NEWS FROM INSIDE THE ELECTRONIC
DANCE MUSIC INDUSTRY

Welcome to the weekly INDUSTRY INSIDER – created by IMS and RECORD OF THE DAY. We've teamed up to create a digest of global electronic industry news, across the full spectrum of the genre, to help you get straight to the stories that matter. INDUSTRY INSIDER will follow the template of Record of the Day but focus on what’s relevant for this genre and demographic…
BEN TURNER
Co-Founder, International Music Summit
Pete Tong's Essential New Tune
Destiny
Layton Giordani & Camden Cox
MADMINDS
out now
Comment
"It comes courtesy of a previous guest Hot mixer on this show, the American DJ and producer, Layton Giordani. It's his first release of 2026, and it's been a standout track in his sets over the past year and a constant fan favourite. It marks an important evolution for him, creatively, stepping outside the strictly club-driven records into something more melodic. I kept going back to this track over the last couple of weeks, since I've had it, and we love it, and I hope you do too. This week's ENT is 'Destiny', from Layton Giordani & Camden Cox."
This week's featured Essential New Tune was featured in last week’s Friday show on BBC Radio 1. Listen again and forward to 29.46 here.  
Contact
Label: MADMINDS
Management: Layton Giordani: Parker Cohen & Adina Anand, Metatone / Camden Cox: Floss Buckle,  Philip Morais & David Gray 
Radio: Lois Marshall, Yours Truly
Club: Arielle & Izzy Grant, Armada Music
Online: Izzy Grant, Armada Music
Live Agent: Wasserman / Active Talent Agency 
24 Feb 2026
Business
  • Live Nation’s full-year earnings report showed a revenue increase of 9% to $25.2bn, along with a fan count of 159m attendees, up from 151m in 2024. (Hits) 
  • Universal Music Group completed its acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings, which becomes part of its artist and label services business Virgin Music Group. Downtown founder Justin Kalifowitz is to leave, while the company’s former Chairman Andrew Bergman will take on an advisory role. Downtown CEO Pieter van Rijn becomes COO of the Virgin Music Group. UMG is to divest Downtown’s Curve royalties platform. (MusicAlly) 
News and Features
  • 28% of businesses gone, 75,000 jobs lost: The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) warns UK government is allowing its £160bn night-time economy collapse. (RotD) The NTIA has responded to the news that inflation has fallen to 3%, highlighting the youth unemployment figures showing a rise to 16% is the real story. (RotD) 
  • Analysis of the Wasserman Music situation, as name change and sale move forward. (Variety) 
  • Live Nation is looking to delay its impending monopoly trial against the Department of Justice. It is arguing that the trial shouldn’t start until appeals it has filed over 18 February’s ruling to proceed with the trial are resolved. (HR) 
  • Oli Welch has been appointed as Head of A&R at Ministry of Sound. (RotD) He has previously worked at Defected Records and Positiva. 
  • Among the winners of the Radio 1 Dance Awards 2026 were Disclosure (Outstanding Contribution to Dance Music), and Fred again.., Skepta, PlaqueBoyMax – 'Victory Lap' (Track of the Year). (BBC)  
  • NTS Radio reveals Jennifer Loveless, Wes Baggaley, Adam Curtis as residents. (RA) 
  • Disclosure's Guy Lawrence launches new label, Friends & Family. (RA) 
Digital
  • Apple Music Connect has returned as a B2B promotional hub with support for editorial pitches and more. (DMN) 
  • Apple released the latest version of its mobile operating system, which introduces several new features, including an AI-powered playlist-generation feature in Apple Music, and support for video content in the Podcasts app. (TechCrunch) 
  • Hook, an AI-powered social app that allows fans to remix and mash up songs from their favourite artists, has announced that it raised $10m in a Series A funding round led by VC firm Khosla Ventures. (DMN) 
  • Former Merlin CEO Jeremy Sirota joins AI music company Suno as chief commercial officer. (MW) 
  • Sync platform SourceAudio announced a new agreement with music technology and services company Symphonic, to opt in and participate in SourceAudio's AI music dataset licensing marketplace, allowing them to earn incremental revenue from their songs when they are used to train approved third-party AI models and tools. (RotD) 
Live
  • Palm Tree Crew signs four-year festival deal with West Palm Beach. (Billboard) 
  • Plans to hold Field Day, Cross the Tracks, City Splash, Mighty Hoopla and Brockwell Bounce festivals in Brockwell Park look set to be approved, despite the application receiving more than three times as many objections as expressions of support. (BBC) 
  • Sammy Virji, Four Tet, Jazzy, and more were announced in the third wave for Kappa FuturFestival 2026. (DJ Mag) 
  • New Manchester festival Outwards confirms Orbital, Moodymann, rRoxymore. (RA) 
  • London’s Waterworks Festival reveals full lineup for first-ever two-day edition (Skiddle) 
  • London’s RALLY Festival 2026 line-up announced. (DJ Mag) 
  • London's Body Movements Festival reveals first names for 2026. (RA) 
Comment, Opinion and Analysis
  • AI music is on a collision course. Everyone's betting on the same future. Is that a problem? (W&M - Cherie Hu) 
  • The chicken nugget theory of AI music consumption. (Midia - Adham Nazir) 
Tech
  • Ableton announces Live 12.4. (Ableton) 
  • I swapped Ableton Live for Renoise 3.5 — here’s what I learned. (MusicTech) 
  • The best budget synthesizers to buy right now. (MusicTech) 
Beatport
  • The Tracks That Soundtracked John Digweed’s 35,000-Strong Argentina Pop-Up Party (Beatportal)
  • LOVEFOXY fires up new HOTLORD label with Kyle Hall Link-Up, “Catcall” (Beatportal)
  • Ibiza 2026 DJ Residencies: Who’s Playing Each Day This Season [Updating] (Beatportal)
  • RSVP Now: Beltran, Mez Monty & Cole Terrazas | Beatport Live LA x Skyline Festival. (Beatportal)
  • Playlist of the Week: Butch (Beatportal)
  • Eight Emerging Artists On Our Radar: February 2026 (Beatportal)
  • Speed up your music digging with Beatport DJ (Beatport)
Clubs
  • Ibiza: 
    Ewan McVicar announces Hï Ibiza 2026 residency. (DJ Mag)
    Eric Prydz in Amnesia return as RESISTANCE locks in nine week run. (IbizaSpotlight) 
    CamelPhat start a brand new residency Summer Of Love at Hï Ibiza. (IbizaSpotlight) 
    [UNVRS] Ibiza announces exclusive Tiësto August residency. (EDMTunes) 
  • Munich club BLITZ has announced it is to permanently close its doors this summer. (DJ Mag) 
  • New nightclub to open in former casino in Berlin, AMT. (Mixmag) 
  • Sphere Entertainment, the company behind the 20,000-capacity Sphere in Las Vegas, has reported revenue growth of 8% to $1.2bn in its 2025 financial report, although it posted an operating loss of $229.6m. (IQ) 
  • Bristol's new 20,000 capacity live entertainment venue, to be called 'Aviva Arena', will open in late 2028. (RotD) 
Deals
  • EVEN, a direct-to-fan platform providing infrastructure for the superfan economy across the global music industry, announced a new agreement with Universal Music Group. (RotD) 
Streams & Podcasts
  • Chris Avantgarde makes a melodic techno track from scratch. (DJ Mag) 
  • RA.1027 JADALAREIGN (RA) 
  • Sigma 'Nobody To Love' | The Making Of A Drum & Bass Hit (DJ Mag) 
  • Shimza live from Camden Roundhouse, London. (DJ Mag) 
Artist and Music Features
  • Why your track isn’t triggering Spotify's Discover Weekly (and how to actually optimise for algorithms). (MusicTomorrow) 
  • It's murder on the dancefloor: how dance music correlates to global uncertainty. (Epigram) 
  • Introducing the Crates app, and if that name reminds you of lugging crates of records to a radio station or DJ gig, you might be the target audience for it. (Hypebot) 
  • The 50 income streams every creative should know. (SoundRoyalties) 
  • YouTube Shorts and TikToks are often set to Phonk, electronic dance music with rap roots that’s become the unconscious hum of vertical video while making its creators rich. (NYTimes) 
  • Intensity Beyond The Immediate: Stone Techno Festival's new Listening Floor will welcome audiences to listen deeper in 2026. (Mixmag) 
  • “I want to protect the culture of taking risks”: How Chris Lake learned to transform pressure into purpose. (EDM) 
  • How Sabres Of Paradise’s ‘Haunted Dancehall’ captured the ’90s post-rave landscape. (DJ Mag) 
  • Best Music 2026: January & February (RA) 
  • Six emerging artists you need to hear: February 2026 (DJ Mag) 
Artist News
  • Musicmine boss Hideoki Amano, who championed the burgeoning Japanese techno scene during the '90s and early 2000s, has died aged 63. (DJ Mag) 
  • PinkPantheress has been named the BRIT Awards’ 2026 Producer of the Year. She’s the youngest artist and first woman to receive the honour. (Independent) 
  • Chris Stussy set to release debut album, Lost, Found & Forgotten…, in April. (909Originals) 
  • deadmau5’s first single of 2026, 'Science' is a 9-minute rush of cinematic house. (EDM) 
  • The xx have confirmed the date of their first full live show since 2018. (DJ Mag)
  • Cosmic Gate have announced that they will part ways after 27 years. (Mixmag) 
  • Electronic musician Look Mum No Computer to represent the UK at Eurovision Song Contest 2026. (Mixmag) 
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About IMS

IMS: International Music Summit is a global educational and motivational thought-leadership platform dedicated to the continued development of electronic music primarily through the presentation of global summits for the industry. 

About Beatport

Beatport is the worldwide home of music for DJs, producers, and their fans. Founded in 2004, the Beatport family of companies includes Beatport, the preeminent store for electronic music DJs, Beatsource for the open-format DJ community, and Loopmasters, Loopcloud and Plugin Boutique for music producers. Follow us on Twitch, Facebook and Twitter, and Instagram.

About AFEM

AFEM: A global voice for electronic music; representing our culture and commerce. AFEM's membership spans all industry sectors, with over 250 company members across 25 countries, the organisation connects its worldwide membership to develop opportunities and enable change.

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Record of the Day has produced a subscription-based daily publication for the music industry for over 23 years, featuring all the best news and comment, along with an editorially-chosen future hit. Sign up for a free trial here.
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