5/5 (4)

As a Dutchie, I don’t just study business models and digital disruption; I sometimes experience them on the dancefloor. Rotterdam has a vibrant techno scene, with industrial-style raves hosted in warehouses and even stadiums that feel almost like stepping into another universe. The crowd, lasers, and the deep bass together create an atmosphere you can’t find anywhere else. Yet I’ve started to wonder: what happens when this physical experience collides with new digital technologies?

Take the long-tail effect (Anderson, 2006). In the past, if you liked niche genres like minimal or industrial techno, your options were limited. Now, streaming platforms and social media expose you to DJs from Berlin, Amsterdam, or Seoul instantly (Domingues et al., 2013). This creates global demand for local sounds. The raves from Rotterdam Rave for example, a large techno event organizer, can end up on YouTube or SoundCloud few days after the rave takes place, attracting a worldwide audience. That’s the long tail in action: tiny subcultures finding scale through digital reach.

 But what is even more innovative and exciting id the potential of VR and AR in rave culture. During COVID, some DJs experimented with VR concerts (Onderdijk et al., 2023). People danced in headsets from their living rooms, avatars glowing in surreal digital clubs. It wasn’t the same as sweating in a Rotterdam warehouse, but it opened doors: friends abroad could “join” me at the same party without flying. I can imagine a hybrid rave at Maassilo where AR glasses project visuals onto the walls, blending the physical and the virtual. Imagine seeing AI-generated patterns in sync with the beat, or an AR overlay showing the DJ’s live mixing choices.

This is where disruption comes in (Weil & Woerner, 2015). Traditional rave organizers compete not only with each other but with digital platform offering V R festivals or NFT-based memberships. Instead of resisting, some are experimenting, or offering digital collectibles alongside physical entry. For students like me, it means the rave scene may soon be less about choosing between physical and digital, and more about experiencing both at once.

However, in the end, no matter how far technology pushes the boundaries of rave culture, what really sticks with me is the shared experience. It’s that moment when you lock eyes with a friend during the drop, or when everyone moves in sync without saying a word. As students, we are used to spending our weeks surrounded by deadlines, group projects, and readings. Stepping into a rave feels like hitting pause on all of that, a reminder that connection and energy are just as important as efficiency and strategy. Maybe that’s why disruption in this scene doesn’t scare me: if anything, it shows that even in a world full of algorithms and blockchain, people will always find new ways to together and dance.

Anderson, C., Nissley, C., & Anderson, C. (2006, April). The long tail.

Domingues, M. A., Gouyon, F., Jorge, A. M., Leal, J. P., Vinagre, J., Lemos, L., & Sordo, M. (2013). Combining usage and content in an online recommendation system for music in the long tail. International Journal of Multimedia Information Retrieval, 2(1), 3-13

Onderdijk, K. E., Bouckaert, L., Van Dyck, E., & Maes, P. J. (2023). Concert experiences in virtual reality environments. Virtual Reality, 27(3), 2383-2396.

Weill, P., & Woerner, S. L. (2015). Thriving in an increasingly digital ecosystem. MIT sloan management review, 56(4), 27