Sound Channel, a British concert promoter responsible for festivals such as Unknown, has bought an island in Croatia with the intent to turn it into "the world's first curated entertainment tourist destination." What does that mean exactly?
"We're extremely happy to have signed the contract with the city of Sibenik that enables us to operate on the Island of Obonjan," said Dan Blackledge of Sound Channel. "We've been working on this project for three years which has given us time to carefully refine our ideas. Our vision is to regenerate the destination and turn it into a truly unique concept, combining art and music, wellness, sustainable living, amazing food and drink and fun and creative accommodation, all on an idyllic island paradise."
That makes it sound somewhat like a Sandals Resort, to be honest. We'll give them some time to flesh out those ideas for a bit before we make a final judgement. One thing you can probably assume, however, is that the future of the island will probably be based in electronic and dance more so than other genres.
The island is off the shore of Croatia's Dalmation Coast, and few nations have been promoting EDM-based tourism. Sound Channel's Unknown qualifies, as do Stop Making Sense, Dimensions, and a number of other electronic events sponsored by British promoters. Consider also the island of Ibiza, which has become the de facto world capitol of electronic music with its array of legendary nightclubs. Granted, Obonjan doesn't have that much space to work with, but the concept remains the same. Don't be surprised to see Sound Channel booking residency performers for the island, much as a Las Vegas resort would. Just a hunch.
Our favorite bit of input comes from a snarky commenter on Resident Advisor: "Kinda sounds like Jurassic Park, but in Croatia and without dinosaurs."
