MEDUZA + James Hype Are Taking A Stand Against Phones At Concerts
"We intend for the dance floor to become a place to enjoy music and meet new people without any outside distractions, allowing us to truly go back to our love for this industry."
MEDUZA + James Hype (Instagram)
In an effort to reclaim the essence of live music and club culture, renowned dance music artists MEDUZA and James Hype are taking a stance against the trend of excessive smartphone filming at shows.
Collectively known as Our House, the EDM stars are aiming to address the pervasive issue of audiences prioritising capturing content on their phones over connecting with fellow music enthusiasts and immersing themselves in the live music experience. They added that they hope their new initiative will "preserve the authenticity" of club culture.
"Musicians and performers often find it disheartening to see audiences through the lens of a camera rather than through their eyes," MEDUZA and Hype said in a press release shared with EDM.com.
"It can disrupt the intimate connection between artist and audience that makes house music so powerful as a genre of music."
The pair doubled down on their stance in a message to fans heading to the Amsterdam show taking place on Saturday, October 21, saying on Instagram: “Amsterdam! We’ve been contemplating how to bring us all back to the core of what we do best and we’ve come to a conclusion.”
“We have decided to uphold a strict no-phone policy at James Hype & Meduza present Our House during Amsterdam Dance Event. This means no phones on the dancefloor and no pictures or videos.”
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They continued, “Everything started with a passion for music and live events and we want to bring us back to that principle. We intend for the dance floor to become a place to enjoy music and meet new people without any outside distractions, allowing us to truly go back to our love for this industry.”
“We hope we can count on your support in achieving this and now more than ever to bring the very best version of yourself. See you soon!”
It’s not the first time this kind of policy has been implemented — iconic venues such as Berghain in Berlin and the now-closed Output in New York City have notably gone a step ahead by affixing stickers over attendees' cameras.
More recently, Lane 8's entire This Never Happened event concept centred around a no-phone policy.
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