Storm, China’s largest EDM festival, to debut in Australia

China’s largest EDM festival, Budweiser Storm, is entering the Australian market this year, its promoter Eric Zho of CEO of A2LiVE announced at a media conference in Shanghai.

It’s the second major international EDM festival to declare an Australian expansion this year, after Ultra locked in dates for an intro 2017 event in Melbourne and full-blown Sydney and Melbourne events for 2018.

Specific dates, venues, and possible partners are yet to be announced. 

Australia, along with Taiwan, is the first international market where it is held. But Zho says more countries will be added over the next few years.

The company said in a statement: “This marks a milestone for the development of the Asian electronic music industry, and for A2LiVE, the pioneering company that is leading the charge.

“Historically, the electronic dance music scene in China has drawn heavily from Western influences.

“With increasing numbers of international festivals taking aim at the enormous consumer market in China, the genre is getting more influences from outside its borders. 

“When China-born titan Storm goes abroad for the first time, pushing its blend of international electronic music stars outside its home country, China will finally become more cemented in the world view as a real pillar of the electronic music community.”

Both A2LiVE and Budweiser Storm reflect the fast rise of EDM in China, with the rise of westernised and affluent middle-class kids.

China is seen as potentially the largest EDM market in the world. Of its 1 billion population, 200 million are aged between 14 and 24 years old. Zho estimates that if EDM penetration in China equals that of the US, it will need 350 festivals a year to satisfy demand.

Eric Zho

Budweiser Storm was founded in 2013, its first year in Shanghai drawing 24,000. Last year it played five major cities and reached a total 250,000, a growth of 278%. Some cities sold out in minutes.

In 2017 it’s going on an expansion spree. It is playing eleven cities within China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Changsha, and Xiamen.

Based in Shanghai, A2LiVE started out with the aim of becoming the leading vertically-integrated electronic music platform in Asia, bringing the biggest and best destination electronic music experiences, music, video, news, and culture.

Between 2015 and 2016, its activity, including clubs, grew 500%.

It has toured international acts including Kanye West, Axwell & Ingrosso, Skrillex, Hardwell, Afrojack, Dash Berlin, Avicii, David Guetta, Benny Benassi, Afrojack, Cazzette, Icona Pop, Oliver Heldens, Far East Movement, Pitbull, and Incubus.

In April this year, it brought in former SFX executive Eric Reithler-Barros as Managing Director and CCO. 

Previously based in New York, Reithler-Barros was put in charge of expanding its multiple divisions including brand partnerships, talent management (A2ARTIST), bookings (Strobe Light Talent), streaming music platforms (DianYinTai), and A2LiVE’s forthcoming DJ/music production academies and record label groups

A2LiVE’s newest project is Storm Records, set up in partnership with Amsterdam-based Spinnin’ Records, one of the biggest EDM indies in the world, with plans to tap into its extensive EDM networks in the west.

This year the company’s three-day International Music Summit (IMS) Asia Pacific returns September 21-22 for talks, interactive workshops and networking opps.

Last year, EDM superstars Alesso and Skrillex were key speakers, charting how they built their profiles in Asia. Alesso also unveiled his plans to collaborate with Mandarin singing star Jolin Tsai.