Insomniac (formerly Insomniac Events) is an American

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

event promoter and music distributor. Founded by Pasquale Rotella, it is the organizer of various

music festivals A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or hol ...

, including its flagship

electronic music festival The following is an incomplete list of music festivals that feature electronic music, which encapsulates music featuring electronic instruments such as electric guitar and keyboards, as well as recent genres such as electronic dance music (ED ...

Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. Alongside EDC, Insomniac runs the electronic music events

Beyond Wonderland Beyond Wonderland is an electronic dance festival organized by Insomniac Events. The event has been held in various locations across the west coast including Seattle, San Bernardino, and Mountain View spanning either one or two days. As the ...

and

Nocturnal Wonderland Nocturnal Wonderland, formerly known as Nocturnal Festival, is an electronic dance music festival in San Bernardino, California, United States, founded in 1995. History Nocturnal Wonderland is a two-day event (a three-day festival from 2011 to ...

, as well as drum and bass and

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

-oriented events under the brand Bassrush,

hardstyle Hardstyle is an electronic dance genre that emerged in the late 1990s, with origins in the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. Hardstyle mixes influences from techno, new beat and hardcore. Early hardstyle was typically written at 140 BPM (''bea ...

events under the brand Basscon, and

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

events under the brand Dreamstate. The company also owns a stake in the Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival. Insomniac is also involved in the operation of three

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

nightclubs— Create (in partnership with SBE, built on the site of the former

Vanguard Hollywood SBE (''SamyBoy Entertainment'') is a privately held lifestyle hospitality company. SBE owns and operates over 20 hotels, 70 restaurants, and 42 lounges, and shares its headquarters between Los Angeles, New York City, and Miami. History SBE ...

), Exchange L.A., and the underground warehouse Factory 93, located at 1756 Naud Street. It then acquired Miami's Club Space in 2019. In 2014, Insomniac introduced a co-branded EDM

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

known as Insomniac Records, initially in partnership with

Interscope Geffen A&M Interscope Geffen A&M Records (IGA), is an American umbrella label owned by Universal Music Group, consisting of record labels Interscope Records, Geffen Records, and A&M Records. History Interscope Geffen A&M Records was established in 1999, ...

. In 2018, Insomniac took its A&R and distribution operations in-house as Insomniac Music Group .

Overview and partnerships

Insomniac has been described as placing a larger emphasis on fan experiences over profits and ticket sales, with Rotella having argued that music festivals did not require "big acts who sell out arenas" (going as far as to praising Burning Man for being an "event by the people for the people" where "the organizers just provide an open space" and "people go all out"). In June 2013, Insomniac announced a number of partnerships, including one with Dick Clark Productions to produce a dance music awards show, and a "creative partnership" with Live Nation that would give Insomniac access to Live Nation's resources, while leaving them creative control over their events. While specifics of the deal were not revealed, Rotella emphasized the deal was not an acquisition. In August 2015, Rotella announced his new radio show, ''Night Owl Radio'', on

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sa ...

's ''

Electric Area ''Diplo's Revolution'' is a global-centric electronic dance music satellite channel operated by Sirius XM Radio, broadcasting on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 52, XM Satellite Radio channel 52 and Dish Network channel 6052. The channel was for ...

.'' ''Electric Area'' was later replaced by ''Diplo's Revolution'' in 2018. In the summer of 2018, ''Insomniac Radio'' launched on SiriusXM. In May 2019, Insomniac partnered with

Dash Radio Dash Radio is a digital radio broadcasting platform with over 80 radio stations. These stations are curated by DJs, radio personalities, musicians, etc. The platform includes partner stations curated by Snoop Dogg, Kylie Jenner, Lil Wayne, Tech N9 ...

as its flagship station. In June 2019, Insomniac acquired a controlling stake in Soundslinger, LLC, the organizer of the Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival. The event returned from a one-year hiatus in 2020 with a revamped production, carrying artistic aspects of other Insomniac festivals. In July 2019, Insomniac acquired a majority stake in Miami's Club Space nightclub. In response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

(which resulted in the postponement of all of its in-person festivals), Insomniac began to stream a rotation of sets from previous editions of its festivals on its

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

and

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...

channels under the "Insomniac Rewind" banner, and live "virtual" festivals. In late-2020, Insomniac began a residency of drive-in "Park 'N Rave" concerts at the NOS Events Center in

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...

, and announced a "drive-through audiovisual experience" event known as the "Electric Mile" at

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

—featuring installations separated into "worlds" inspired by its main festival brands. In February 2021, Insomniac announced a number of new brands, including Lost in Dreams—a record label and upcoming festival that will focus upon

future bass Future bass is a style of electronic dance music which developed in the 2010s that mixes elements of dubstep and trap with warmer, less abrasive rhythms. The genre was pioneered by producers such as Rustie, Hudson Mohawke, Lido, San Holo and ...

and

melodic dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken bea ...

, and a

bass music Bass music is a term used to describe several genres of electronic dance music and hip hop music arising from the 1980s on, focusing on a prominent bass drum and/or bassline sound. As one source notes, there are "many different types of bass musi ...

event at The Vanguard known as Abduction. In March 2022, Insomniac announced a partnership with

Unity Technologies Unity Software Inc. ( doing business as Unity Technologies) is a video game software development company based in San Francisco. It was founded in Denmark in 2004 as Over the Edge Entertainment (OTEE) and changed its name in 2007. Unity Technol ...

to develop a "persistent" online world for virtual concerts.

Insomniac Music Group

In May 2014, Insomniac announced the formation of Insomniac Records, an EDM

created in partnership with

. The label aimed to attract both "undiscovered" and "established" producers.

Arty Arty may refer to: People * Arty (Queen), 8th century BC wife of Pharaoh Shebitku * Arty (musician) (born 1989), Russian record producer and DJ born Artem Stolyarov * Arty Ash, stage name of British actor Arthur Richard Dodge (1895–1954) * A n ...

was announced as the first artist to be signed to the label. Other artists such as Bingo Players,

Chris Lake Chris Lake (born 8 August 1982) is a British electronic music producer and DJ. He rose to fame in 2006 with his hit single, "Changes", featuring Laura V. Musical career Lake first became recognized for his bootleg remixes of the Prodigy's "Cli ...

and Dr. Fresch were also signed. In December 2018, Insomniac announced the formation of Insomniac Music Group, which provides A&R and distribution services for its in-house imprints (which includes brand extensions of some of its festivals) and other

labels. Alongside Insomniac Records, its imprints include Basscon Records, Bassrush Records, Discovery Project, Dreamstate Records, Gud Vibrations, HARD Recordings, In / Rotation, Lost in Dreams, and What To Do.

Events

* Audiotistic Music Festival * Bassrush Massive * Bay Nites *

* Countdown * Crush (Southern California, San Francisco, Phoenix, Dallas) * Dreamstate * Electric Daisy Carnival (Las Vegas, Mexico, Orlando, and Portugal. UK, India, Puerto Rico, and Brazil discontinued) *

Electric Forest Electric Forest is a multi-genre music festival produced by Madison House Presents and Insomniac Events with a focus on electronic music and jam band genres. Original named Rothbury Festival in 2008, it is held in Rothbury, Michigan at the ...

* Escape: Psycho Circus (formerly Escape From Wonderland) * Forbidden Kingdom *

Hard Hard may refer to: * Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture * Hard water, water with high mineral content Arts and entertainment * ''Hard'' (TV series), a French TV series * Hard (band), a Hungarian hard rock supe ...

* Holy Ship! * Middlelands *

* Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival * Project Z * We Are NRG

Inactive

* Together as One *

White Wonderland White Wonderland is an electronic music festival co-organized by Insomniac Events and fellow club promoter Giant. The event was first held for New Year's Eve in 2011, following the announcement that Insomniac had pulled out of co-organizing the N ...

Related media

* '' Electric Daisy Carnival'' (2000 album) * ''Electric Daisy Carnival, Vol. 1'' (2010 album) * ''Electric Daisy Carnival Experience'' (2011 film) * "

Under the Electric Sky ''EDC 2013: Under the Electric Sky'' is an American musical documentary film co-directed by Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz. The film also features Pasquale Rotella, producer of the Electric Daisy Carnival. The film had its world premiere at 2014 ...

" (2013 film)

References

External links

*
Insomniac Records website
{{Electronic music festival Event management companies of the United States Electronic dance music Electronic music event management companies