SCENE FOCUS: RIO DE JANEIRO

As the world’s eyes zoom in on Brazil, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup, we take a look at one of the world’s great party cities - Rio De Janeiro.

Although no longer the capital city, Rio remains Brazil’s biggest tourist pull, due to largely to its incredible, iconic white, sandy beaches like Copacabana and Ipanema and it’s world famous carnival.

But when it comes to electronic music, Rio is largely sidelined by the incredible offerings in and around Sao Paulo, Camboriu and Florianópolis. In fact for one of the major cities in one of dance music’s hottest national scenes, there is a surprising lack of nightlife options.

Historically, the two main nightclubs have been 00 (Zero Zero) and Fosobox.

00 caters for the sophisticated, premium crowd who like to dine and relax before hitting the floor later in the night to a mixture of big room EDM and commercial electronic music.

If you prefer your beats a bit darker, and your clubs more raw, then Fosobox is the one for you. As Brazil’s main outlet for techno and tech house, Fosobox is the best place to catch the best Brazilian underground DJs alongside occasional international guests doing their thing.

For the high-rollers, newly-launched Miroir is changing the face of Rio’s clubbing landscape with Vegas-style production and exclusive table service to boot. They shot into number 35 in this year’s Top 100 Clubs poll so are clearly winning over Rio’s evolving crowd, despite the steep drink and entry charges.

Rio’s appeal to a global audience makes it a perfect location for an industry gathering. Hence the 2009 inception of the Rio Music Conference, an annual event for the electronic music industry that is one-part conference and one-part event series. It takes place every February, and attracts some of the biggest names in dance music - last year’s events were hosted by DJs as diverse as Nicky Romero and Amine Edge & Dance, for instance.

Rio is still some way off being Brazil’s dance music capital, but the with strong offerings and new contenders making waves, this could all be about to change.

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