Revenue distribution efforts are a central topic within club culture. Bottom-up initiatives as collective and urgent responses to forced inactivity in difficult times, like online crowdfunding events (see #UnitedWeStream by VibeLab co-founder Lutz Leichsenring during the pandemic outbreak and donations for the Ukrainian creative scene under war since the Russian invasion, just when Kyiv’s club culture was booming) are some noble examples.

The common argument for most of these campaigns collecting donations is strong: democratic empowerment. In other words, once living expenses are covered, sharing the surplus or giving it back to the community – those who paid in the first place – is highly expected.

Likewise, the idea behind the service Aslice recently launched by DJ and producer DVS1 (who had previously argued that festivals were jeopardizing club culture) is simple: “producers get paid when DJs play their music at gigs”. The software calculates the fair share to be allocated by DJs to creators of those music tracks through machine learning, by uploading the set playlist onto their system (5% of the gig fee is their suggested standard).

The good: it is nowadays possible for some DJs and producers like him to live exclusively with a salary from playing at gigs. The bad: rights owners have barely been able to monetize much of their work since illegal file-sharing exploded with the appearance of the internet. Paid streaming and download alternatives, mostly based on subscription or pay-as-you-want models, have slightly improved the situation since the 2010s – in 2015, digital revenue surpassed physical for the first time in global music sales according to the IFPI Report of the same year. 

As long as the pay gap exists, it is expected that the discussion around the increased responsibilities from the growing professionalization and commercialization of club culture will continue to have momentum.

Watch the video where DVS1 talks about the effect of festivals on club culture

The post <strong>Sharing is caring: responsible nighttime revenue distribution</strong> appeared first on NIGHTTIME.ORG.

Tour de Moon is a cosmic adventure, a large-scale public festival of immersive experiences and live events developed in collaboration with our “universal satellite”: the Moon, seen as a character, a landscape and a prompt for radical imagination. The festival, composed of 8 programming strands, aims to reach millions of visitors across the UK and the world in 2022, through live and virtual experiences, supporting youth, nightlife creators, scientists and digital creators through cooperation. VibeLab’s Mirik Milan is supporting the project as a board member and advisor.

Tour de Moon is all about collaboration between scientists and nightlife creators so as to prompt radical imagination and new beginnings. Through their Bursary Scheme, Tour de Moon are committing to redistribute wealth – with funds they have received from their grant – whilst offering to empower others to create, to initiate and to innovate with new thinking and pluralistic practices so that history does not repeat itself on and beyond Earth.

Tour de Moon are offering over 850 bursaries to any nightlife artist, performer, scientist, digital maker, makers of new worlds, playwright, or creative –  professional or amateur – to collaborate with the moon in unique ways.

With bursaries ranging from £100 to £25,000 there are a range of opportunities to push your practice and have your work showcased in Tour de Moon (and to the Moon!). Whether you want to write, sing, speak or create, there is bound to be something for you to do during Tour de Moon. We also have secured collaborations with the SETI (Seach For Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute Artists In Residence (AIR) Program, NASA SSERVI (Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute), the African Astronomical Society, The Ghanean Planetarium,  NightTime Industries Association, and many other international institutions and youths clubs alongside the bursaries to support the development of global cooperative efforts beyond borders.

@Nelly Ben Hayoun will be live on Twitch between 1pm and 2pm BST explaining what Tour de Moon is, what the programming strands are and explaining some of the ways in which we are collaborating with the Moon: Moon Bouncing, communicating with the moon, etc.
It would be great if you could join us >>> www.twitch.tv/tourdemoon or call us on +447377837842.

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Nightclubs have been shut for well over a year now, and in this year, we’ve seen many iconic venues around the world shut their doors for good due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Desperados is calling on party people around the world to save party culture by doing what they do best. Dancing. All night long. Just like they used to. 
As the self appointed patron saints of parties, the brand created the app “Rave to Save” to give the club community a way to save the scene, by letting party goers dance at home to support their local club.
People are invited to join a series of eight virtual raves through the app and dance. Using the pedometer available in smartphones, users’ dance moves are tracked and turned into a cash donation by Desperados to the club they are dancing for across Europe. 1000 dance moves = €1. Users also have the option to boost their personal contributions by making a cash donation to clubs in Germany, UK and Spain. The company will donate up to €30,000 at each event.
With the first rave at Prince Charles in Berlin, featuring Purple Disco Machine and Nakadia: 27 March: Prince Charles, Berlin
Upcoming: 4 April: Reineke Fuchs, Cologne / Germany10th April: Halo, Hamburg / Germany17th April: Cassiopeia, Berlin / Germany
How it works

1. Go to any major App Store on your phone.https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rave-to-save/id1553438452https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.heineken.ravetosave
2. Download the Rave to Save app.
3. Login and turn on notifications as the app will let users know when a rave is starting.
4. Tune into the livestream.
5. Dance all night long.
6. Make a cash donation of your own if you like

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Every bright, German speaking night owl with a love of nightlife can get involved.

In order to find solutions to the impact of the global crisis, the collaborative creative laboratory of VibeLab and Jägermeister is organising the very first hackathon to save nightlife. “The Denkathon” will take place digitally between the 15th -17th January 2021.

The aim of the digital Denkathon is to find creative solutions for the preservation of night culture, taking into account diverse expertise from scientific, political, technological and the nightlife industry backgrounds.

“Awareness of the dire situation in the industry and financial support are important. But what is needed now above all is solutions and perspectives on how the nightlife industry will continue.” 

Kathleen Schied , Head of Marketing Jägermeister Germany:

Participation in the Denkathon is free. Everyone over the age of 18 can take part and the winners will be offered prize money. Register here.

What areas of nightlife will the Denkathon focus on?

The Denkathon will address five current nightlife challenges which will be processed in virtual rooms, called “clubs”, with groups of up to six people.

• The Club Social will focus on how we can stay connected in our private and professional life, despite the challenges physical distance can impose upon communities.
  
• The Daybreak Club is dedicated to problem solving how major events such as festivals and concerts can be resumed.
  
• Movers and Shakers Club will look at the pathways restauranteurs can take to generate sales despite persistent restrictions.
  
• Club Culture Club is about generating ideas for established and emerging artists who have been hit hard by the crisis because they can no longer live out their creativity. How will it be possible to give them a stage back? 
  
• Club Dance explores what technologies help us to reopen locations like bars and clubs, taking into account the current restrictions? 

Each club is moderated and inspired by experts. For example, the Berlin graduate psychologist Franziska Lauter will contribute to the Club Social . In her practice in Berlin-Mitte, Lauter primarily advises artists and people whose creative work is in public.

At the end of the think tank, a five-person jury will evaluate all possible solutions according to criteria such as creativity or feasibility. 

On January 17th, the three most promising ideas will be announced at the Denkathon and the first three places will be rewarded with prize money. 

The jury will consist of representatives from the hospitality, event industry, science, technology and politics. Among others, David Süß, who runs the Harry Klein Club in Munich and, as a member of the GRÜNEN in Munich’s city council, is committed to sustainable nightlife, is part of the committee.

“2021 will be a difficult year of transition, where creativity is required to give artists a stage, to generate income and to be able to hold events safely. We are hoping for exciting impulses and ideas with the Denkathon”

Lutz Leichsenring, co-founder of VibeLab.

Find out more about the Denkathon here

#SaveTheNight

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Covid-19 might have turned the world on its head in 2020, but hi-tech advances have helped mitigate the damage. In this special report, covering everything from remote working to live streaming, Music Week unite a handful of forward-thinking execs to analyse how technology is changing the music business for the better…

PRS’ August AGM was held virtually and set a record for the highest participation in its history, with more than 1,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members engaged either on the day or through the voting process.

“Coronavirus has without doubt accelerated the shift towards a more digital world and we were perfectly placed to capitalise on that shift in the interest of our members,” said Martin. “We were able to seamlessly transition to remote working. The morning following the first lockdown announcement, all of our teams were up and running remotely without any disruption to our core services.”

Read the full article on Music Week

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Frank Sonder, international keynote speaker on the transformation of society and the economy through tech, dives inside the self-proclaimed “realest party on the internet” by the Co-Reality Collective, to see what kind of experience the format can provide, and if it has a future. Here is his recount…

Given the unpleasant prospect that larger club parties will not be able to take place in the long term, one can either switch to outdoor events or think intensively about whether at least part of the party experience can also be created online.

The creators of the Co-Reality Collective probably thought along the same lines when they organised the first edition of their “realest party on the internet” in April. The interesting thing about the online party is that it requires little more than the video conferencing software Zoom, which each of us should have tried out at least once somewhere by now. Once again it shows that it is much less about the technology than about a coherent and consistent concept, and an interesting story with creative implementation.

For research purposes the author therefore threw himself into what is now the fourth edition of the party, which takes place every two weeks, to find out what it’s all about.

Beforehand, I read in an article what the creators had already learned by now: a real party should start with a well-designed invitation and not just a link to the registration form. Because of the global reach, it is essential to consider time zones, unlike at normal parties. By focusing on Europe, it was decided to start at 8pm GMT until sometime in the early morning hours. However this did not stop partygoers from Down Under from partying in the middle of the day. This could be seen in the high sun in the Australian bush.

Everything starts with the purchase of a ticket, which can be handled by Eventbrite for the sake of simplicity. Prices range from a free ticket to around $50 if you can afford it. Basically, the method here is that everyone pays as much as they can. After all, access is not completely free, as is, unfortunately, the case with most virtual formats these days. This regularly deprives the organisers of a reasonable business model and it is generally difficult to monetise an event that was initially completely free of charge later on.

Except for the confirmation of the ticket purchase, there was only a short email afterward, which contained the link to a Zoom meeting room and some final instructions [as below].

Tips for partygoers:

1. Prepare yourself with appropriate costumes and props to enjoy the party. Appropriate costumes include tree-themed costumes, including tree-dwelling animals and anything which looks like fancy dress.

2. Prepare your space: decorate your space, or enable a virtual background.

3. Ready yourself a glass of Prosecco to be welcomed upon your arrival at the Tree of Life

In any case, it is important and helpful to have detailed instructions in which everything is explained step-by-step, starting with the least talented user (in Germany also called DAU – the Dumbest Assumable User).

It starts with a click on the received link followed by some requirements to launch the external program. But even for users who have never done this before, it is an acceptable hurdle. Once this has been done, the fun begins – by standing in line. Because, as is well known, every good club party is accompanied by the anticipation that comes with waiting. In concrete terms, this means that party-goers who are eager to celebrate end up in a video conference room, where they are greeted by two nice doormen and checked for party fitness. Those who are in the right mood, have their self-prepared welcome drink with them, and are dressed up according to the theme of the party, come in. Those who did not manage to prepare a suitable costume for the theme of the party have two digital possibilities. On the one hand, the background image can be adapted to the party motto. It couldn’t be simpler. On the other hand, the Snapcamera from Snapchat allows you to cover your video ego with one of the funny masks.

Some people are brought together with others at will and at random. This is done in so-called breakout rooms, which are used in regular video conferences for group work. The host of the room simply has to transport individual users to these séparées. Here there is then the opportunity and, to a certain extent, the necessity to get to know other partygoers.

Whoever has made it this far will get the magic link to a website where you can finally get an overview of the whole party. There is also an interactive map, designed according to the theme, where you can find links to all the other “floors”. In the end, these are just more video conference rooms that differ from each other thematically or musically. In addition to various dance floors, there are also rooms with storytellers, fortune tellers, and all sorts of other purposes, which are not always entirely clear. Of course, there is also a toilet.

When entering another room, the party-goers are asked to give themselves a Victorian name, for example. Those who couldn’t think of one immediately are helped by a link to a website that generates such names at random.

Another room was called the bathtub and this was meant absolutely literally. Because here only those who sat at home in their own bathtub, appropriately unclothed, had access. With water, of course. Certainly one of the best examples of how real and virtual rooms can be mixed effectively –also known as mixed reality.

There was already a lot to learn. Namely that the party should have a theme that has to be used throughout. That coming into the experience must be designed and explained. That it needs doormen, concierges and hosts. That the party guests must be offered orientation with a map. But that should not be all…

Apropos theme: this is essential. At the Co Reality Collective there were among others The Zone, The Light Side of the Moon, Tree of Life, The Time Warp Party followed by The End of the Universe. Such a theme may of course be mysterious – not necessarily easily understandable, but mysterious and surprising to the end.

Surely the newcomer is sitting in front of his computer a little confused at first. At his desk or with his laptop on his knees on the sofa. But it doesn’t stay that way for long. Given the many small video snippets on the screen, nobody hides for long in the semi-darkness of the room, possibly with the video switched off. (I confess that I activated my video and audio-only after several friendly requests “There is Frank, let us see you”. After all, I was only out and about for research purposes). There are many dancing people to be seen, real or virtually dressed up, and also a woman who is apparently undergoing body painting somewhere in the jungle. And another one, who is obviously experiencing a sunrise from the boot of her mobile home.

After all the foreplay, talking and animation by the hosts, the music really gets going. That means, on each “floor” someone else hangs up. However, anyone who has ever made a zoom call with a large number of participants knows about the limitations of the audio that this technology still has. But the creators have also thought about this and recommend switching the zoom audio to mute and switching to twitch.tv for live music instead. Twitch actually comes from the gamer scene and is meant to watch other players at their pleasure. However, twitch had evolved towards music and partying, even before the pandemic, so it’s no surprise that the audio quality, which is usually lousy for video conferencing, is much better here. There is a link in every chat on every dance floor that simply redirects you to the gamer platform. Everybody can still do that, even if she or he has already had a few more of his or her own welcome drinks.

And so it goes on all night, interrupted only by a midnight ritual, because the organisers believe that it is extremely important to create community by bringing everyone together. For this purpose, all but one room is closed. Here the pack gathers and follows the ritual, which is explained by the hosts. All those who had been personally affected by the coronavirus were asked to hold their open hand in front of the camera or screen. All others followed this with their hands as well, while individual affected people told their story. A thoroughly emotional moment in which the real distance became irrelevant.

Like at any good club party, people get into a conversation at some point, driven by the need to share their innermost feelings with others beyond the loud music. There are separate rooms for this as well where, with a little effort, a conversation can be held, or at the very least the slightly or heavily drunken palaver of other party guests can be followed. To put it clearly, chaos is inherent – and not only that which is caused by the party and its guests themselves. Chaos can and must also be expected in planning and coordination. Experiments can go wrong, concepts fail or are misunderstood. All this is part of it.

Even so, such an event requires serious planning and a lot of supporters. Well-organised communication before and during the event as well as good coordination between all participants, even at 3 o’clock on the morning.

Such concepts have the potential to be economically profitable. Be it through the sale of tickets, whereby free tickets should always be considered, or donations. Especially if the first attempts are positively spread in the community, it may cost a lot.

Last but not least it is recommended to ask feedback of your party guests afterward. The tools for this are numerous and the findings are worth their weight in gold. For the next issue.

Frank Sonder is an international consultant, speaker and facilitator in the future-facing world of technology and design.

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