NEW YORK: SFX Entertainment, which hoped to ride the boom of electronic dance music to become a music industry giant, filed Monday for bankruptcy protection as it sought a fresh start.
The company founded by music mogul Robert Sillerman announced a deal that would eliminate more than $300 million in debt.
The company filed for bankruptcy protection at a federal court in the US state of Delaware. Subject to court approval, SFX Entertainment will receive up to $115 million from a group of bondholders to maintain normal operations.
Sillerman, who had his start in radio, in the 1990s seized on the potential of live music and created a multibillion-dollar company that went on to become Live Nation Entertainment, the world's largest concert promoter.
Sillerman restarted SFX Entertainment in 2012 as he saw the burgeoning market for electronic dance music, including huge crowds for DJs at festivals and the dominance of electronic tracks on streaming sites.
The company started by buying Beatport, an online music store that focuses on electronic dance music, and began acquiring festivals.
Its holdings include Tomorrowland in Belgium, one of the most prominent dance music festivals in the world, and its US spinoff TomorrowWorld as well as Electric Zoo in New York.
SFX in 2014 acquired a 50 percent stake in Rock in Rio, the Brazilian festival that has gone global, and started Rock in Rio USA in Las Vegas.
The mounting woes of SFX have alarmed the industry as live music and electronic dance music are primary areas of growth in a business that has suffered from years of stagnant album sales.
But some critics believe SFX's failings stem from poor management decisions rather than any fundamental weakness in the market.
Announcing the bankruptcy filing, Sillerman said the company would look for a new chief executive officer although he will stay in the role of chairman.
"We will immediately commence a search for a new CEO to lead us as we continue to set the trend in the exploding culture that is electronic music," he said in a statement.
The company said it did not expect any interruption in its festivals and that the bankruptcy filing only applied to its US operations.
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