Expert Interviews
Cameron (Cam) Sunkel is a copywriting & digital marketing specialist for entertainment companies and creators.
Cam brings a data-driven approach to crafting compelling stories that engage audiences and inspire action. He is a project and retainer based copywriter with clients in the influencer marketing, live events, record label, and Web3 sectors. Additionally, Cam brings his unique perspective to highly visible entertainment media publications and is a regular contributor on EDM.com
Let's discuss your next project and how we can work together. Contact me to schedule an introductory call and we'll be in touch.
Expert Interviews
Losing a million dollars will teach a man a few things. Just ask Perry Farrell. Farrell has maintained just the right combination of DIY attitude and an appetite for controlled chaos to continue effectuating his lifelong ambitions in music-but it hasn't always been sunshine and roses for the legendary rocker.
If you peered through a window into Hardwell's soul in 2018, you may have seen nothing but emptiness. But after returning from a four-year hiatus, the Dutch electronic music icon has torn hell for leather into a new creative frontier. Hardwell is now the cynosure of all eyes as his long-awaited comeback album, REBELS NEVER DIE, approaches.
As the latest Bitcoin and cryptocurrency hype cycle has gripped investors and driven a whole new wave of adoption to the space, Duncan and Griffin Cock Foster find themselves at the epicenter.
He's a music executive of over a decade, a four-time consecutive Billboard Digital Power Player, and now the new head of Crypto.com's soon-to-be-launched NFT platform. It may sound like an unlikely transition going from Chief Strategy Officer at Downtown Music Holdings to the Wild West of blockchain technology, but for Joe Conyers III, there's a discernible through-line: a passion for helping artists share their stories.
With 170,000 festival goers in attendance, and an estimated 30 million live stream viewers, Ultra Music Festival's influence as one of the most prolific live platforms in dance music is undeniable. Year after year, Ultra has kept artists in somewhat of a risk-taking mood as dance music's biggest names strive to create unforgettable moments and connect with their global audiences.
On-Site Reviews
If the pandemic proved anything, it was that even the mightiest could fall. Case in point was Las Vegas, a city whose economy was dependent on sin but suddenly found itself devoid of sinners. In March 2021, the number of visitors to Las Vegas dipped a staggering 49.5% compared to March 2019, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Despite being one of the festival circuit's most established brands with over a quarter century of success, EDC is defining the festival landscape of the future with greater impact than ever.
After concluding it's milestone fifth year of action in the "live music capital of the world," it's clear Seismic Dance Event has not only found its flow, but is also actively reaching higher for the next rung on the ladder to festival greatness.
"I've been replaying this moment over and over for months and it's so much better than I could have imagined," singer-songwriter Lauv proclaimed from the Lollapalooza main stage. It was a sentiment heard over and over again at the music festival's 2021 edition, the first large-scale event to return in Chicago at full capacity in the pandemic era.
Zouk Group has only just begun to reap the rewards of its labor from seeds planted decades ago. With the industry relationships and wealth of experience needed to facilitate their mission of international expansion, the brand is a global household name in waiting. But until recently, most Western audiences have never heard of it.
Business & Technology
Following the release of the now-viral sensation, ChatGPT, it took OpenAI's eerily sophisticated chatbot just five days to amass over one million users. And it's become the most successful story at the intersection of artificial intelligence and meteoric tech adoption in the last decade. There's many reasons why ChatGPT has become an instant hit.
Sensorium Galaxy's behind-the scenes teasers are about to become the highlight reel of the live music industry. Despite devastating economic impact to the broader sector, the past 15 months could not have proven to be a better case study for one of the most powerful emerging startups at the intersection of music and tech.
Blockchain-based streaming service Audius has announced it recently closed a $5 million funding round in partnership with some of the contemporary music scene's most popular creators. Artists such as The Chainsmokers, Disclosure, Steve Aoki, Katy Perry, Jason Derulo, Pusha T, Mike Shinoda, and many others are throwing their weight-and their cash-behind Audius, helping to grow the crypto-powered platform's footprint in the streaming economy.
In a streaming service first, Apple Music has launched a robust track-identification feature capable of analyzing full DJ mixes and ensuring music rights holders are paid. The feature was developed as an extension of Shazam's proprietary track identification technology. Apple added Shazam to its growing portfolio of services via a highly visible $400 million acquisition back in 2018.
The ongoing initiative to make single-use plastics a thing of the past has broken new ground with Cove, the world's first biodegradable water bottle. The Cove water bottle has been an effort five years in the making. Diplo, Ellie Goulding and Kygo 's Palm Tree Crew are among the company's high-profile list of early investors.