Armada’s Big Move

What if your favorite EDM classics never faded away — and kept earning forever? That’s the vision behind Armada Music’s BEAT Music Fund, the ambitious new investment arm founded by Armin van Buuren, Maykel Piron, and David Lewis.

Launched in 2023, BEAT Music Fund aims to build the world’s largest catalog of iconic electronic tracks — by acquiring the master rights, publishing, and artist shares of influential dance music labels and producers. Its latest headline-making move? The full acquisition of Mixmash Records, the label co-founded by Laidback Luke and Olga Heijns.

This marks a turning point for the dance industry: EDM is no longer just about festivals and drops — it’s about ownership, legacy, and long-term control of music rights.

From Label to Global Investment Force

Founded in 2003, Armada Music began as a traditional record label. Over two decades, it helped define the sound of trance, house, and progressive music. But as the digital era reshaped how music generates value, Armada saw a bigger opportunity: owning the music itself.

With BEAT Music Fund, Armada isn’t just signing new artists — it’s buying their past. The name “BEAT” stands for Best Ever Acquired Tracks — and that’s exactly the goal: collect and preserve the world’s most impactful electronic records, and make them profitable for years to come.

Insiders estimate BEAT is targeting up to $500 million in acquisitions within five years, a figure that would place it alongside global catalog giants like Hipgnosis and Concord. But unlike those companies, BEAT is laser-focused on EDM — a niche with massive global streaming potential but relatively few catalog investors.

The Mixmash Deal That Shook the Industry

In September 2025, BEAT Music Fund announced it had purchased the entire Mixmash Records master catalog, including timeless club hits like “Show Me Love” (Steve Angello & Laidback Luke ft. Robin S) and “Turbulence” (Steve Aoki & Laidback Luke ft. Lil Jon).

That single deal covers over 200 million streams, giving BEAT an immediate foothold in legacy house music and early 2010s festival culture. Laidback Luke called it “a way to protect and extend the legacy we built,” while Heijns emphasized that BEAT’s approach “balances respect for the past with vision for the future.”

The reaction across the EDM world was immediate. DJs, producers, and fans began speculating which catalog would be next — could BEAT target Spinnin’, Anjunabeats, or even Toolroom? The speculation alone helped the story trend across industry circles and social media.

The Tiga Partnership: Expanding Beyond Mainstream EDM

BEAT’s ambitions don’t stop at festival anthems. Earlier this year, the fund announced a major stake in the catalog of techno producer Tiga, including cult classics like “Bugatti”, “Sunglasses at Night”, and “Let’s Go Dancing.”

These tracks are considered essential pieces of underground dance culture — and BEAT’s acquisition suggests it wants to cover every corner of electronic history, from trance and house to techno and bass.

Tiga himself described the deal as “a way to future-proof my creative output,” signaling growing artist openness toward catalog partnerships that provide stability without sacrificing artistic identity.

Why Catalogs Are the New Gold

Why is everyone suddenly buying up music catalogs? The answer lies in streaming economics.

Unlike new releases that spike and fade, catalog tracks keep generating revenue for decades. Once a track becomes part of playlists, TikTok trends, or film soundtracks, its streaming life extends indefinitely.

That means owning the rights to classic hits is like owning digital real estate — stable, valuable, and increasingly scarce. For EDM especially, where nostalgia and festival revival culture are huge, catalogs represent long-term cash flow.

BEAT’s business model combines financial acumen with creative reinvention. By reissuing, remastering, and syncing older tracks in media and games, it keeps catalog music alive, visible, and streaming-ready.

A Race for Legacy: Competitors and Challenges

BEAT enters a crowded field of music-rights buyers. Hipgnosis, Blackstone, and Concord have poured billions into pop and rock catalogs. But few have specialized in electronic music — a space that’s only now being properly valued.

Still, risks remain. Catalog valuation can fluctuate depending on algorithmic changes in Spotify and YouTube. Integrating thousands of tracks into unified systems is complex. And some artists fear losing control of their creative heritage.

BEAT’s leadership, however, insists that the fund’s partnerships are built on artist collaboration, not takeover. The fund continues to work closely with original creators to ensure transparency and shared benefit.

Building the Empire: What’s Next for BEAT

The Mixmash and Tiga deals are only the beginning. BEAT has also acquired music from Kevin Saunderson, Markus Schulz, Robbie Rivera, and Sola Records — and industry insiders expect another 10 to 15 acquisitions within the next year.

Armada recently opened a new creative hub in London, designed to serve as a headquarters for catalog management, sync licensing, and artist relations. The company plans to expand into emerging markets, where streaming growth is exploding — including Asia and South America.

Analysts predict BEAT will soon launch AI-driven catalog marketing tools to re-target playlists and boost older releases in algorithmic feeds — effectively turning forgotten records into streaming gold again.

Why This Matters for EDM Fans and Artists

For fans, BEAT’s rise means one thing: the classics aren’t going anywhere. Expect more remastered releases, vinyl reissues, remix contests, and behind-the-scenes content from your favorite eras of EDM.

For artists, it’s an opportunity to monetize legacy — turning decades-old tracks into new revenue without surrendering identity.

And for the broader industry, BEAT is proving that EDM, once dismissed as a “trend,” has matured into a serious asset class — a genre with cultural weight and financial staying power.

The Bottom Line

What Armada is doing with BEAT Music Fund isn’t just business — it’s a redefinition of dance music’s value system. Instead of chasing the next big drop, BEAT is building a foundation for everything that came before it to thrive again.

In an era where music disappears faster than ever, BEAT is asking the opposite question: how do we make the great tracks of yesterday last forever?

If the answer lies in catalog control, Armada may have just set the new standard for how electronic music preserves its soul — and profits from it.