New Year’s resolutions never last long, and we can unfortunately see trouble stirring in the music world already, despite the fresh new year that has welcomed a number of new tour and performance news.
Toronto DJ Deadmau5 has blatantly stated his displeasure with Miami’s Ultra Music Festival, commenting on its steep ticket prices and the outlandish exclusivity contracts that artists must adhere to.
Joel Zimmerman’s – AKA Deadmau5 – video detailing his discrepancy with the festival has been removed, but the Miami Times was able to catch a quote from Deadmau5 that addresses the festival’s exclusivity contracts: “But say you are a headliner DJ dude, Ultra will pay you X amount of dollars to be exclusive to Ultra, which I guess is alright if you are an A-liner …”
The Ultra Music Festival is not the only large music festival making negative waves right now, as fans of Nevada’s Burning Man Festival are outraged at the recently announced decision to make tickets available through a lottery system.
Festival organizers believe a lottery system will serve as a solution to the ticketing trouble experienced last year, where the fest’s first sell-out resulted in scalpers’ excessive mark-ups. In the new system, fans will pick a price level and provide credit card info to enter into the lottery. There will be three lottery rounds, with 3,000 tickets that were up for grabs in late November, 40,000 this January, and the remaining 10,000 tickets in March.
Fans are worried this system will exclude some people who do not get selected for the lottery, but promoters are sure only a small percentage of people will be left out with the new lottery system, and are also working to increase maximum capacity to 70,000 people in the coming years.
Former Anthrax member Dan Nelson has filed a lawsuit against his former band, suing Anthrax for $2.5 million on the grounds of failure to pay royalties, and for his ex-bandmates’ alleged false statements regarding his exodus from the group.
Right before Nelson suddenly left Anthrax, he had written and recorded vocal work that would later be used on Anthrax’s tenth studio album, Worship Music. Before its release, Nelson was ultimately replaced with former frontman Joey Belladonna, who completed the vocal work that Nelson had contributed to.
Nelson is demanding co-writing credits on Worship Music, and claims Anthrax has failed to pay the appropriate royalties. Nelson is also suing the band for the “intentional defamation” of his career, accusing band members of damaging his integrity by discussing his sudden departure from Anthrax in interviews.
It was just another day in the life of Tyler, The Creator of Odd Future, as he was recently arrested at The Roxy in Hollywood for vandalizing sound equipment. Odd Future’s holiday show at The Roxy ended with Tyler, The Creator allegedly punching a sound engineer after the sound was cut in the rap group’s last song, because fans in the front were becoming endangered by the rowdiness of the crowd.
The safety issue was unclear to Tyler, The Creator, and as a result of the sound being cut, he went berserk and ended the night with the destruction of the venue’s soundboard. As crowds swarmed the streets, police were forced to request backup. Roxy owner Nic Adler stated that he did not order the arrest of the controversial rapper.
The lack of ticket refunds in response to the cancellation of last year’s Sunset Junction Music Festival has left irate ticketholders preparing to file a class-action lawsuit against the company responsible for the festival. If this happens, it could result in almost $1 million in lost sales.
The Sunset Junction Neighborhood Alliance organizer, Michael McKinley, has been impossible to find since the show was denied a city permit in August, only shortly before the festival was to take place. Leading the pack of angry ticketholders is Michelle Stimson, a tax law attorney and ticketholder looking to get her money back. People looking to join her suit are free to email her, as she has made her information and opinion available.
Unplugging in Brief:
Deadmau5 Criticizes Ultra Music Festival for High Ticket Prices and Festival Politics – Joel Zimmerman, AKA Deadmau5, has expressed his discrepancies with Miami’s Ultra Music Festival publicly in a video rant that has recently been removed.
Burning Man Ticket Lotto Causes Outrage – Nevada’s Burning Man Festival organizers have made a new lottery system for tickets, leaving fans worrisome that people will get left out.
Former Anthrax singer Dan Nelson Sues Band – Dan Nelson is suing his former band over royalties and “intentional defamation” of his career.
Tyler, The Creator Arrested for Vandalism at The Roxy – It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Tyler, The Creator was arrested at Odd Future’s holiday show at The Roxy for vandalism.
No Refunds from Sunset Junction Could Lead to Class-Action Lawsuit – After last year’s cancellation of Sunset Junction Music Festival, ticketholders have yet to be refunded, and plan to take matters to court.
