French electronic music platform Cercle has publicly acknowledged serious financial difficulties after a decade of global success built on filmed performances in spectacular locations. In a statement published Wednesday, June 26, 2024, the company said it was facing rising costs, taxes and shrinking margins, and admitted that the balance it had managed to preserve for years could no longer hold.
Cercle said it was founded in 2016 with a simple idea, to film artists in extraordinary places, starting from an initial investment of just 10,000 euros for GoPros, microphones, a computer and a mixer. Since then, it says it has produced more than 200 shows around the world, reached hundreds of thousands of attendees and millions of viewers online, and helped shape electronic music culture. The company added that its team has 35 people and that it has always tried to create projects from scratch, take risks and surprise audiences.
The immediate consequence is the cancellation of Cercle Festival Mexico, which the company said can no longer be staged to the planned standards and conditions. Cercle apologized to fans who had already made plans to attend and said all ticket buyers will receive automatic refunds within 24 to 48 hours. It also said it will continue updating the public on next steps and will keep its existing videos available for free on YouTube as long as it can.
In the same post, Cercle made an unusually direct appeal for help from supporters. It said that for the first time it truly needed direct assistance, and asked anyone who had ever felt something meaningful from a Cercle video to consider giving back. The company thanked its community, partners, artists and staff, and said the work created together cannot be erased. Founded in France, Cercle has featured major electronic acts including Tale of Us, Black Coffee and Boris Brejcha, and its videos have drawn millions, sometimes tens of millions, of views.
