10 Things You Didn't Know About the Ultra Music Festival

This weekend, Miami will be rocked to its EDM core via the 16th edition of the Ultra Music Festival, which is truly an institution in the American EDM

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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This weekend, Miami will be rocked to its EDM core via the 16th edition of the Ultra Music Festival, which is truly an institution in the American EDM scene. Big names like Tiesto credit headlining the Ultra Music Festival with truly helping establish their careers in America, and scores of EDM fans make their trek out to Miami for Miami Music Week just to hit the Ultra Music Festival. And while many will know who is spinning before lineups are announced, 16 years of history is a lot, and we imagine there are things you might not know about the Ultra Music Festival, from the lawsuit that could've disrupted it's growth or what the majority of crime during their 15th anniversary entailed. DAD's here to give you some education on the Ultra Music Festival, with 10 things you didn't know.

Depeche Mode helped inspire the Ultra Music Festival

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The Ultra Music Festival didn't turn into a multi-day event until 2007

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The 2008 Ultra Music Festival broke the record in the City of Miami for tickets sold for a single event.

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Gives new meaning to deadmau5's "Event Driven Marketing" acronym for EDM. Speaking of deadmau5...

The Swedish House Mafia played their first live performance at Ultra Music Festival in 2010

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Ultra Records and the Ultra Music Festival announced a "global alliance" in 2012

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A rift between Ultra and the Winter Music Conference helepd coin the phrase "Miami Music Week"

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Ultra helps bring in approximately $80 million annually to the city of Miami

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The Ultra Music Festival has expanded into a worldwide phenomenon

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The 2013 Ultra Music Festival clocked in 10 million unique streaming viewers

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The majority of the 2013 Ultra Music Festival-related crime was due to gatecrashers

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