Virtual raves and happy hours during COVID-19: New drug use contexts for electronic dance music partygoers

Abstract

Background The popularity of virtual raves and happy hours has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. While nightlife settings are often associated with drug use, it is unknown whether virtual events are associated with use. Methods Electronic dance music (EDM) partygoers who live in New York and reported recent drug use were recruited online and screened for eligibility throughout April and May 2020. Eligible adults ( n = 128) were asked about virtual rave and happy hour attendance during the COVID-19 crisis. We examined prevalence and correlates of drug use during such events. Results 55.5% of participants attended virtual raves and 69.5% attended virtual happy hours. 40.9% used illegal drugs during virtual raves and the most frequently used drugs were cannabis (29.6%), ecstasy/MDMA/Molly (8.5%), LSD (7.0%), and cocaine (4.2%). 33.7% used illegal drugs during virtual happy hours and the most frequently used drugs were cannabis (29.2%), cocaine (3.4%), and ketamine (3.4%). Older participants were more likely to use illegal drugs during virtual raves, and those reporting past-year use of more drugs were more likely to use drugs during virtual raves and/or happy hours ( p s<0.05). Conclusions EDM partygoers are at risk for using drugs during virtual events. Results can inform prevention and harm reduction efforts.

Impact of Lockdown Measures on Joint Music Making: Playing Online and Physically Together

“…Moreover, virtual raves became popular means for people to socialize and/or experience live DJ performances in compliance with social distancing principles. Such events were often broadcasted live to audiences ranging from small groups of individuals up to thousands or even millions of people around the world through online platforms (Palamar and Acosta, 2020;Ren, 2020;Weaver et al, 2020).…”

“…We hypothesized that musicians would try to adapt to the lockdown measures through exploration of alternative methods for joint music making. Based on the clearly demonstrated shift of live music events to online platforms (e.g., Palamar and Acosta, 2020;Ren, 2020;Thomas, 2020;Weaver et al, 2020) and Google search results for joint music-making platforms, we expected musicians to mainly turn to virtual means of musical interaction with others, possibly preferring real-time methods, which more closely resemble live environments than non-real-time methods. However, we also FIGURE 1 | The figure illustrates the interest over time in specialized joint music-making platforms based on global Google searches.…”

A Crowd-Sourced Database of Coronamusic: Documenting Online Making and Sharing of Music During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Governmental and private organizations commissioned and disseminated health information videos promoting hand-washing (Thampi et al, 2020 ) and similar protective measures through musical mnemonics and dance challenges. Deprived of opportunities for live concert attendance and clubbing, some people participated in virtual raves (Palamar and Acosta, 2020 ). Corona-musicking behaviors were documented through splitscreen videos flooding the social media landscape under hashtags like #coronasongs, #quarantunes, #covidance, #pandemix, and #songsofcomfort.…”

Music for hedonia and eudaimonia during pandemic social isolation

“…Musical lockdown activities took various forms from live-streamed concerts (Swarbrick et al, 2021), splitscreen recordings (Hansen et al, 2021), daily rituals of balcony singing and clapping for healthcare workers (Imber-Black, 2020) to virtual raves (Palamar & Acosta, 2020) and listening parties (Lee & Kao, 2020). Amateurs and professionals took part as creators and consumers alike via new tele-conferencing and video-editing technologies and well-known social media platforms.…”