Detroit Electronic Music Festival

Movement Electronic Music Festival
Detroit Electronic Music Festival front display
Genre	Electronic Music
Dates	Memorial Day weekend (late May)
Location(s)	Detroit, Michigan, United States
Years active	2000 - present
Website
www.movement.us

Movement Electronic Music Festival is an annual electronic dance music event held in Detroit each Memorial Day weekend since 2000. Following the first three events under the name Detroit Electronic Music Festival (2000–2002) were Movement (2003–2004), Fuse-In (2005) and currently, Movement Electronic Music Festival (2006–present), with each name change reflecting shifts in festival management. All of these festivals continued the DEMF's traditions by featuring performances by musicians and DJs and emphasizing the progressive qualities of the culture surrounding electronic music.

In late 2013, the original DEMF management announced plans for the return of the Detroit Electronic Music Festival as a free-admission event at Campus Martius Park on Independence Day weekend, 2014, along with the paid-admission Federation of Electronic Music Technology (FEMT), a concurrent conference and music showcase at Ford Field. These events were later rescheduled for 2015.^[1] These events are not connected to the Movement Electronic Music Festival planned for Memorial Day weekend in Hart Plaza.^[2][3]

History

The first electronic music festival held in Detroit was the Detroit Electronic Music Festival in 2000. Taking place in Detroit's Hart Plaza, it was a landmark event that brought visitors from all over the world to celebrate Techno music in the city of its birth. The event has gone through several incarnations and names in its first few years, and in 2006 became Movement Electronic Music Festival, which has evolved into one of the world's largest electronic music festivals.

2000: Successful launch

The first DEMF occurred in May 2000 and concluded with few hitches and no reported crime. It was applauded by city leaders and tourism officials as an injection of youthful energy into the city.

Attendance at the first DEMF surpassed expectations, with estimates over the three-day run surpassing one million visitors. Subsequent festivals drew even bigger crowds. City officials and others including media observers and local businesses saw the apparent economic boost to the city, with the Visitors and Convention Bureau stating that in only its second year, the event had pumped over US$90 million into the local economy.

2001–2002: DEMF growth and controversy

In the festival's second year and beyond, many independently organized and impromptu techno music parties packed Detroit and Windsor-area clubs and makeshift venues early into each morning during the festival's run.

Ford Motor Company provided $435,000 toward sponsorship of the 2001 event, which was renamed the Focus Detroit Electronic Music Festival and was peppered with ads for the Ford Focus.^[4]

Controversy ensued when promoter Carol Marvin fired artistic director Carl Craig for an alleged breach of contract.^[4]

2003–2004: Movement

In January 2003, city officials decided to place the event in the hands of popular techno artist Derrick May, who had extensive experience as a touring DJ but no firsthand, large-scale festival production experience. May put a first class team in place, which included a generous donation by Philadelphia based p.a.w.n. Lasers, but the biggest hurdle faced by the Festival was the City Of Detroit's withdrawal of $350,000 funding that it had provided in previous years.

The second Movement festival took place in 2004, but despite its public success, the event faced significant financial losses and its fate became uncertain.

2005: Fuse-In

In February 2005, May announced his resignation as festival producer, and the festival once again changed hands. Fellow techno veteran Kevin Saunderson announced plans for a Movement replacement to be called Fuse-In Detroit (later shortened to just Fuse-In, with the tagline "Detroit's Electronic Movement") to be staged Memorial Day Weekend 2005.

Successful negotiations with city officials led to 2005 becoming the first year that an event in Hart Plaza did not have free admission. A total of 41,220 admission passes were sold to Fuse-In visitors. 38,382 daily passes were sold for $10 each, and 2,838 weekend passes, covering the full three days, were sold for $25 each. The City of Detroit collected $1 per pass, and was to have collected 30% of festival profits, but admission pass sales did not recoup the festival's $756,000 budget.

2006–present: Movement

On February 16, 2006, Kevin Saunderson announced that due to financial losses and lack of sufficient promotion, he would not continue to produce the festival in 2006. As of March 23, the city has chosen Paxahau of Detroit, Michigan, an event production company that has worked with Craig, May, and Saunderson, to produce the festival under the name "Movement, Detroit's Electronic Music Festival." Paxahau has been producing the festival from 2006 to present, and has grown the event to become one of the world's top electronic music festivals.

The 2006 lineup included:

2007: Movement

In 2007 the festival took place over a span of three days, May 26-May 28, 2007.

The 2007 lineup included:

2008: Movement

In 2008 the festival took place over a three-day span, May 24-May 26, 2008. Ticket prices this year were set at $40 presale or $55 at the door for a weekend pass, and $175 for a VIP Pass.

The 2008 lineup included:

2009: Movement

Movement 2009 took place from Saturday, May 23, 2009 thru Monday, May 25, 2009 in Hart Plaza in Detroit, Michigan. These two mobile friendly sites include information about after parties, lodging and an easy to read schedule http://www.mpiii.com/demf/ or http://www.detroitluv.com. The weekend overlaps with CouchSurfing's event CouchCrash http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p4O1URhzhzraofuYB9cMcIg and with the International Swordfighting and Martial Arts Convention

The 2009 lineup included:

2010: Movement

Movement 2010 took place May 29–31, 2010. This was the 10th anniversary of Detroit's yearly electronic music festival. Plastikman confirmed his appearance on his official website. Other confirmed artists include Mr. Scruff, Ida Engberg, Jamie Jones, and Woody McBride.

The 2010 lineup included:

2011: Movement

Movement 2011 was held on May 28–30, 2011 and took place at Hart Plaza in Detroit, Michigan; the same location as every year since its inception. Featured artists this year include Fatboy Slim, Carl Craig, Beardyman, Felix da Housecat, and Skrillex. This year's "secret artist" listed on the lineup is Ricardo Villalobos, who, to the disappointment of many, was not allowed entrance into the US last year.

The 2011 lineup included:

2012: Movement

Movement 2012 was held on May 26–28, 2012 at Hart Plaza in Detroit, Michigan; the same location as every year since its inception.

The 2012 lineup included:

2013: Movement

Movement 2013 took place on May 25–27, once again in Hart Plaza. The lineup for the 2013 edition of the festival includes the following 116 acts:

2014: Movement

Movement 2014 will take place on May 24–26, once again in Hart Plaza. The lineup for the 2014 edition of the festival will include the following 121 acts :

Attendance

Historically, attendance of events held in Hart Plaza has often been reported as being well in excess of the 14-acre (57,000 m²) venue's capacity of 40,000 people, even when crowds were counted by police and city officials. The reported attendance estimates for the electronic music festival were as follows:

• DEMF 2000: 1.1 to 1.5 million *
• DEMF 2001: 1.7 million *
• DEMF 2002: 1.7 million *
• Movement 2003: 630,000
• Movement 2004: 150,000 **
• Fuse-In 2005: 44,920 ***
• Movement 2006: 41,000 ****
• Movement 2007: 43,337 *****
• Movement 2008: 75,000 *****
• Movement 2009: 83,322^[5]
• Movement 2010: 95,000^[6]
• Movement 2011: 99,282^[7]
• Movement 2012: 107,343^[8]

* Based on visual estimates by police and city officials, and conceded by city officials in 2003 to be an overly generous estimate.

** Reported by police on May 30, 2005.

*** 41,220 ticketholders, plus 3,700 DJs, VIPs, and press, reported by The Detroit News and The Detroit Free Press on June 2, 2005.

**** 41,000 tickets, quoted by Kevin Saunderson in Big Shot magazine

***** Reported by The Detroit Free Press on May 27, 2008.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Detroit Electronic Music Festival.

• List of electronic music festivals
• Detroit International Jazz Festival

Notes and references

External links

• Put your hands up: An oral history of Detroit's electronic music festival
• Detroit Techno & The Electronic Music Festival: Retrospective

Coordinates: 42°19′43″N 83°02′36″W / 42.32861°N 83.04333°W / 42.32861; -83.04333