The latest edition of our Insider Insight series welcomes acclaimed Montreal party thrower and DJ Francois Lebaron. He is driving force behind the budding electronic music festival AIM, which will host a variety of global stars from July 6th-8th at Parc Carillon, including the likes of Claude Vonstroke, Digitalism, Dubfire, Sasha, Lee Burridge and more.

“Here’s my 5 pieces of advice. These tips might be relevant for some people and less for others. I don’t pretend to know the exact formula, but I’ll speak from my experience as I’ve been producing techno events since 96′ in Montreal.” – Francois Lebaron

The brand
When you start a business related to entertainment, it is very important to create a brand that will talk to your targeted communities. A simple well crafted logo which will reflect your project values. Don’t be shy to invest in the best designer possible. Even if it’s costly, this expense will keep your business image solid and relevant. In 50 years, your logo will still look amazing. Less is more.

Community vision
Depending on your market, it’s important to reach large demographics without compromising the quality you’re offering. AIM is a good example, as at first it was very niche, however, because of our market, we had to adjust our target. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t necessarily listen or like every artists on our line up, but I certainly know they are great artists offering quality content in their own genres. For example: I don’t personally listen to Trance music but I know there’s some amazing Trance artists out there, and an audience for it.

The Experience
Fans are coming to the festival to experience something special. Every detail is important, even if it’s never perfect it can be close. A good tip: Your security agents will be the first contact your fans will have, so be sure they are kind, smooth and helpful, it will start their experience the right way.

The line up
Ahh the line up… the cornerstone of a great festival. The fact is: Montreal, the province of Quebec and even Ontario are very different than Ibiza, Germany, Spain and UK just to name a few. Those territories have a stronger and older culture. Diversity is the key in our territory I think. For Example, It’s not possible to have a 30,000 capacity Detroit techno party in Montreal. To get that amount of people we need to go with a more accessible programming. That doesn’t mean less quality but just more accessible and sometimes a bit popular.

Financing & Sponsorship
We are lucky in Quebec, there’s a lot of funding resources. Dig deeply and you’ll be able to get some help. In terms of sponsorship, sponsors likes visibility and on site activations (direct-to-fans marketing). Be sure to raise the profile of your event, to get some partnerships and sponsorships.

AIM Festival Line-Up

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Insider Insight is a music industry focused series brought to you by When We Dip & Dip Artist Management.