Russell Faibisch

Last updated
Russell Faibisch
Born (1977-07-07) July 7, 1977 (age 47)
Miami Beach, Florida, US
Alma mater Florida International University
Occupations
Title
Honours
  • Power List of DJs and Executives (2016-2017)
  • Industry Person of the Year (2017)

Russell Faibisch (born July 7, 1977 [1] ) is an American music festival producer and concert promoter. He is the co-founder of the Ultra Music Festival, an outdoor electronic music festival in Miami, [2] and creator of the Ultra Worldwide brand. [3] He is CEO, President, and Executive producer of the Ultra organization, and is also the chairman of the board, upon which and Adam Russakoff serve. [4] [5] Currently, Faibisch presides over an international chain of branded music festivals, concerts, and events, which include editions spanning across Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa, South, and North America, plus globally syndicated radio broadcasts, an online YouTube channel, music films, and premieres. [6] In April 2016, Ultra Music Festival won the DJ Mag award for "World's Number 1 Festival," which was voted on by over 500,000 fans worldwide. [5] In 2008, Ultra was also given the DJ Award for "International Dance Music Festival". [7] " In 2014, Faibisch was ranked #6 on Rolling Stone's "Most Important People in EDM List. [6] " Later that year, Billboard named Faibisch and business partner Adam Russakoff on the "EDM Power Players - Executives List. [8] In 2016 and 2017, both Faibisch and Russakoff were again named on Billboards annual "Power List of DJs and Executives." [9] [10] In 2017, Magnetic Magazine named Faibisch the "Industry Person of the Year." [11]

Contents

Early life and education

Russell Faibisch was born in Miami Beach, Florida and majored in business at Florida International University. [12]

Career

Creation of Ultra

In 1997, Faibisch created the Ultra brand in relation to event productions when he formed Ultra Productions, and began producing electronic music warehouse events and rave parties in Miami, including Amoeba in 1998 [12] and Magical Maydaze. Both events were co-produced with then business associate, Ray Navarro. After placing an ad in a local music magazine for one of his events, Faibisch met Alex Omes, publisher of D'VOX magazine. [13] Faibisch and Omes quickly became friends and business partners, together co-founding the Ultra Music Festival. [14] Ultra Music Festival paved the way and built the modern dance festival foundation. [15] Since its founding, Ultra Music Festival has grown into one of the world's largest electronic dance music festivals. [16] An estimated 400,000 people attended Ultra Music Festival over the course of two weekends in 2013, the highest number of attendees to date. [17]

The international festival, founded by Faibisch and Omes, has taken place every March since its inception in 1999 at Collins Park, Miami. [2] The festival celebrated its nineteenth anniversary from 24–26 March 2017 by bringing over 165,000 people [18] to the sold out event at Bayfront Park located in downtown Miami. [19] Ultra Music Festival returns to Bayfront Park for its twentieth anniversary, 23–25 March 2018. [20]

Expansion

The Ultra and Ultra Worldwide brands represent the world's biggest and most successful remaining independent electronic music festival brand. [21] The Ultra Worldwide brand, created by Faibisch, has established festivals and events in twenty countries internationally across five continents [22] —including Argentina, [23] Bali, [24] Brazil, [25] Chile, [26] Croatia, [27] Ibiza, [28] Japan, [29] Korea, [30] South Africa, [31] Bolivia, [32] Colombia, [33] Hong Kong, [34] Paraguay, [35] Peru, [32] the Philippines, [36] Puerto Rico, [37] Singapore, [38] Taiwan, [39] Thailand, [40] and of course Miami.

In 2017 Ultra Mexico first edition in Mexico took place in Foro Pegaso located 30min away from Mexico City. The biggest stage of Ultra history took place here with headliners like Dash Berlin, Alesso, Armin van Buuren, Afrojack and Martin Garrix among others.

Additionally, Faibisch and the Ultra brands pioneered the live stream experience, Ultra Live, where the festival is brought online to over 20 million viewers globally [41] and the audio broadcasting platform UMF Radio, which was winner of Mixcloud's 2015 "Best EDM Radio Show" and is now syndicated to FM Radio in over 93 countries.

In 2012, Faibisch and Ultra Worldwide also launched UMF Films, a collaboration with Amsterdam-based film company Final Kid, which has gone on to produce many of Ultra's after movies [42] —including a feature-length documentary exploring the rise of dance music, entitled "Can U Feel It" which premiered on 21 March 2012 at the Klipsch Amphitheater in Bayfront Park. [43] "Can U Feel It" was also released in select theaters across the United States for one night only, on 22 March 2012. [44]

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. ↑ Cocaine residue found near Ultra Music Festival co-founder's deathbed, police report says ABC Local 10
  2. 1 2 "#TBT Series: How Much Has ULTRA Changed Since The First Ultra Beach Festival in 1999? [VIDEOS] | 6AM". 2016-05-12. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  3. ↑ hermesauto (2016-01-14). "Ultra Singapore to take place on Sept 10 and 11, venue and line-up yet to be announced". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  4. ↑ "EDM Power Players 2014: Russell Faibisch & Adam Russakoff, Co-Founder/President/CEO; Executive Producer/Director of Business Affairs at Ultra Music Festival". Billboard . 27 June 2014. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  5. 1 2 "ULTRA MIAMI VOTED AS THE WORLD'S NO.1 FESTIVAL". DJMag.com. 28 April 2016. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  6. 1 2 "Russell Faibisch, Ultra Music Festival, Founder - 50 Most Important People in EDM". Rolling Stone . 17 March 2014. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  7. ↑ "DJ Awards – 2008". djawards.com. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  8. ↑ "EDM Power Players: The Executives". Billboard . July 2014. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  9. ↑ "Billboard Cover: Diplo Named Dance Artist of the Year in Billboard's 3rd Annual Power List of DJs and Execs". Billboard . 9 June 2016. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  10. ↑ "Billboard's Dance Power Players 2017: The DJs, Execs and Tastemakers Cueing Up Tomorrow". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
  11. ↑ "Magnetic's Industry Person of The Year: Ultra co-Founder Russell Faibisch". Magnetic Magazine. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
  12. 1 2 Duran, Jose D. (2013-03-14). "How Russell Faibisch Built Ultra Music Festival -- and Whom He's Battled Along the Way" . Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  13. ↑ "Ultra Music Festival Co-Founder Alex Omes Dead at 43". Billboard . 13 January 2015. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  14. ↑ Sager, Rebekah (2012-03-23). "Ultra Music Festival: Miami Madness for Madonna & Afrojack". Fox News . Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  15. ↑ "Setting the Bar: How Florida Music Festivals Became the Standard of the American Dance Experience | Thump" . Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  16. ↑ "Ultra Music Festival Keeps the City Dancing - The One Agency". 2015-03-18. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  17. ↑ Bein, Kat (2013-05-24). "Ultra Insider Insists No Foul Play: "15,000 Tickets ... 400,000 Attempting to Purchase"" . Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  18. ↑ Ethan Fedida Senior Editorial Partnerships Manager, The Huffington Post (2016-03-24). "The Outfits And People We Loved From Ultra Music Festival 2016". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  19. ↑ Bein, Kat. "Ultra 2016: 20 Must-See Artists and Performances". Red Bull . Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  20. ↑ Pfeffer, Ryan (2016-03-21). "Ultra Music Festival Miami Announces 2017 Dates" . Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  21. ↑ RETROFUZZ. "ULTRA BEACH BALI UNVEILS OFFICIAL AFTERMOVIE, DATES AND VENUE FOR 2016" . Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  22. ↑ "Sirius XM Holdings Inc. - SiriusXM Celebrates 10th Anniversary of the SiriusXM Music Lounge in Miami Leading up to Ultra Music Festival". investor.siriusxm.com. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  23. ↑ "Ultra Buenos Aires 2015 at Ciudad del Rock". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  24. ↑ Lawrence, Jesse. "Ultra Music Festival Hits Bali And Pre-Sale Tickets Sell Out". Forbes . Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  25. ↑ "Martin Garrix & Carl Cox Will Perform at Ultra Brasil 2016". Billboard . 29 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  26. ↑ Guerrero, Francisco (8 October 2015). "Ultra Chile: Todo lo que necesitas saber del festival de música electrónica" (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  27. ↑ "We're One Month Away from Ultra Europe - Are You Prepared?" . Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  28. ↑ "ULTRA IBIZA RETURNS TO THE SPACE CLOSING FIESTA FOR ANOTHER SPECTACULAR SEASON ENDING" . Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  29. ↑ "HARDWELL, TIËSTO AND MORE JOIN ULTRA JAPAN, SINGAPORE BECOMES TWO-DAY EVENT". DJMag.com. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  30. ↑ "deadmau5, Knife Party & More on Ultra Korea Phase 2 Lineup". Billboard . 20 April 2016. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  31. ↑ "2016 Ultra Live Music Festival South Africa | EDM Festivals, DJs, Artists & Parties Cape Town" . Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  32. 1 2 "Beatport: DJ & Dance Music, Tracks & Mixes". news.beatport.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-12. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  33. ↑ "Road to Ultra will pass through Colombia in 2014 - Dancing Astronaut". Dancing Astronaut. 2013-12-19. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  34. ↑ "Ultra Worldwide Targets Hong Kong in 2016 Expansion". Billboard . 9 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  35. ↑ Color, ABC. "Anuncian DJ para Road to Ultra Paraguay - Espectaculos - ABC Color" (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  36. ↑ INQUIRER.net (21 September 2015). "10 things you didn't know about Road To Ultra Philippines". entertainment.inquirer.net. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  37. ↑ "Ultra Music Festival Announces Puerto Rico Expansion". 2015-07-30. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  38. ↑ hermes (2016-06-21). "Kygo to headline Ultra Singapore". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  39. ↑ "Road To Ultra: Taiwan" . Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  40. ↑ "Road to Ultra Thailand 2015" . Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  41. ↑ "ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL Enhances Live Broadcast Experiences With ULTRA LIVE & UMF RADIO" . Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  42. ↑ "EDM Festivals Keep the Off-Season Buzz Going With Big-Budget Commercials". Billboard . 9 December 2014. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  43. ↑ Pajot, S. (2012-02-23). "Ultra Music Festival's Documentary, Can U Feel It, Premiering During Miami Music Week" . Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  44. ↑ Can U Feel It - UMF, 2012-03-22, retrieved 2016-06-30
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