Stereosonic Taking Hiatus In 2016 Amid Rumors Of Cancellation

Amid rumors that Stereosonic had been canceled for good, the Australian EDM festival took to Facebook to set the record straight for now, by admitting that they were taking a hiatus in 2016, but look to come back strong in 2017.

In a short statement, the festival said, "Totem Onelove Group is currently working on bringing Stereosonic fans the best festival experience possible. As part of this, we are taking a hiatus during 2016. However, we will return in 2017, bigger and better."

Though festival organizers did not come out and say it explicitly, it has been pretty obvious that the bankruptcy of SFX Entertainment, the crumbling EDM conglomerate founded by Robert Sillerman, impacted the festival. Stereosonic is put on by Totem OneLove, which was purchased by SFX in 2013 for an estimated $75 million.

Despite the bankruptcy and TomorrowWorld's cancellation in 2016, another SFX event, Stereosonic had insisted that it was going ahead as planned in 2016. However there had been no updates from the festival as it pertains to dates or potential lineups, which helped fuel the speculation that it wasn't going to return. This was compounded by an ailing Australian festival market, which just saw Future Music Festival go down in 2015 and two drug fatalities on Stereosonic grounds at two separate events last year.

Former owner and festival founder Frank Cotela, who left the business in 2013, tried to provide some insight as to why he things Stereosonic folded this year with triple j's Hack.

"Interest in dance music in Australia is quite strong," he told Hack. "I think it's been impacted by the financial situation in the US."

He dismissed the claims that the drug-related deaths had anything to do with the cancellation.

The summer seems pretty much locked in now, but the ramifications of the SFX bankruptcy will still be felt across the electronic music business for months to come. Gyms in Australia will also be hurt by this news....

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