Well, I guess there's one act you won't be seeing at Ultra Music Festival 2012: Deadmau5. The EDM superstar posted a 12-minute rant on YouTube, slamming the electronic fest for ticket prices and exclusivity contracts.
"Ultra to me is the definition of insanity: Doing the same fucking thing every year, expecting different results every time," says Deadmau5 (AKA Joel Zimmerman) in the clip. "It's fun and it's cool, and if you've never been, go. But if you are one of those dudes that go every year, it's like why would you go again?"
This year's high ticket price also seems to be an issue for Zimmerman. "Five hundred and ninety-five fucking dollars for a ticket?" he adds, referring to the VIP prices. "Wow, someone is laughing to the bank."
But don't worry Miami, the Mau5 still loves us. He just doesn't seem to like the whole festival approach.
"I hate these fucking festivals things, you know. Some are great; some are not so great. It's a bit much."
But what pisses Zimmerman off about Ultra specifically? "When they used to do it during the conference, it was awesome. But then there was some bullshit going down too. I'm not gonna say anything about anyone. But say you are a headliner DJ dude, Ultra will pay you X amount of dollars to be exclusive to Ultra, which I guess is alright if you are an A-liner ... [Winter Music Conference] used to be the Christmas for the fucking DJ, because you go to Miami for a week and play up to eight gigs that fucking week, easily."
Zimmerman contends that Ultra exclusivity contracts has taken away artists' ability to play throughout the week at their own leisure.
He also calls the festival a "pissing contest between dudes who played all over the world," saying that the sheer amount of headliners results in a production nightmare.
"It's like that for all major North American festivals ... Even if you don't want to, you are competing against the festival programmer, you are competing against the other acts, you are competing against the time slots."
We emailed Ultra's press contact for comment and are still awaiting a response.
We could quote this video all day long, but check out the clip if you want hear Deadmau5's entire spout, and you can decide for yourself if you agree or disagree.
Deadmau5 will actually be in Miami on Sunday at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach for a New Year's Day party poolside with tickets starting at $125 and going as high as $15,000 for a side-stage table.
[h/t Huffington Post Miami]
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