For decades, dance culture ran on beautiful chaos – a scene built on hedonism and excess. “Having it large” involved lost weekends, missed flights, after-party carnage and stories that grew more outrageous with every retelling. Debauchery was de rigueur. Hangovers were badges of honour. Remaining vertical after a three-day bender was considered a minor act of heroism.
Ibiza has long embodied dance music’s more hedonistic side, with a cast of unforgettable characters – DJs, promoters and larger-than-life personalities – whose exploits became part of the island’s mythology. The messier the stories, the bigger the legend. But something is shifting.
Giorgia Angiuli, a leading Italian figure in the world of dance and electronic music, has built a distinct artistic identity around sound baths, meditation, and music as a healing ritual.
The dancefloor hasn’t emptied. Clubs remain packed, festival tickets continue to sell out. Yet alcohol consumption is falling, the non-alcoholic drinks market is expanding, and wellness language has entered spaces that once regarded sleep, hydration and self-restraint with deep suspicion.
From the decks to the dancefloor, a new narrative is emerging. A growing number of DJs are speaking openly about sobriety, moderation is trending and alcohol is no longer the social currency it once was.
DJs like Darren Emerson, Goldie, Sam Divine, Radio Slave, Claude von Stroke, MK and more have all stopped drinking in recent years. Trance legend Armin van Buuren claims giving up the booze was his “best decision ever”, while Anjunadeep mainstay Jody Wisternoff proclaims that “the juice ain’t worth the squeeze”, adding his alcohol-free lifestyle affords him “vitality, focus, extra inspiration in the studio and better DJ sets”.
But it’s not just the over 40s – or seasoned club veterans – who are flipping the script. Italian techno artist Giorgia Angiuli has built her artistic identity around meditation, neuroscience and sound healing. John Summit – who completed his first fully sober tour last year – has swapped late-night excess for distance running, and Patrick Topping has championed sober raving.
DJ and producer Jody Wisternoff (above) has acknowledged that giving up alcohol has given him “more vitality, better focus, renewed inspiration in the studio, and better DJ sets.”. On the left, a can of Lyre’s, the nonalcoholic spirits brand.
The shift extends beyond the DJ booth. According to Dr Karenza Moore, Newcastle University, UK, younger clubbers are turning away from alcohol for a combination of reasons. “Alcohol has a bad rep,” she says.
Moore believes greater health awareness, changing social norms and the permanence of social media have fundamentally changed attitudes towards drinking. As she puts it: “No one wants to be known as the biggest party-girl in the office.”
Her observations are reflected in the numbers. Global alcohol volumes dipped for the third successive year in 2025, falling by 500 million nine-litre cases, according to recently released data from IWSR.
Furthermore, the drinks market analyst forecasts alcohol consumption will continue to decline for the next six years, while Bloomberg announced that the combined value of the world’s biggest beer, wine and spirits companies has fallen by $830 billion in four years.
In stark contrast, non-alcoholic drinks are surging in popularity. Sales of non-alcoholic beer, wines and spirits are expected to soar by 36% between 2024 and 2029. By then, we’ll be drinking more than 18 billion servings a year – roughly two alcohol-free drinks for every person on the planet.
Consumers are also embracing a new generation of “alcohol-adjacent” drinks, including nootropic and adaptogenic beverages aimed at boosting mood and wellbeing. This category grew by an estimated 11% last year.
British DJ and Saved Records founder Nic Fanciulli has launched Soba Circus, a functional drink containing nootropics that aims to serve as an alternative to alcohol on the dance floor.
Pointing out that “moderation is taking place across all generations”, Marten Lodewijks, IWSR Managing Director and President, says the alcohol market is undergoing “a major reset”. Looking ahead, he claims the next decade will bring “a vastly different market landscape than the one we see today”.
While concerning for the alcohol industry, it’s also fuelling a wave of entrepreneurship within dance music. In 2023, DJ and producerDavid Guetta took an equity stake in non-alcoholic ‘spirits’ brand Lyre’s, saying he wanted to help “change the party scene”. And earlier this year, Saved Records boss Nic Fancuilli launched Soba Circus, a functional nootropic drink he co-founded to offer clubbers an alternative to alcohol.
“For too long, Big Alcohol told us that booze was essential for connection and great nights out,” says Fancuilli. “We’re calling bullshit and offering something far better.”
Ibiza, too, is responding, with sober dance sessions gaining traction and an increasing number of venues treating alcohol-free cocktails as more than an afterthought.
This isn’t to suggest club culture is on the fast track to becoming squeaky clean. Far from it. Illegal drugs remain a feature of nightlife, and some substances like cocaine and ketamine continue to grow in popularity. But alcohol is most definitely losing its grip.
