Gigi D'Agostino sues a festival over an economic dispute

Having recently returned to the scene at Sanremo after a long absence due to illness, Gigi D'Agostino is suing a popular Austrian dance music festival for financial reasons. According to what was reported in the news reported by the “Ticino Online” portal and reported by the “Corriere della Sera”, the DJ originally from Turin, who has lived in Switzerland for some time, appeared at a hearing at the Mendrisio Nord magistrate's court for a conflict that emerged with the company that organizes the Electric Love Festival at the Salzburgring in Plainfeld.

According to what Gigi D'Ag claims, the Festival owes him 30 thousand euros. The organizer, however, believes that it is the DJ and producer who must return a sum of 20 thousand euros, already received, for a performance that was never held. The set in question had been agreed in 2019 by Gigi D'Agostino who, for his participation in the Electric Love Festival in 2020, should have received a salary of 50 thousand euros, divided into an advance of 20 thousand already received, and a second tranche of 30 thousand euros. Due to the pandemic, the event was then postponed, including the Italian DJ's set which should have been held in 2022.

For this reason, however, a dispute arose between Gigi D'Ag's company, Modusart, and the organization of the Austrian festival.

On the one hand, the DJ's collaborators asked for the second part of the payment, while the organizers of the event, having learned the news of Gigi D'Agostino's illness, had no confirmation of his actual participation. According to what was reported by “Ticino Online”, the organizers of the festival then stated: “We finally decided to give an ultimatum to Modusart specifying that if we had not received confirmation by June 2022 we would cancel D'Agostino's participation”. Gigi D'Ag then replied and supported in the courtroom: “They decided that I would not participate. I certainly felt capable of performing and if they had paid I would have done so. The Festival made an announcement of illness which no longer existed. The disclosure of this news meant that for a long period I did not receive job offers.”

Furthermore, the DJ's lawyer specified that, according to the 2019 contract, the 30 thousand euro payment should have been paid, in any case, by May 2020.