Insomniac (promoter)


Insomniac is an American electronic music event promoter. Founded by Pasquale Rotella, it is best-known as the organizer of the electronic music festival Electric Daisy Carnival.
Alongside EDC, Insomniac runs the electronic music events Beyond Wonderland and Nocturnal Wonderland, as well as drum and bass and dubstep-oriented events under the brand Bassrush, hardstyle events under the brand Basscon, and trance events under the brand Dreamstate. Insomniac is also involved in the operation of three Los Angeles nightclubs—Create, Exchange L.A. and the underground warehouse Factory 93, located at 1756 Naud Street.
In 2013, Insomniac entered into a creative partnership with Live Nation, and in 2014, introduced a co-branded record label in partnership with Interscope Geffen A&M,

Overview and partnerships

By contrast to other promoters, Insomniac places a larger emphasis on fan experiences during its events, as opposed to focusing on profits and ticket sales, and that "our strength lies in the movement as a whole. It’s a culture. It’s powerful. It’s always been about the people that attend. It changes people’s lives.” Rotella has contended that music festivals do 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 major "creative partnership" with Live Nation that would allow Insomniac to take advantage of Live Nation's resources, while still retaining autonomy and creative control over its events. While specifics of the deal were not revealed, Rotella emphasized that the deal was not an acquisition, as had been speculated. Since 1993, Insomniac has produced over 2,000 festivals attended by over 5 Million people.
In August 2015, Pasquale announced his new radio show, Night Owl Radio, on SiriusXM's Electric Area. In the summer of 2018, Insomniac Radio launched on SiriusXM's channel 730. In May 2019, Insomniac partnered with Dash Radio as its flagship station.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Insomniac began to stream a rotation of sets from previous editions of the EDC, HARD Summer, and Okeechobee festivals on its YouTube and Twitch channels under the "Insomniac Rewind" banner, and also began to host "Virtual Rave-a-Thon" events featuring new sets. The first was co-branded with and held on the original nights of Beyond Wonderland on March 20 and 21, streamed from stages at the Academy LA nightclub. The following weekend, an Insomniac Countdown edition of the event was held, followed by the "Hard Summer Staycation".

Insomniac Records

In May 2014, Insomniac announced the formation of Insomniac Records, an EDM record label created in partnership with Interscope Geffen A&M. The label aimed to attract both "undiscovered" and "established" producers. Arty was announced as the first artist to be signed to the label. Other artists such as Bingo Players, Chris Lake and Dr. Fresch were also signed.

Events