Ibiza festival criticised for charging DJs €5000 to perform
French DJ Arnaud Le Texier slammed the festival on social media last week
Ibiza Global Festival has been criticised for charging DJs to perform at its annual event, Diario de Ibiza reports.
French DJ Arnaud Le Texier slammed the San Antonio-based festival on social media after receiving an email asking for a €5000 fee to play at this year’s event.
“The price to play in the festival is 5000€,” reads an email addressed to one of Le Texier’s students. “It includes the slot time and all the promotion before, during, and after the festival on all our medias and the international press office.”
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The email added that it was a “huge opportunity” to perform, noting the “consistent cost” that the annual event must make to go ahead each year.
“The world of electronic music found a new way to touch the bottom,” Le Texier wrote over a screenshot of the email. “One of my students applied to play this festival and asked her to pay €5000 for her slot! What the fuck?”
“This scene is over to be honest,” he added. “If artists need to pay to play then sorry guys you are idiots! Honestly it’s getting worse and worse.”
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German DJ and producer Lars Behrenroth also posted the email on social media, commenting: “See, everyone can play Ibiza. This is what the Ibiza Global Festival is apparently doing... time to get into the promoter business, I guess.”
Ibiza Global Festival takes place each year in San Antonio, returning from August 9 - 10, 2024, with its third edition. Previous headliners include Roger Sanchez, Amémé, and Nic Fanciulli.
Earlier this month, a music industry study found that 76% of new artists say that their music career is financially unsustainable. 82% of those surveyed were found to rely on jobs unrelated to electronic music to support themselves, with 56% working in a full-time capacity, and 26% working part-time.
Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter