RA is primarily used by independent promoters in the States, which tend to be much smaller and have smaller or less frequent events.
Large promoters who regularly throw events or have the budget for larger events would use their own promotion mechanisms and general population ad networks instead of listing on RA.
No (at least in the US) - it’s because of exclusive contracts with the ticketing platforms.
Whereas you can list on RA and other platforms too, the biggest clubs and venues get lucrative deals with eg AXS to only list tickets on their platform.
Large promoters that use or have exclusivity deals with AXS or Ticketmaster/LiveNation or Dice still advertise/promote on platforms like Facebook/Instagram, EDM Train, Radiate, etc alongside the ticketing platform's promotion platforms.
For example, 3/7 "nightclubs" it lists in Croatia are not nightclubs. I would also group Kalypso and Zrće Beach together as Kalypso is one out of 4 nightclubs located on Zrće Beach, but the beach itself is not a venue. Similarly, Barbarella's is kind of an afterparty destination for festivals organised at the Garden Resort. They only match 6%, but I wouldn't call them completely separate. This is the kind of "lore" that's impossible to catch from raw data.
I like the Essential Mix visualisation even more! It's such a shame most of the other ones appear dead due to API changes.
> This is the kind of "lore" that's impossible to catch from raw data.
Agreed this project definitely banged up against those sorts of walls a few times. Still think it's worth trying, hopefully the information offered one can find outweighs any distortions it introduces. Maybe something that should have been explicitly acknowledged in the piece.
> I like the Essential Mix visualisation even more! It's such a shame most of the other ones appear dead due to API changes.
Thanks, happy to hear that. I keep meaning to go back to the essential mix one, get new data and apply some of the stuff I've learned since!
Even if this is an ask from a top-level managers hoping that it would help their decision-making, let me tell you that, this will be binned after everyone agrees that the visualizations are very cool. Decisions are driven by other factors.
Stop!
It is vital that you first hire an independent product manager and perform market fit analysis. Ask yourself "Does my blog deliver high ROI and facilitate decision making by key stakeholders?". If not, it has no use and should not be published.
This was a pandemic project from someone who likely did it just because they thought it was cool/interesting.
https://www.scribd.com/document/639992014/Untitled#:~:text=R...
If a know a place that has angry bouncers or annoying rules, I rather go to a place that he less then ideal music.
One local club has a rule that you can't drink water from the bathroom tab, and they even turn off the cold water. I'm not going there, even when the music is fire.
It's more about the atmosphere, who's there and the mood you're looking for that night.
You may be interested to learn they pay a flat fee for all bookings (not sure about residents). The booked artists are also forbidden to play anywhere else in Berlin for a period before and after (1-2 months, IIRC), and the fee is ridiculously low. Artists don’t even get many GL spots.
Their famously strict door policy also means that it's entirely possible to try to go there for a specific artist and get denied entry.
https://www.euronews.com/culture/2025/03/26/berghain-more-be...
This might have happened to me before as well...
As a side note, on the RA events sometimes artists are listed in the description but not linked in the description so there could be some artists missing. In my experience it tends to vary on the nightclub.
In the EDM world, it can often be much more than a slight premium. Ever since streaming took over music sales, performance fees have become the key source of income for most artists.
I do know some indie artists who make a bit of extra money at performances selling CDs to people who still buy them. I think it takes advantage of the immediacy of the moment, and the fact that a lot of people are actually not savvy about finding stuff online.
Perhaps doing a similar thing with Ticketmaster/tixr/all the other ticket apps and combining them together could produce more representative data, of course you’d still have the problem of having to filter out actual clubs.
on an unrelated note, what in gods name is that color scheme on the visualizations? xD
Thanks John Hughes films!
I got escorted past the line at DNA lounge because I had a Firefox shirt on. (Only solid black shirt I had, outta respect to the goths rocked it with some black jeans.)
Are you aware that one of the best clubs in the bay is owned by a former "tech bro"?
>DNA Lounge is an all-ages nightclub, restaurant and cafe in the SoMa district of San Francisco owned by Jamie Zawinski, a former Netscape programmer and open-source software hacker.[3] The club features DJ dancing, live music, burlesque performances, and occasionally conferences, private parties, and film premieres.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_Lounge#History
In general, clubs don't want to let in folks who don't match the culture... for example, Berghain, at it's core, wants people coming in who want to dance, so if you show up in glasses and Patagonia you're not going to enjoy yourself.
Finally, be mindful of the energy you put out -- any group of people in business casual trying to get into the hottest nightclub in town might find their hopes dashed.
Frankly, based on your post I think maybe an air of entitlement and persecution might be your issue, not glasses or a sweater vest, because spoiler alert: if you don't mention your work, no one knows what you do for a living, and SF is probably wayyyy more welcoming to "uncool" people getting into clubs than someplace like NYC or LA, where if you're not a literal model or some kind of entertainment bigshot no clothing choice (or lack thereof) is getting you in.
I can tell you, if I show up to an event without my glasses, I'm not going to enjoy myself either :P But, thanks to the internet, I can listen to dance music without having to go to a club https://www.di.fm/ (also I have the joy of having a local dance music station https://www.c895.org/ so I can listen to dance music with just an FM radio)
Which Officially Doesn't correlate with skin tone, nope nope nope...
The "tickets" that these nerds didn't have is more accurately known as "game" or "rizz" by zoomers.
Maybe the title needs reframing to soften the reader’s expectations, and I definitely agree that RA as a data source has important limitations that should be mentioned.
Demographic analysis would have been interesting I agree, but I didn't know of a good data source for that and it's hard to parse from line up data (especially in places one isn't familiar with)
Yeah, humans.
I kinda understand swapping witch is which, but why have no distinction.
The hard work here is in the analysis and presentation, which are nice. That will still be valuable if applied to better-curated datasets. I don't blame the author for working with a mediocre dataset that happened to reflect his interests, he's not making big claims about what this means for the entertainment industry or the future of culture.
Besides having your eardrums damaged
The risk of hearing damage is easily mitigated by 1) wearing earplugs 2) going to better clubs which have properly tuned sound systems.
I will say if you are at a 6-day outdoor festival with camping it is a lot easier to get in that mood than being at a nightclub for what, 4-6 hours? Another comment referenced this too. I don't know if I should share my recommendations because they're better when they're not so well known. I found them by word of mouth from people I met at clubs.
Good clubs (RIP Wilde Renate) also have some kind of chill-out area where you can actually talk to people who are often also in the mood to talk to strangers just like you are. I presume it's an intentional accident that (at least at some) the indoor dancing area is always hot and the outdoor social area is always cold, which makes you want to alternate spaces like a Finnish sauna.
It's an open secret that most people who didn't come with a partner are, at least a little bit, hoping to meet one and have sex, but it happens much less often than mass media would have you think. That is in no way mandatory or the only reason to be there. It is simply one of many things that are permitted and has a small chance of happening whenever you socialize in general.
I should also mention there can be a big difference in vibes depending on the night - whether it's a random Friday or Saturday night, or a weeknight, or a particular party (see Resident Advisor and/or word of mouth).
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It's why I never liked clubs I prefer small bars where you can talk to people. I've been in Berlin for 16 years now and there are plenty of those bars around. Even now that I no longer drink alcohol, I still enjoy going there.
But I never saw the point of the club scene here. I don't actually mind some of the music and there are some nice Berghain playlists on Spotify that I listen to occasionally. I just never felt any need to actually go there. Just not my thing. My impression of talking to people that do go to these things is that it's a lot about just being seen there or being able to brag about having been there. And then there are of course a lot of people that just go nuts and do that for the whole weekend while taking lots of pills. Also not my thing. But live and let live as far as I'm concerned.
Berghain particularly doesn't just let everybody in. People queue for ages and can then get told off for looking wrong or whatever. Elon Musk famously got an access denied there once. Not cool enough. Which I find hilarious. But the prospect of being vetted like that is a definite turn off for me. I just don't like that kind of snobbishness.
For an introvert, the only place better than being in the crowd at a music venue is being on the stage. There are sooo many introverts in bands and especially DJs; some of the greatest musicians are introverts. Performing is a form of radical self-care, and introverts are actually really good at judging the vibe of a crowd.
9am garden in the famous Homopatik party after two nights in ://about blank club in Berlin tends to disagree (back in 2013).
Edit: Elon Musk not getting into Berghain is still something me and my friends celebrate every year on that day when it happened. Hilarious.
Also wasted Richie Hawtin, IIRC. And of course, as I'm sure he asked, they knew who he was :D
One type is the mega club. These are see-and-be-seen places. Ibiza. Vegas. Miami. The DJs are very famous, but often because they have a few EDM "hits"--not because of their selection or mixing skills. These places have tables, bottle service, and beautiful people. The DJs here often do nothing: they may have a USB drive that they press "play" on and then pretend to mix.
Then there's another class of club: the "indie" electronic music club. These places have djs whose skill is more about selection, mixing, and crowd/vibe management. The djs here often have respected production careers but often not.
What you do at these clubs is simply dance. Usually by yourself, listening to music. The best of these clubs will not blow out your hearing because the sound system is exquisitely tuned.
As an introvert, the second class of club sounds like it would be perfect for you!
As an aside, if you've never experienced a truly world-class DJ (of the second type, not the first), it's an incredible experience. Even if you find electronic music "boring", these people are absolute masters at taking you on an emotional journey.
The best way to experience this is at one of the top festivals. The second best way is at a club. The third best way is at home, with great headphones, and soundcloud/youtube dj sets. NOT spotify.
Hell I LOVE The Midnight, Com Truise, Essenger, Empire of the Sun, Robert Parker, Gunship, FM-84, Молчат Дома (Molchat Doma) and other Slavsynth groups I can't even pronounce the names of..
but the best way to jam out to that is to go on an actual journey ^^ a long drive, an open road, no stops.. Being stationary even if dancing just doesn't fit in with the images those sounds give me (picture those synthwave/outrun posters with purple suns and ringed planets in the background sky)
I really wish there were some modern games and movies made around that vibe.
I would respectfully disagree and swap these, unless the festival is something like Freerotation. Festivals tend to bring out the more consumer friendly, hands-in-the-air side, and more often than not, force everyone to condense their sets, losing a lot of the "storytelling", risk-taking and deeper cuts.
What remains of techno has largely rotted in the last 5+ years due to the high-visibility, high octane arms race "business techno" festival energy, for example.
As a wise man once said, "Free your mind and your ass will follow."
I know many introverts who like music. I also know many introverts who like dancing if they don't have to feel like the spotlight is on them. Many clubs offer a good chance to do either or both.
In addition, you may of course go as a group of friends. Then it's an activity to do together. You have some drinks and chat in a setting that's different from where you are every day.
> Besides having your eardrums damaged
Earplugs help a lot if one's ears are sensitive to loud music. Many clubs also have areas where the music is far less loud.