2) SFX All But Pulled The Plug On Q-Dance’s North American Branch In 2015
When SFX purchased ID&T in 2013, it automatically came into ownership of the Dutch promoter’s esteemed hardstyle brand, Q-Dance. Despite being one of the more commonly maligned genres for its relentless pace and abrasive energy, hardstyle fans in the US were afforded a wider selection of events as the brand took root stateside.
If the financial statement for Q-Dance LLC is to be trusted, however, the company’s earnings fell staggeringly in the short time that it was under the SFX umbrella. After reporting gross revenue totaling almost $660,000 in 2014, it barely broke $26,000 in 2015, a staggering 96% drop from one year to the next.
According to a source familiar with SFX’s relationship with Q-Dance, however, the decrease in revenue was less a result of Q-Dance events’ drop in attendance and more due to the former company’s seemingly arbitrary decisions to discontinue the vast majority of the brand’s events.
Between its curated stages at SFX festivals, Events like The Sound of Q-Dance, and national tours for hardstyle artists like Wildstylez, Q-Dance’s newfound North American presence was met with relative success – so you have to wonder why SFX’s board would elect to pull funding from each venture. “That’s the same question we are all asking,” the source said.
In addition, Q-Dance’s international manager, Ibo Orgut, recently made encouraging remarks in regards to the company’s future in the US in the Facebook group QSA. “…Believe me, USA is not forgotten,” he said. “I was recently stateside, had very inspiring meetings and the future looks promising. We all just have to be patient.”
After all, SFX’s penchant for mismanagement has been well enough established by this point that you can’t rule out misinformed or self-motivated decision as the root of the dilemma. However, the performance of SFX’s most prized brand might reveal why funds had to be diverted from otherwise self-sustaining sources…