“ADE is like the home coming of Dance Music”
Interview by Dan Prince
How important is ADE on the dance music calendar for Label Worx? Do you look at ADE as the biggest platform of the year to release new products?
ADE has to be one of the best conferences of the year for sure – a lot of business get’s done here for us. It’s also great for meeting new labels and artists plus finding out what everyone’s plans are for 2016. We always focus on launching something new at ADE as everyone is up for new ideas and suggestions. This year we announced the launch of our new website which has already had a huge impact on the amount of signups we have had in the last 2 months.
What do you cite as the biggest changes/improvements/developments ADE has seen since it’s launch in 1996?
I think the biggest development for ADE is sheer scale it has grown to. The fact that a whole city now attracts both clubbers and most people from the industry to the same place purely for the love of dance music is pretty amazing. Everything is very exciting at ADE and we always come back with some seriously positive vibes and ideas. ADE has connected Dance Music with everyone and anyone who loves it.
Everybody plays nice to each other during ADE week…but how fierce is it behind the scenes on the build up with booking venues, DJs and getting the best promotion in the city?
We have never had the task of booking a venue for ADE as we only attend the conference for meeting with Artists and Labels, but I have heard this can get pretty fierce as so many brands want to throw showcase parties. I suppose it is just a case of booking the venue as early as possible as I know some labels already have theirs booked for next year already.
What was your highlight of ADE 2015?
One of our directors Matt Abbott was elected as part of the AFEM executive board which is really positive for the company giving us an even louder voice in the industry. After the announcement we headed to one of the labels we work with had a great party on at the Escape Studios, Funk’n Deep. They are a pure Techno driven label, which are doing some great things at the moment. 2016 is going to be a great year for these guys.
And some of your memories/highlights from years gone by?
There are so many great memories we have from ADE, but every year we’re reminded of how great the Dance Music community really is. The fact that nearly everyone in the industry travels to Amsterdam each year to share their love for music alone is something very special. It makes you realize that Dance Music is very much alive and is still growing strong.
With online marketing and streaming becoming the No1 source for new customers how important is your image projection across the globe from ADE?
Image is everything now a day not just for musicians but for any successful brand. We have completely redesigned our website so it is one of the best experiences for labels and artists wanting to find out about who we are and what we can offer them. Our brand is projected wherever we go in the forms of merchandise, flyers, business cards and anything else we can get involved in.
As the ADE gets bigger every year do you worry about getting your product heard in such an increasing market?
Our product is solely for the dance music industry so ADE is the perfect place for us to project what we do. We currently work with over 7000 labels and deliver more dance music to Beatport than any other distributor on the planet. If anything attending conferences such as ADE only strengthens what we do and are achieving,
There is always a debate when DJs use gimmicks in their show to make them stand out, is it the same in business marketing at ADE…do you try to do something to wow the press or do you simply let the music prove the point?
We see some really crazy stuff go on at ADE for promotion, the craziest this year had to be Armin Van Burren who had a guy flying up and down the river on one of those water jet packs wearing an Armada suit. He was performing all kinds of stunts while holding a giant copy of Armin’s new album. Everyone was talking about that for a couple of days. What we do is a little more specialist as we provide digital services for labels so having something like this would be a pointless expense for us. It would be pretty cool though!
When does the planning for next year’s event begin?
We are already working on new tools and meeting with some exciting labels with projects to talk about at all of the conferences we’re attending next year. We will have some new exciting products and services for dance music labels of all sizes. Watch this space.
What sets ADE apart from other conferences/events such as Miami, IMS and BPM?
I touched on this earlier but it has to be the fact the whole city gets involved. ADE is part of Amsterdam, it’s not kept in certain parts of the city, it is the city. This and the lovely people of Amsterdam. They are so friendly and helpful, ADE is like the home coming of Dance Music.
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