From humble underground beginnings, dance music in the U.S. has grown large enough to gain the attention of Wall Street investors.
SFX Entertainment — Robert Sillerman’s company who’s been snatching up significant EDM brands over the past 18 months — today traded publicly on the New York Stock Exchange, ushering in a new era for dance music’s growth.
Trading under the Nasdaq ticket symbol SFXE, the New York Times yesterday reported the company’s initial public offering would be priced at $13, on the high end of the originally estimated $11-13 range.
SFX sold 20 million shares leading up to the start of trading today, raising $260 million.
At the closing bell today — which was physically rung by Sillerman alongside DJ superstar Afrojack — the stock slipped $1.11 to end trading at $11.89 a share.
“It’s debatable whether this is a fad or not,” said Rich Tullo, an analyst at Albert Fried & Company, in an interview with the New York Times. “But this is not Wall Street speculating on demand. Bodies are going.”
SFX has already invested heavily in some key players in the U.S. and Europe, with names like Disco Donnie Presents, ID&T (Tomorrowland, Sensation), Life in Color (Dayglow), Made Events (Electric Zoo), Beatport, and several significant regional promoters already within it’s portfolio.
Sillerman’s primary competition appears to be Live Nation, a company he himself helped build in the 1990s. Live Nation announced a partnership with Insomniac Events, producer of the Electric Daisy Carnival series, in June.
