[HN Gopher] I analyzed the lineups at the most popular nightclubs
___________________________________________________________________
I analyzed the lineups at the most popular nightclubs
Author : kalli
Score : 133 points
Date : 2025-11-06 13:37 UTC (9 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (dev.karltryggvason.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (dev.karltryggvason.com)
| kalli wrote:
| The technical details of a visualisation built around the lineups
| and programming at the world's most popular nightclubs.
| PaulHoule wrote:
| D3 is the only charting library that I've loved.
| alexandregcode wrote:
| This is pretty cool, interesting to think about what causes more
| or less resident DJs.
|
| As a side note, on the RA events sometimes artists are listed in
| the description but not linked in the description so there could
| be some artists missing. In my experience it tends to vary on the
| nightclub.
| analog31 wrote:
| Granted I'm not a DJ but a jazz musician. I think there's a
| slight premium for "out of town" acts compared to local acts of
| possibly equal quality. It could simply be due to scarcity. If
| a certain act is only in town for one night, then it's your
| only chance to see them, whereas you can put off seeing a local
| band for a while.
| radley wrote:
| > I think there's a slight premium for "out of town" acts
|
| In the EDM world, it can often be much more than a slight
| premium. Ever since streaming took over music sales,
| performance fees have become the key source of income for
| most artists.
| analog31 wrote:
| That's a good point. In fact, I'm not a full time musician,
| but performing is my only source of musical income. I've
| never bothered with trying to make money from recordings.
|
| I do know some indie artists who make a bit of extra money
| at performances selling CDs to people who still buy them. I
| think it takes advantage of the immediacy of the moment,
| and the fact that a lot of people are actually not savvy
| about finding stuff online.
| input_sh wrote:
| I love the idea behind it and the visualisation indeed looks
| awesome, but the RA data behind it is messy to say the least.
|
| For example, 3/7 "nightclubs" it lists in Croatia are not
| nightclubs. I would also group Kalypso and Zrce Beach together as
| Kalypso is one out of 4 nightclubs located _on_ Zrce Beach, but
| the beach _itself_ is not a venue. Similarly, Barbarella 's is
| kind of an afterparty destination for festivals organised at the
| Garden Resort. They only match 6%, but I wouldn't call them
| completely separate. This is the kind of "lore" that's impossible
| to catch from raw data.
|
| I like the Essential Mix visualisation even more! It's such a
| shame most of the other ones appear dead due to API changes.
| kalli wrote:
| Author here, this is good to know.! I tried to spotcheck the
| regions and countries, but wasn't familiar with all of them so
| didn't want to make assumptions (and didn't make time to
| research them thoroughly). Not sure if/how I could try to
| correct that.
|
| > This is the kind of "lore" that's impossible to catch from
| raw data.
|
| Agreed this project definitely banged up against those sorts of
| walls a few times. Still think it's worth trying, hopefully the
| information offered one can find outweighs any distortions it
| introduces. Maybe something that should have been explicitly
| acknowledged in the piece.
|
| > I like the Essential Mix visualisation even more! It's such a
| shame most of the other ones appear dead due to API changes.
|
| Thanks, happy to hear that. I keep meaning to go back to the
| essential mix one, get new data and apply some of the stuff
| I've learned since!
| radley wrote:
| Sounds like RA could have a lot of DJs promoting their small
| bar gigs and day parties.
| stevetron wrote:
| Might have been nice to know where the clubs are? San Francisco?
| South Africa? Belgium? And what demographic the clubs serve, i.e
| are any of the clubs LGBTQ+, or are the all hetero? They don't
| generally play the same material.
| kalli wrote:
| If you click a club its region and country should be in its
| detail panel underneath their logo. The region and country
| filters should show you just the clubs in the given
| region/country.
|
| Demographic analysis would have been interesting I agree, but I
| didn't know of a good data source for that and it's hard to
| parse from line up data (especially in places one isn't
| familiar with)
| siva7 wrote:
| Don't confuse this list with actually very popular djs. Many
| clubs in this list host mostly resident and local djs (like
| Berghain as the club name/culture is the main reason people go
| there, not the lineup) instead of popular touring djs who have a
| big fan base of their own (and are more expensive to book).
| wavefunction wrote:
| people go to a club because the music is good, even at the
| shittiest of popular venues everything follows from there
| afavour wrote:
| I don't know you can state that universally. A lot of people
| go to a club because it's the "in" spot to be seen at (not
| that clubs are in any way unique in that regard)
| tirant wrote:
| Music is not the only aspect. Even more important is the
| vibe.
| Mashimo wrote:
| Setting / atmosphere / vibe also plays a role.
|
| If a know a place that has angry bouncers or annoying rules,
| I rather go to a place that he less then ideal music.
|
| One local club has a rule that you can't drink water from the
| bathroom tab, and they even turn off the cold water. I'm not
| going there, even when the music is fire.
| malfist wrote:
| I've never once when to a club because of the music they
| play, and I can't remember my friends ever suggesting we go
| to a different one because the music is better.
|
| It's more about the atmosphere, who's there and the mood
| you're looking for that night.
| Honga wrote:
| They also have something like a 2 month ban on playing
| elsewhere after you DJ for them. And it doesn't seem like the
| pay is great to compensate. The upside is exposure, because
| their lineups are phenomenal and consistent, You don't really
| have to go there for the music, it's guaranteed to be good.
|
| https://www.scribd.com/document/639992014/Untitled#:~:text=R...
| bongodongobob wrote:
| I actually want to go to Haunted House more than I want to go to
| Aqua.
| jrrv wrote:
| Am I missing something or is the author using dots for both
| breaking up large numbers and also for decimal points?
| FinnKuhn wrote:
| Yes, I assume it is because you use dots to seperate large
| numbers in most European languages and they forgot it's
| different in English.
| hansonkd wrote:
| usually its a combination of . , not exclusively . for both
| the thousands seperator and the radix point.
| FinnKuhn wrote:
| Well, they appear to have remembered it when typing the
| radix point, but forgot it when it came to the thousands
| separator.
|
| This might have happened to me before as well...
| RobKohr wrote:
| I love finding new music. Looks like now I can go find some far
| away clubs and listen to their djs while doing some coding.
| lukan wrote:
| You know those ressources?
|
| https://music.ishkur.com/
|
| https://www.music-map.com/
| bog_hag wrote:
| Including San Francisco and not Chicago? Criminal.
| ssalka wrote:
| I'm just gonna say that some aspect of the data collection here
| seems flawed: among the SF clubs listed are DNA Lounge and Public
| Works - which are great clubs, don't get me wrong - but they are
| very much on the smaller side. And, Phonobar? That is a
| bar/restaurant, not a nightclub at all. Meanwhile, The Warfield
| and 1015 Folsom are left out - how does that make any sense?
| kalli wrote:
| It's based on popularity on Resident Advisor / RA (those are
| the clubs that had the most "followers" among their userbase)
| kenhwang wrote:
| This is a classic example of data sourcing bias.
|
| RA is primarily used by independent promoters in the States,
| which tend to be much smaller and have smaller or less
| frequent events.
|
| Large promoters who regularly throw events or have the budget
| for larger events would use their own promotion mechanisms
| and general population ad networks instead of listing on RA.
| lelandfe wrote:
| > Large promoters who regularly throw events or have the
| budget for larger events would use their own promotion
| mechanisms
|
| No (at least in the US) - it's because of exclusive
| contracts with the ticketing platforms.
|
| Whereas you can list on RA and other platforms too, the
| biggest clubs and venues get lucrative deals with eg AXS to
| _only_ list tickets on their platform.
| kenhwang wrote:
| That's ticketing. There's plenty of listings on RA that
| don't use RA's ticketing service.
|
| Large promoters that use or have exclusivity deals with
| AXS or Ticketmaster/LiveNation or Dice still
| advertise/promote on platforms like Facebook/Instagram,
| EDM Train, Radiate, etc alongside the ticketing
| platform's promotion platforms.
| namanyayg wrote:
| Which is the best SF nightclub? I got baited by online reviews
| to visit DNA and was disappointed.
| radley wrote:
| It depends on the music and scene that interests you. Most SF
| nightclubs are event spaces that host independent promoters
| of recurring events, so the music and attendance can vary.
| You'll generally get best results if your friends will be
| there and you want to see the performing artist(s).
| bckr wrote:
| My favorites are Public Works, The Midway, and 1015 Folsom
| siva7 wrote:
| DNA is good - but it's a club for the actual artist and music
| to go - and less as a place to hang out on a random night
| kiitos wrote:
| dunno about the rest of your post but phonobar is legit, it's
| tiny but it has a dance floor and regularly hosts top-tier
| talent
| Razengan wrote:
| As an introvert, what are you even supposed to do at "clubs"?
|
| Besides having your eardrums damaged
| JohnFen wrote:
| If clubs aren't your thing, then don't go. Easy peasy.
| jillesvangurp wrote:
| Talking to people is not actually possible at clubs because
| it's just too loud. So, it's oddly perfect for introverts in
| that sense. Nobody goes there to talk.
|
| It's why I never liked clubs I prefer small bars where you can
| talk to people. I've been in Berlin for 16 years now and there
| are plenty of those bars around. Even now that I no longer
| drink alcohol, I still enjoy going there.
|
| But I never saw the point of the club scene here. I don't
| actually mind some of the music and there are some nice
| Berghain playlists on Spotify that I listen to occasionally. I
| just never felt any need to actually go there. Just not my
| thing. My impression of talking to people that do go to these
| things is that it's a lot about just being seen there or being
| able to brag about having been there. And then there are of
| course a lot of people that just go nuts and do that for the
| whole weekend while taking lots of pills. Also not my thing.
| But live and let live as far as I'm concerned.
|
| Berghain particularly doesn't just let everybody in. People
| queue for ages and can then get told off for looking wrong or
| whatever. Elon Musk famously got an access denied there once.
| Not cool enough. Which I find hilarious. But the prospect of
| being vetted like that is a definite turn off for me. I just
| don't like that kind of snobbishness.
| exasperaited wrote:
| > So, it's oddly perfect for introverts in that sense. Nobody
| goes there to talk.
|
| For an introvert, the only place better than being in the
| crowd at a music venue is being on the stage. There are
| _sooo_ many introverts in bands and especially DJs; some of
| the greatest musicians are introverts. Performing is a form
| of radical self-care, and introverts are actually really good
| at judging the vibe of a crowd.
| el_nahual wrote:
| When it comes to electronic music, there are basically two
| types of clubs.
|
| One type is the mega club. These are see-and-be-seen places.
| Ibiza. Vegas. Miami. The DJs are very famous, but often because
| they have a few EDM "hits"--not because of their selection or
| mixing skills. These places have tables, bottle service, and
| beautiful people. The DJs here often do nothing: they may have
| a USB drive that they press "play" on and then pretend to mix.
|
| Then there's another class of club: the "indie" electronic
| music club. These places have djs whose skill is more about
| selection, mixing, and crowd/vibe management. The djs here
| often have respected production careers but often not.
|
| What you do at these clubs is simply dance. Usually by
| yourself, listening to music. The best of these clubs will
| _not_ blow out your hearing because the sound system is
| exquisitely tuned.
|
| As an introvert, the second class of club sounds like it would
| be perfect for you!
|
| As an aside, if you've never experienced a truly world-class DJ
| (of the second type, not the first), it's an incredible
| experience. Even if you find electronic music "boring", these
| people are absolute masters at taking you on an emotional
| journey.
|
| The best way to experience this is at one of the top festivals.
| The second best way is at a club. The third best way is at
| home, with great headphones, and soundcloud/youtube dj sets.
| NOT spotify.
| Razengan wrote:
| > _Even if you find electronic music "boring", these people
| are absolute masters at taking you on an emotional journey.
| The best way to experience this is at one of the top
| festivals. The second best way is at a club. The third best
| way is at home_
|
| Hell I LOVE The Midnight, Com Truise, Essenger, Empire of the
| Sun, Robert Parker, Gunship, FM-84, Molchat Doma (Molchat
| Doma) and other Slavsynth groups I can't even pronounce the
| names of..
|
| but the best way to jam out to that is to go on an actual
| journey ^^ a long drive, an open road, no stops.. Being
| stationary even if dancing just doesn't fit in with the
| images those sounds give me (picture those synthwave/outrun
| posters with purple suns and ringed planets in the background
| sky)
|
| I really wish there were some modern games and movies made
| around that vibe.
| radley wrote:
| Socialize? Dance? Let loose?
|
| As a wise man once said, "Free your mind and your ass will
| follow."
| y-c-o-m-b wrote:
| I'm also introverted and haven't been to clubs in over 10
| years, so can't speak for today's crowd. Despite being an
| introvert, I pushed myself to socialize. Primary motivation was
| just being somewhere fun with friends or work colleagues where
| I can dance/listen to music I like, people watch, or the one
| thing most people don't readily admit to: meet potential
| partners for sex. What actually happened was a lot more of the
| first thing and A LOT less of the last thing though lol. You're
| around a bunch of drunk people, something funny is bound to
| happen and those hilarious moments really made it memorable.
| marssaxman wrote:
| Dance! Dance dance dance dance dance. When you lose yourself in
| the music and the motion, it's a type of spiritual experience.
|
| The risk of hearing damage is easily mitigated by 1) wearing
| earplugs 2) going to better clubs which have properly tuned
| sound systems.
| Der_Einzige wrote:
| Btw, SF night clubs actively refuse to let "tech nerds" in. I
| witnessed whole groups of people who attended the huggingface
| "Woodstock of AI" meetup circa 2023 and the local clubs would
| refuse to let anyone in who wore glasses or wore Patagonia.
|
| Thanks John Hughes films!
| Elof wrote:
| That doesn't make sense. Huggingface is a 'popular' tech
| company. Maybe those 'nerds' just didn't have tickets
| Der_Einzige wrote:
| I'm talking about an event that drew ~5000 people, not the
| staff of HF themselves.
|
| The "tickets" that these nerds didn't have is more accurately
| known as "game" or "rizz" by zoomers.
| bongodongobob wrote:
| No one outside of tech knows what that is
| firefax wrote:
| >Btw, SF night clubs actively refuse to let "tech nerds" in.
|
| I got escorted past the line at DNA lounge because I had a
| Firefox shirt on. (Only solid black shirt I had, outta respect
| to the goths rocked it with some black jeans.)
|
| Are you aware that one of the best clubs in the bay is owned by
| a former "tech bro"?
|
| >DNA Lounge is an all-ages nightclub, restaurant and cafe in
| the SoMa district of San Francisco owned by Jamie Zawinski, a
| former Netscape programmer and open-source software hacker.[3]
| The club features DJ dancing, live music, burlesque
| performances, and occasionally conferences, private parties,
| and film premieres.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_Lounge#History
|
| In general, clubs don't want to let in folks who don't match
| the culture... for example, Berghain, at it's core, wants
| people coming in who want to dance, so if you show up in
| glasses and Patagonia you're not going to enjoy yourself.
|
| Finally, be mindful of the energy you put out -- any group of
| people in business casual trying to get into the hottest
| nightclub in town might find their hopes dashed.
|
| Frankly, based on your post I think maybe an air of entitlement
| and persecution might be your issue, not glasses or a sweater
| vest, because spoiler alert: if you don't mention your work, no
| one knows what you do for a living, and SF is probably wayyyy
| more welcoming to "uncool" people getting into clubs than
| someplace like NYC or LA, where if you're not a literal model
| or some kind of entertainment bigshot no clothing choice (or
| lack thereof) is getting you in.
| toast0 wrote:
| > In general, clubs don't want to let in folks who don't
| match the culture... for example, Berghain, at it's core,
| wants people coming in who want to dance, so if you show up
| in glasses and Patagonia you're not going to enjoy yourself.
|
| I can tell you, if I show up to an event without my glasses,
| I'm not going to enjoy myself either :P But, thanks to the
| internet, I can listen to dance music without having to go to
| a club https://www.di.fm/ (also I have the joy of having a
| local dance music station https://www.c895.org/ so I can
| listen to dance music with just an FM radio)
| kouru225 wrote:
| I wonder if you'd get a higher percent of overlap if you only
| focused on Friday/Saturday bookings
| Elof wrote:
| For the San Francisco venues, some of my favorite artists come
| on random days, and as a 40-something with a kid I would only
| go out on nights other than Friday/Saturday if I REALLY liked
| the artist. From this perspective, it might make sense to
| weight weekday outliers higher
| flufluflufluffy wrote:
| This is really cool but in my experience, RA is typically used
| for less popular "underground" (in very large quotes) events,
| warehouse parties, etc. It might be different in Europe or other
| cities here in the states. The data for such events is
| interesting in its own right, but it's probably not quite
| representative of the most popular clubs and/or artists.
|
| Perhaps doing a similar thing with Ticketmaster/tixr/all the
| other ticket apps and combining them together could produce more
| representative data, of course you'd still have the problem of
| having to filter out actual clubs.
|
| on an unrelated note, what in gods name is that color scheme on
| the visualizations? xD
| okokwhatever wrote:
| I just came to the comments section to say "blablabla flawed
| blabla incorrect data blablabla representation failure
| blablabla... but I just saw others came first.
|
| Yeah, humans.
| Honga wrote:
| Ah I miss De School. It always feels a bit uncanny seeing
| Tillatec wearing the hand me downs, even though they have their
| own thing going.
| vovavili wrote:
| And the most interesting part is that despite falling short
| from its predecessor, Tilla Tec is the best currently working
| club in The Netherlands.
| buckle8017 wrote:
| What's with using . for both decimal and thousands?
|
| I kinda understand swapping witch is which, but why have no
| distinction.
| pier25 wrote:
| Was surprised to not see Space (the Ibiza club) and it turns it
| closed back in 2016.
| zkmon wrote:
| In excitement over the cool-looking visualizations, we lose the
| sight of its usefulness. The entire article hardly has any text
| talking about how these visualization would be useful and to
| whom.
|
| Even if this is an ask from a top-level managers hoping that it
| would help their decision-making, let me tell you that, this will
| be binned after everyone agrees that the visualizations are very
| cool. Decisions are driven by other factors.
| RandallBrown wrote:
| > Even if this is an ask from a top-level managers
|
| This was a pandemic project from someone who likely did it just
| because they thought it was cool/interesting.
| tweetle_beetle wrote:
| Note to people considering publishing articles describing
| passion projects on their personal websites (especially if they
| may be considered exciting).
|
| Stop!
|
| It is vital that you first hire an independent product manager
| and perform market fit analysis. Ask yourself "Does my blog
| deliver high ROI and facilitate decision making by key
| stakeholders?". If not, it has no use and should not be
| published.
| eyeundersand wrote:
| Looks like I'm in the minority here but I was not impressed by
| the visualizations or the color scheme or anything. Oh well...
| anigbrowl wrote:
| Data raw material is meh, as are the results (clubs are clustered
| by geography and music style? Shocker), but the post isn't about
| collection or survey methodology.
|
| The hard work here is in the analysis and presentation, which are
| nice. That will still be valuable if applied to better-curated
| datasets. I don't blame the author for working with a mediocre
| dataset that happened to reflect his interests, he's not making
| big claims about what this means for the entertainment industry
| or the future of culture.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2025-11-06 23:00 UTC)