The first lineup announcement for the second edition of China’s self proclaimed biggest #EDM festival is out. Budweiser Storm returns with an entirely predictable first announcement of Avicii, some of the Swedish House Mafia dudes (perhaps one of the ones that played last year, or is it the other two?), Afrojack, Dash Berlin (yes, we are still using DJ Mag Top 10 references as benchmarks of quality) and Knife Party. So far, so safe.
(Storm 2013 after-movie – right up Tom Cruise’s street)
2014 has been a big year for #EDM spending, with 2 of Chinese big music marketers (Heineken and Budweiser) tying their flag in no small way to the globally corporatised bastard child of electronic music. The moneymen here in China have also decided that #EDM is going to provide a massive ROI. After evident successes with Ultra Music Festival and Global Gathering in Korea, why would China not follow the same path, goes the thinking? 2014 has seen the emergence of a multitude of festivals devoted to electronic music, from Electric Circus, to the 3rd edition of the Great Wall Festival (organised by China’s own SFU Entertainment – a little too close to the SFX Entertainment name for our liking), to Release (organised by Modern Art Entertainment), to a slew of other such festivals that are planned for the autumn of this year, mostly in Beijing. And of course, there’s Budweiser Storm.
(Great Wall Festival – “Walls of inclusiveness” according to the anchor, who manages to squeeze a word out amongst a throng of laowai’s who’ve had a little too much pop and ice cream).
