This is pretty cool, interesting to think about what causes more or less resident DJs.
As a side note, on the RA events sometimes artists are listed in the description but not linked in the description so there could be some artists missing. In my experience it tends to vary on the nightclub.
I love the idea behind it and the visualisation indeed looks awesome, but the RA data behind it is messy to say the least.
For example, 3/7 "nightclubs" it lists in Croatia are not nightclubs. I would also group Kalypso and Zrće Beach together as Kalypso is one out of 4 nightclubs located on Zrće Beach, but the beach itself is not a venue. Similarly, Barbarella's is kind of an afterparty destination for festivals organised at the Garden Resort. They only match 6%, but I wouldn't call them completely separate. This is the kind of "lore" that's impossible to catch from raw data.
I like the Essential Mix visualisation even more! It's such a shame most of the other ones appear dead due to API changes.
Might have been nice to know where the clubs are? San Francisco? South Africa? Belgium? And what demographic the clubs serve, i.e are any of the clubs LGBTQ+, or are the all hetero? They don't generally play the same material.
Don't confuse this list with actually very popular djs. Many clubs in this list host mostly resident and local djs (like Berghain as the club name/culture is the main reason people go there, not the lineup) instead of popular touring djs who have a big fan base of their own (and are more expensive to book).
People definitely go to BH for the artists. Of course plenty just go for clout too, but other than the cult that goes almost every weekend that is a pretty new thing.
You may be interested to learn they pay a flat fee for all bookings (not sure about residents). The booked artists are also forbidden to play anywhere else in Berlin for a period before and after (1-2 months, IIRC), and the fee is ridiculously low. Artists don’t even get many GL spots.
I'm just gonna say that some aspect of the data collection here seems flawed: among the SF clubs listed are DNA Lounge and Public Works – which are great clubs, don't get me wrong – but they are very much on the smaller side. And, Phonobar? That is a bar/restaurant, not a nightclub at all. Meanwhile, The Warfield and 1015 Folsom are left out – how does that make any sense?
> As an introvert, what are you even supposed to do at "clubs"?
I know many introverts who like music. I also know many introverts who like dancing if they don't have to feel like the spotlight is on them. Many clubs offer a good chance to do either or both.
In addition, you may of course go as a group of friends. Then it's an activity to do together. You have some drinks and chat in a setting that's different from where you are every day.
> Besides having your eardrums damaged
Earplugs help a lot if one's ears are sensitive to loud music. Many clubs also have areas where the music is far less loud.
Dance, mostly. It's irrationally fun, but only if you can get in the right mood. (Drugs optional - I don't even drink alcohol.)
I will say if you are at a 6-day outdoor festival with camping it is a lot easier to get in that mood than being at a nightclub for what, 4-6 hours? Another comment referenced this too. I don't know if I should share my recommendations because they're better when they're not so well known. I found them by word of mouth from people I met at clubs.
Good clubs (RIP Wilde Renate) also have some kind of chill-out area where you can actually talk to people who are often also in the mood to talk to strangers just like you are. I presume it's an intentional accident that (at least at some) the indoor dancing area is always hot and the outdoor social area is always cold, which makes you want to alternate spaces like a Finnish sauna.
It's an open secret that most people who didn't come with a partner are, at least a little bit, hoping to meet one and have sex, but it happens much less often than mass media would have you think. That is in no way mandatory or the only reason to be there. It is simply one of many things that are permitted and has a small chance of happening whenever you socialize in general.
I should also mention there can be a big difference in vibes depending on the night - whether it's a random Friday or Saturday night, or a weeknight, or a particular party (see Resident Advisor and/or word of mouth).
Btw, SF night clubs actively refuse to let “tech nerds” in. I witnessed whole groups of people who attended the huggingface “Woodstock of AI” meetup circa 2023 and the local clubs would refuse to let anyone in who wore glasses or wore Patagonia.
This is really cool but in my experience, RA is typically used for less popular “underground” (in very large quotes) events, warehouse parties, etc. It might be different in Europe or other cities here in the states. The data for such events is interesting in its own right, but it’s probably not quite representative of the most popular clubs and/or artists.
Perhaps doing a similar thing with Ticketmaster/tixr/all the other ticket apps and combining them together could produce more representative data, of course you’d still have the problem of having to filter out actual clubs.
on an unrelated note, what in gods name is that color scheme on the visualizations? xD
I just came to the comments section to say "blablabla flawed blabla incorrect data blablabla representation failure blablabla... but I just saw others came first.
In excitement over the cool-looking visualizations, we lose the sight of its usefulness. The entire article hardly has any text talking about how these visualization would be useful and to whom.
Even if this is an ask from a top-level managers hoping that it would help their decision-making, let me tell you that, this will be binned after everyone agrees that the visualizations are very cool. Decisions are driven by other factors.
Data raw material is meh, as are the results (clubs are clustered by geography and music style? Shocker), but the post isn't about collection or survey methodology.
The hard work here is in the analysis and presentation, which are nice. That will still be valuable if applied to better-curated datasets. I don't blame the author for working with a mediocre dataset that happened to reflect his interests, he's not making big claims about what this means for the entertainment industry or the future of culture.
I think this analysis is cool, and the comments are too critical. The author put something out there, documented it, and I learned something by reading it. Thank you.
Maybe the title needs reframing to soften the reader’s expectations, and I definitely agree that RA as a data source has important limitations that should be mentioned.
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[ 2.4 ms ] story [ 63.3 ms ] threadAs a side note, on the RA events sometimes artists are listed in the description but not linked in the description so there could be some artists missing. In my experience it tends to vary on the nightclub.
For example, 3/7 "nightclubs" it lists in Croatia are not nightclubs. I would also group Kalypso and Zrće Beach together as Kalypso is one out of 4 nightclubs located on Zrće Beach, but the beach itself is not a venue. Similarly, Barbarella's is kind of an afterparty destination for festivals organised at the Garden Resort. They only match 6%, but I wouldn't call them completely separate. This is the kind of "lore" that's impossible to catch from raw data.
I like the Essential Mix visualisation even more! It's such a shame most of the other ones appear dead due to API changes.
You may be interested to learn they pay a flat fee for all bookings (not sure about residents). The booked artists are also forbidden to play anywhere else in Berlin for a period before and after (1-2 months, IIRC), and the fee is ridiculously low. Artists don’t even get many GL spots.
Besides having your eardrums damaged
I know many introverts who like music. I also know many introverts who like dancing if they don't have to feel like the spotlight is on them. Many clubs offer a good chance to do either or both.
In addition, you may of course go as a group of friends. Then it's an activity to do together. You have some drinks and chat in a setting that's different from where you are every day.
> Besides having your eardrums damaged
Earplugs help a lot if one's ears are sensitive to loud music. Many clubs also have areas where the music is far less loud.
I will say if you are at a 6-day outdoor festival with camping it is a lot easier to get in that mood than being at a nightclub for what, 4-6 hours? Another comment referenced this too. I don't know if I should share my recommendations because they're better when they're not so well known. I found them by word of mouth from people I met at clubs.
Good clubs (RIP Wilde Renate) also have some kind of chill-out area where you can actually talk to people who are often also in the mood to talk to strangers just like you are. I presume it's an intentional accident that (at least at some) the indoor dancing area is always hot and the outdoor social area is always cold, which makes you want to alternate spaces like a Finnish sauna.
It's an open secret that most people who didn't come with a partner are, at least a little bit, hoping to meet one and have sex, but it happens much less often than mass media would have you think. That is in no way mandatory or the only reason to be there. It is simply one of many things that are permitted and has a small chance of happening whenever you socialize in general.
I should also mention there can be a big difference in vibes depending on the night - whether it's a random Friday or Saturday night, or a weeknight, or a particular party (see Resident Advisor and/or word of mouth).
This comment was rate-limited.
Thanks John Hughes films!
Perhaps doing a similar thing with Ticketmaster/tixr/all the other ticket apps and combining them together could produce more representative data, of course you’d still have the problem of having to filter out actual clubs.
on an unrelated note, what in gods name is that color scheme on the visualizations? xD
Yeah, humans.
I kinda understand swapping witch is which, but why have no distinction.
Even if this is an ask from a top-level managers hoping that it would help their decision-making, let me tell you that, this will be binned after everyone agrees that the visualizations are very cool. Decisions are driven by other factors.
The hard work here is in the analysis and presentation, which are nice. That will still be valuable if applied to better-curated datasets. I don't blame the author for working with a mediocre dataset that happened to reflect his interests, he's not making big claims about what this means for the entertainment industry or the future of culture.
Maybe the title needs reframing to soften the reader’s expectations, and I definitely agree that RA as a data source has important limitations that should be mentioned.