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Dispatches from 4 a.m. — underground techno and the wider electronic music scene.
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Swedish House Mafia Got Rained Out, Then Gave Gothenburg a Free Show Tiësto on the Trance Purists: 'Very Hard to Please' — and He's Not Wrong A $20 Billion Hollywood Composer Just Started an EDM Project. Take It Seriously. GTA 6 Just Became the Most Powerful Tastemaker in Dance Music Artists Stopped Waiting for a Festival Slot. Now They're Building the Room. The Two Biggest Sets of the Weekend Were About Somebody Who Wasn't There Spotify Deleted 75 Million Songs. That's Not a Cleanup — It's an Admission. Festivals Don't Get Decided by Lineups Anymore. They Get Decided by Airspace. Kavinsky Made One Record That Outran Dance Music Completely Dance Music Is America's Fastest-Growing Genre — and 2016 Is Doing Half the Work Fifteen Years On, Hardwell Let a Jacket Do the Talking for Avicii
Tiësto on the Trance Purists: 'Very Hard to Please' — and He's Not Wrong

Tiësto on the Trance Purists: 'Very Hard to Please' — and He's Not Wrong

Ahead of a rumored trance-leaning album, Tiësto owns the gap between his genre-defining past and the pop path he took. It's an honest read on a fanbase that never forgave the pivot.

· Sep 4, 2026
A $20 Billion Hollywood Composer Just Started an EDM Project. Take It Seriously.

A $20 Billion Hollywood Composer Just Started an EDM Project. Take It Seriously.

Brian Tyler scored Iron Man 3 and half of Fast & Furious. His new alias Are We Dreaming isn't a vanity crossover — he's writing, directing, and cutting a full audio-visual universe himself.

· Sep 3, 2026
GTA 6 Just Became the Most Powerful Tastemaker in Dance Music

GTA 6 Just Became the Most Powerful Tastemaker in Dance Music

Rockstar closed a trailer with a three-year-old house record and sent its streams up 1,070% overnight. That's not a nostalgia bump — it's a new distribution machine every label is about to chase.

· Sep 3, 2026
Artists Stopped Waiting for a Festival Slot. Now They're Building the Room.

Artists Stopped Waiting for a Festival Slot. Now They're Building the Room.

Skrillex took two nights at Navy Pier with an open-to-close set. Knock2 and ISOxo pushed Niteharts to three days. Wax Motif booked Grand Park. Three announcements, one shift in who actually controls the calendar.

· Aug 7, 2026
The Two Biggest Sets of the Weekend Were About Somebody Who Wasn't There

The Two Biggest Sets of the Weekend Were About Somebody Who Wasn't There

Dimitri Vegas closed Tomorrowland's Mainstage without Like Mike. Chase & Status stopped mid-set at Let It Roll to say Lenzman's name. Two countries, two genres, same instinct — and it says something about where the scene is at right now.

· Aug 6, 2026
Spotify Deleted 75 Million Songs. That's Not a Cleanup — It's an Admission.

Spotify Deleted 75 Million Songs. That's Not a Cleanup — It's an Admission.

Spotify says it's not banning AI music, just gutting the bot-farmed junk gaming its royalty pool. The bigger story: it took 75 million fake tracks before anyone acted.

· Aug 6, 2026
Festivals Don't Get Decided by Lineups Anymore. They Get Decided by Airspace.

Festivals Don't Get Decided by Lineups Anymore. They Get Decided by Airspace.

Monegros broke its attendance record and Mayan Warrior conquered Chicago. Outline got erased mid-setup over a drone threat. Three festivals, one week, and the deciding factor in none of them was the music.

· Aug 5, 2026
Kavinsky Made One Record That Outran Dance Music Completely

Kavinsky Made One Record That Outran Dance Music Completely

Vincent Belorgey died at 50 in Paris this week. The tribute list — Guetta, The Weeknd, Justice, the President of France — is the clearest measure of how far 'Nightcall' got from the club it started in.

· Jul 30, 2026
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