EDM Reshapes Coachella as Genre Claims Lion's Share of 2025 Lineup Slots

Published on Monday, 14 April 2025 05:26

Electronic dance music claimed the lion's share of Coachella's 2025 music programming, according to new data analysis from ROSTR.

Published by Boardroom, the media company co-founded by NBA superstar Kevin Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman, the findings revealed that dance and electronic artists comprised a commanding 39% of the total lineup for this year's edition of the legendary California festival. That figure is nearly double the next most-represented genre grouping, 21% for indie, rock and alternative acts.

Zedd, Sara Landry, Above & Beyond, The Prodigy and EDM.com Class of 2025 stars Beltran and Layton Giordani only scratched the surface of Coachella's massive 2025 electronic music billing. This significant presence marks a notable pivot in the talent booking strategy of the festival's organizer, Goldenvoice, which historically trended toward pop and rock music.

Boardroom

EDM enthusiasts could read the tea leaves in 2024 after Goldenvoice launched the groundbreaking Quasar stage, which now locks horns with longtime Coachella favorite Do LaB in an Empire Polo Club turf war over which is the festival's top raving hub.

While nearly four in 10 acts booked for the 2025 festival represented electronic dance music, none were headliners, with that distinction going to Lady Gaga, Green Day, Post Malone and Travis Scott. However, Gaga's lone onstage guest was the French electronic music icon Gesaffelstein.

Prior to 2023's surprise last-minute headlining set by Skrillex, Fred again.. and Four Tet, Goldenvoice counted only Calvin Harris and Swedish House Mafia as Coachella's only other DJ headliners in the last decade. But that may soon change.

CAA's Alex Becket, who became the powerhouse agency's first electronic music agent over a decade ago, prophesied the genre's swelling influence in major festivals prior to last year's Coachella.

"Festivals want big shows and big moments so it factors in a lot for them," Becket told EDM.com at the time. "Big production was an essential part of the "EDM" boom in the early 2010s and has always been a big part of the EDM experience. 'Underground' shows with no production emerged in response to that, and now you're seeing the pendulum swing back the other way in many cases with underground artists building big shows. In this way we're seeing big productions with better music and it's a winning combo."

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Elsewhere in ROSTR's Coachella 2025 lineup analysis was a 4% increase in indie, rock and alternative acts compared to previous iterations, with famed outfits like Green Day and The Misfits appearing alongside contemporary stars such as Sam Fender, Still Woozy and beabadoobee.

Hip-hop and rap also saw modest growth with a 2% increase from last year, maintaining substantial representation across all three days of the festival with Travis Scott, Missy Elliott, Megan Thee Stallion, Mustard, T-Pain, Ty Dolla $ign and more holding down the fort.

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