Boiler Room (music broadcaster)
 | |
| Industry | Music & Entertainment |
|---|---|
| Founded | March 2010 |
| Founder |
|
| Headquarters | London, England |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Parent | DICE (2021–2024) Superstruct Entertainment/KKR (2025–present) |
| Website | boilerroom |
Boiler Room is an online music broadcaster and club promoter based in London, United Kingdom. It hosts predominantly dance music events, focusing on underground genres, in locations internationally, with live streaming.
Since it was founded, it has organized more than 8,000 performances, with 5,000 at more than 200 cities.[1] Its music programming originally focused on dance music but eventually expanded to include others genres such as hip hop, jazz and classical.
History
[edit]2010–11: Foundation and expansion
[edit]The project started in 2010, when Blaise Bellville asked Thristian Richards to livestream a mix for a magazine.[2][3] Boiler Room's first session in March 2010 turned into a weekly show with local DJs[3], becoming a Ustream channel.[4]
Early in 2011, the Rolling Stone magazine added Blaise to its list of "50 Most Important People In EDM".[3] Boiler Room founders started expanding the project to more cities, replicating their initial model in Berlin with local DJs, and then other cities like Los Angeles and São Paulo.[3]
2012–20: Growth
[edit]The early focus on the underground music scene and electronic music in London broadened to other genres such as hip hop, jazz and classical.[5][6]
On 27 and 28 February 2016, Boiler Room live streamed DJ EZ's 24-hour DJ set which raised over £60,000 on behalf of Cancer Research UK.[7] In May 2016, Boiler Room live streamed Skepta's launch party for the Konnichiwa album in Tokyo.[8]
Boiler Room launched in China with a show in Beijing in April 2016 followed by a show in Shanghai with Disclosure in May 2016.[9][10]
In August 2016, Boiler Room live streams covered 42 hours of various soundsystems at the Notting Hill Carnival.[11]
Boiler Room's first full-length documentary, on Atlanta based collective Awful Records, launched in June 2016.[12] Boiler Room has since continued producing TV shows and documentaries aimed at telling stories tied to the people, artists and culture.[13] This includes shows like Gasworks, a 20-minute, grime-focused talk show starring Alhan Gençay & Poet.[13]
In 2018, Boiler Room launched '4:3', a platform for film, documentary and music videos, with Amar Ediriwira as its creative director.[citation needed] In 2019, the first 'Boiler Room Festival' was announced in Peckham, London. The event showcased a different underground scene each day, across contemporary jazz, rap, and dance genres.[14]
2021–24: Under DICE
[edit]In 2021, ticketing platform DICE bought Boiler Room for an undisclosed sum, after raising $122 million[15]
In 2023, it launched its first World Tour with 20 shows across several cities, including New York City, Paris, Amsterdam, Seoul, Mexico City, Mumbai and Bristol.[16][1] The 2024 World Tour expanded to 25 cities: London, Mumbai, Manchester, Milan, New York, Seoul, Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne, Amsterdam, Auckland, Barcelona, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Paris, Tokyo, Glasgow, São Paulo, Shanghai, Delhi, Lagos, Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas and Miami.[1]
Charli XCX's February 2024 Boiler Room performance, titled "Partygirl", held in Brooklyn, New York, more than 25,000 RSVPs, the largest number in Boiler Room's history.[17]
2025–present: Under Superstruct
[edit]DICE subsequently sold Boiler Room to Superstruct Entertainment in January 2025 for an undisclosed fee.[18][19]
The acquisition was received with criticism because of Superstruct's parent company, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), and its economic interests in Israel and occupied Palestinian territories. Several artists, including Ikonika, Beatrice M., Mia Koden, BasicDisarm, jtamul, and 8ULENTINA canceled their appearances at Boiler Room over this. In March, Boiler Room released a statement, saying "we will always remain unapologetically pro-Palestine".[19]
Awards
[edit]Boiler Room and its projects have received a number of awards and nominations:
- Boiler Room
- 2016 Webby Awards: Honoree – Websites and Mobile Sites, Music[20]
- 4:3
- 2018 Lovie Awards: Gold and People's Lovie – Culture & Entertainment websites[21]
- 2019 Lovie Awards: Silver and People's Lovie – Culture & Entertainment websites[22]
- 2019 Webby Awards: Nominee – Websites and Mobile Sites, Music[20]
- 2019 Digiday Media Awards: Nominee – New Vertical[23]
- Migrant Sound
- 2019 Webby Awards: Winner – Social, Culture & Lifestyle (Campaigns)[20]
- Contemporary Scenes
- 2019 Webby Awards: Winner – Social, Music[20]
- Individual and team awards
- 2018 The Drum Digerati – Stephen Mai (Top 100 in Digital)[24]
- 2019 Campaign's Power 100 – Stephen Mai (Top 100 in Marketing)[25]
- Jodie Nicholson – Alternative Power 100 Music List[26]
- Video Team of the Year – Digiday Media Awards[23]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Bain, Katie (23 January 2024). "Boiler Room Announces 2024 World Tour". Billboard.
- ^ Castillo, Arielle; Domanick, Andrea; Matos, Michaelangelo (17 March 2014). "50 Most Important People in EDM". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 30 September 2024.
- ^ a b c d McQuaid, Ian (30 November 2015). "Stream team: how Boiler Room changed the face of live music". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 April 2023.
- ^ Scott Wright. "Dollars to Pounds: Boiler Room". The Fader. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ Reidy, Tess (4 October 2014). "Classical music breaks out and joins the youth underground". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 March 2025.
- ^ Banham, Tom (31 July 2015). "How Boiler Room streams live gigs to more than a million fans worldwide using a webcam". Wired UK. Archived from the original on 23 February 2025.
- ^ "DJ EZ Played For 24 Hours Straight This Weekend and Raised Over $80,000 for Charity Along the Way". Thump. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
- ^ Myers, Owen (5 May 2016). "Stream Skepta's Konnichiwa Launch Party, Live From Tokyo". The FADER.
- ^ Iadarola, Alexander (27 April 2016). "Boiler Room Is Going to China for the First Time". Vice. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
- ^ "Boiler Room China at Secret Location, Shanghai". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
- ^ "We've Teamed Up with Boiler Room and Deviation to Give You a Taste of Notting Hill Carnival". 26 August 2016.
- ^ "Watch Boiler Room's "Awful Days" Documentary | KALTBLUT Magazine". KALTBLUT Magazine. Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
- ^ a b Southern, Lucinda (6 August 2018). "Boiler Room expands beyond music streaming to culture and politics with new video push".
- ^ Embley, Jochan (31 May 2019). "Boiler Room has announced its first ever music festival". Evening Standard.
- ^ Bain, Katie (1 October 2021). "Electronic Livestream Mainstay Boiler Room Acquired by Ticketing Platform Dice". Billboard. Archived from the original on 5 May 2024.
- ^ Bain, Katie (14 February 2024). "How Boiler Room's Portal to Global Club Culture Has Become a 'Wildly Famous' Form of Documentary Journalism". Billboard.
- ^ Cox, Alyson (25 February 2024). "Here's What Happened at Charli XCX's Viral Boiler Room Set". V Magazine.
- ^ Bain, Katie (15 January 2025). "Boiler Room Acquired By Superstruct Entertainment". Billboard. Archived from the original on 15 January 2025.
- ^ a b "Boiler Room Responds To Artist Cancelations Over New Ownership: "We Will Always Remain Unapologetically Pro-Palestine"". Stereogum. 27 March 2025.
- ^ a b c d "Winners Index". Webby Awards. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
- ^ "THE 8th ANNUAL LOVIE AWARDS ANNOUNCES WINNERS and SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT HONOUREES". Lovie Awards. 10 October 2018.
- ^ "THE 9th ANNUAL LOVIE AWARDS UNVEILS WINNERS & SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT HONOUREES". Lovie Awards. 7 October 2019.
- ^ a b Hayes, Melissa (21 March 2019). "Hearst UK and Jungle Creations lead the Digiday Media Awards nominations".
- ^ "The Drum Digerati 2018: introducing the top talent in media and platforms". The Drum. 11 October 2018.
- ^ "Power 100 2019: Stephen Mai". Campaign. 18 July 2019.
- ^ "Alt List 2019 Nominations". shesaid.so.
