It may only be the first days of February with winter not even out of the way, but Ears To The House is already getting a sense of the way 2023 is going to pan out for the dance music world. Festivals are spending obscene amounts of money on obscenely well-paid DJs, the press is set to continue in its role of being utterly useless and new talent looks set to carry on finding it a nightmare to break into the scene.

But amidst all this, Defected might have given us a sneak peek of how they’re going to cut through the noise this year. How are they going to make sure their adverts are seen above everything else – and how will they encourage more people to go to their festivals and not those of their rivals? How will they keep themselves in a job, in other words?

Well, the strategy they’ve chosen appears to be one as old as time itself. It’s to get more skin in their adverts – literally. Anyone watching their promo videos for the likes of Defected Croatia can’t fail to notice the new tactic at work – and somewhat unsurprisingly, shots of young ladies enjoying themselves whilst not wearing a great deal are far more prominent than they used to be…

Now, let’s get one thing clear here. We’re not prudes at Ears To The House – in a country where average daytime temperatures in August can be over 30°C, people are highly unlikely to be dressing up in a coat and scarf. But we do find ourselves asking whether this is a change of strategy from new boss Wez Saunders – or whether it’s an Elon Musk style public experiment to see what works the best.

The answer remains to be seen – but at this rate, the vault in the background of our image of Saunders and former boss Simon Dunmore might have to be replaced by a large collection of bras…