Over the past few weeks, you weren’t alone if you kept spotting stories in the dance music press about nightclubs announcing their “longest seasons ever” in Ibiza this year. It’s become something of a stock phrase amongst the interns – and occasionally, the odd journalist who actually gets paid – reporting on dance music. But is it just tabloid spin?
Not entirely, no. Many nightclubs are indeed confirming their longest seasons in Ibiza for many years, and quite possibly ever. What isn’t being mentioned in the dance press is the fact some of these venues are dangerously close to going broke. Aside from the fact they don’t dare report anything that could affect their ad revenue, potential legal letters from some quite litigious company owners might put some editors off too.
Could the season be about to get even longer, however? Shortly before relaunching the site, I reached out to the industry insider – you might have read some of his stories here previously. And he certainly had plenty to say on the subject, although not before stating “I’m so f***ing glad your site is back!”.
He went on to say “At least three of the venues in the news recently are thinking behind the scenes of foregoing seasons in Ibiza altogether, and just being open all the time. No one’s quite worked out the logistics side of it yet, but a few people are banging heads together to see if they can make it happen.”
Would an all-year round Ibiza season work, though? The insider says “Well, the clubs would have income coming in all year round instead of just a few short months – downside of that is they’d have less time for maintenance stuff. But it might have implications for some of the DJs. They might have to start paying local taxes on their properties if they live in them all year round.”
“I also wonder how they’d market a winter getaway. Getting people to go to Ibiza during the summer, when the weather’s hot and sunny? Easy. Persuading them to go in January when it’s cooler and with an average ten days of rainfall per month? It’s a bit of a harder sell. The clubs would also need staff all year round – and f*** knows what the locals would make of having clubbers on the island 365 days a year.”
He concludes “All these barriers haven’t stopped some of the biggest club owners out there from thinking about the idea. I think at least a few of them would have to do it to stand any chance.”.
The prospect of an all-year round Ibiza season? You read about it here first…
