Spring is here, and with it comes the unofficial kick off of music festival season. Last week, thousands of music fans traveled to Austin for SXSW 2012 Music Week to see more than 2,000 artists perform all over the city. The streets are shut down, and every bar, hotel and street corner is filled with musicians and fans discovering new acts and checking out some of their favorite bands for free.

While you may think of SX as home to indie rock bands, we actually saw a ton of DJs and electronic music at this year’s festival, with people especially excited about Skrillex, Neon Indianand Miike Snow. With the electro genre becoming more and more mainstream, we weren’t surprised to see this year’s three-day Ultra Music Festival in Miami sell out months in advance. With headliners including Tiesto, Justice and David Guetta and dozens of other artists, demand is soaring – more than 2,500 tickets have been purchased on StubHub so far. This is a massive jump from last year, when less than 600 tickets were purchased. Compare that to 2010, when we saw less than 100 buyers on StubHub for this event.

(Skrillex at SXSW 2012 via: http://www.elektrodaily.com/news/2012/03/elektros-sxsw-recap/)

It’s clear that demand for this genre is growing exponentially, and not just here in the U.S. – it’s a trend spanning from Dubai to Hong Kong, the Philippines and beyond. Everyone loves electro! Check out our festival tips as you head out to UMF this weekend, and get your tickets here if you haven’t already. If you’re not the festival type, but are looking to join the fun, there are a ton ofafter parties you can grab tickets for instead. Either way, better get your dancing pants on!