Global energy drink Red Bull have been driving a genuine conversation around music culture for eons now with their annual artist conference Red Bull Music Academy and digital radio station Red Bull Radio.

Today marks some sad news with the parent company stating an end of the tastemaker conference and station with both wrapping up later this year stating the end of it’s association with consultation company Yadastar.

With such a secretive nature around the selection process and going-on’s of RBMA – an annual two week extended studio sesh with renowned tutors and incredible workshops for just a handful of artists from around the world the impact might not necessarily be felt instantly but the long term decline in support for the next generation and innovation of dance and electronic music will be noticeable.

To date just a handful of Australian artists have made the cut that includes BRUX, Estii, Summer San as well Melbourne character Lewis Cancut but it’s not all bad news with the closure the start of something new according to a Red Bull spokesperson via The Music Network;

“after 20 years of supporting artists worldwide with its music program in a rapidly changing world, the company is “changing the means of delivery” for its creative programming.

“Red Bull will be moving away from a strongly centralised approach, will gradually phase out the existing structure and will implement a new setup which empowers existing Red Bull country teams and utilises local expertise.

“Red Bull will continue to explore new ways to support promising and cutting-edge artists wherever they may be.”

… in other words, Red Bull Australia for instance might gain back some curation instead of having to take globals lead, a positive in our eyes!

If you were ever wondering about the kinds of talent RBMA enlist for their lectures just take a peek on Youtube or check out a handful of our favourites below;