With the rise of the internet and social media, the platform for advertising, especially advertisements geared towards young adults, has shifted from the traditional print and TV to online. In the EDM realm, numerous music festivals have taken advantage of sites like YouTube and Vimeo to publish their “aftermovies”. Aftermovies, essentially video recaps of music festivals, serve as a way for attendees to “relive” their experiences. However, even more importantly, these aftermovies serve as a way to draw in new attendees for each festival’s next iteration. And the results have been drastic- the video we have ranked #1 has garnered over 100 million views since 2012.
Whether you are an EDM “PLUR” raver or not, these music videos (especially the top two) are breathtaking. Let’s start with number 5:
5. Fruit Vibrations 2014 [Website]
Fruit Vibrations is a Russian music festival which usually runs in early July. Though Fruit Vibrations is much smaller than some of the other festivals in this countdown, last year’s iteration featured names such as Avicii, Dash Berlin, and Dimitri Vegas. While the festival is held in Russia, this aftermovie is mostly in English.
4. Sunburn Goa 2013 [Website]
The Sunburn Music Festival is India’s largest EDM festival, which has been held annually in Vagator, Goa, India since 2007. Sunburn’s 2013 aftermovie has garnered an impressive 300,000 views– and like Fruit Vibrations, the Sunburn aftermovie comes in at a relatively short run time of 6 minutes.
3. Veld Music Festival 2013 [Website]
Veld Music Festival is an annual festival held in Toronto, Canada every August. Coming in at #3, Veld’s aftermovie is much better than Sunburn’s and Fruit Vibration’s thanks to Veld’s seamless editing. Enjoy!
2. Ultra Music Festival Miami 2014 [Website]
There are really only two EDM music festivals which can be considered to claim the title of the best aftermovie in the world: Ultra Music Festival in Miami and Tomorrowland. These two festivals, which are bar none the world’s two largest EDM festivals in general, both produce aftermovies which are unanimously considered the best of the best. And while I had an extremely hard time choosing which one would take the top spot, Ultra Miami’s 2014 aftermovie came in second. Full of cinematic shots, time lapses, hyperlapses and inspiring interviews by artists such as Krewella, Hardwell, Zedd and Martin Garrix, Ultra Miami’s aftermovie is a work of art– it’s one of those videos whose grandeur sends chills down my spine. Though it only has 700,000 views after 1 month, it deserves many, many more.
1. TomorrowLand 2012 [Website]
And finally, we have arrived at the winner. Tomorrowland 2012’s aftermovie is the iconic EDM festival aftermovie. Though some Ultra fans may disagree, I personally would say that this video significantly contributed to not only the popularity of Tomorrowland as a world renowned festival, but also to the popularity of producing highly professional aftermovies in general. Tomorrowland, an annual summer EDM festival held Belgium, creates a unique “dreamlike” experience that no other festival can emulate– while Ultra is held in the middle of the city of Miami, Tomorrowland is held in the country side where attendees sleep on site in a camp called “Dreamville”. Unlike other festivals, Tomorrowland is a 24/7 experience. And while Tomorrowland’s more recent aftermovies are also breathtaking, it is its 2012 movie which perfectly captures the festival’s core essence. With a whooping 118 million views and 540,000 likes on YouTube (the most on a festival aftermovie ever), there is no denying this video’s popularity and influence.
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