promotional company ID&T, which was purchased by EDM conglomerate SFX Entertainment in 2013.
News of the festival’s cancellation arises amid countless reports of SFX’s plummeting stock price as well as its founder, Robert Sillerman’s failed attempts to take the company private. Since it’s quite common for new music festivals to operate on a loss for several years before finally breaking even, SFX pulling the plug on One Tribe so soon before it would have taken place indicates a state of financial dire straights for the company. This isn’t lost on the market, either, as this morning SFX’s stock price dropped off even more sharply and reached its lowest trough ever – bottoming out at 48 cents per share.
How severely this series of misfortunes will affect the EDM industry as a whole remains to be seen, but considering SFX’s scope of influence since its 2013 IPO, it certainly will not build investor confidence in dance music being more than just a passing fad.