Bethel, New York’69
1969
Woodstock
More than 400,000 people on a dairy farm upstate for “3 Days of Peace & Music.” The modern music festival starts here.
Photo: Woodstock, August 1969 · Derek Redmond and Paul Campbell, CC BY-SA 3.0
New York City · Powered by Loops Lab
New Yorkmakes culture.We makeroom for it.
Pop Lab is a home for the city's sound and the artists who make it. A shop, a listening room and a stage for the people shaping what's next.
Reel 01 — Greenwich Village, Sunday, 1960Archival film · public domainScroll ↓
Pop Lab presents
The DJ Set
Our headliner. A full DJ rig made of characters. Stand them on the Black Stage and they play in time. Drop a HedX on top and it bends whatever's playing.
- 01The Black StageEight spots. The board everything plays on.
- 02WaveRaversThe EDM band. Five figures, two sound sets.
- 03HedX DJ Effects ×2Loopola and E-cute. Filters, drops and sweeps over the mix.
- 04Black Stage BumperMade for the Black Stage.
CreateDJRemixRecord
$199Coming soon
8Spots on the Stage
4,374Playable configurations
You'll hear first.
Runs on the free Loops Lab app for iOS and Android.
The rooms
Before the algorithm, there was a room.
Every sound that moved the world started with people in a room in this city. A park. A loft. A rec room. A garage. Nobody streamed it and nobody generated it. You had to be there. Pop Lab is the next room.
647 Broadway’70
1970
A loft on Broadway
A Valentine's Day party in a downtown loft, invitation only. Club nights still follow the blueprint.
Photo: Cereza / Unsplash
1520 Sedgwick Ave · Bronx’73
1973
A rec room uptown
A back-to-school party in a rec room. The DJ ran the break back to back, and block parties across the Bronx followed.
Photo: Zac Ong / Unsplash
99 Prince Street · SoHo’75
1975
The Loft lands in SoHo
Nine more years of all-night sessions, a sound system and a room that listened.
Photo: Tyler Quick / Unsplash
84 King Street’77
1977
Paradise Garage
Ten years on a dance floor DJs still talk about.
Photo: Travis Macfarlane / Unsplash
CBGB · The Bowery’81
1981
Punk on the Bowery
CBGB is the center of downtown rock. Punk and new wave every night, in a room barely bigger than a bar.
Photo: Certain General at CBGB, 1981 · Phil Gammage / Wikimedia Commons
Danceteria · W 21st St’83
1983
Danceteria
New wave, hip-hop and video art on different floors of one club. One of its DJs helps launch Madonna’s first single.
Photo: Certain General at Danceteria, 1983 · Parker Dulany / Wikimedia Commons
Queens · Bronx · The world’84
1984
Hip-hop goes global
Def Jam starts in an NYU dorm room, Run-DMC from Hollis, Queens put rap on MTV, and breaking spreads from Bronx parks to the rest of the world.
Photo: breaking contest, Amsterdam, 1984 · Rob Bogaerts / Anefo, CC0
CBGB · Bay Ridge · Queens’85
Mid-1980s
Hardcore and metal
Sunday hardcore matinees pack CBGB. L’Amour in Bay Ridge becomes the rock capital of Brooklyn, and Anthrax comes up out of Queens.
Photo: Youth In Asia at CBGB, 1984 · Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Grunge comes east’93
1993
Grunge and alt-rock
Nirvana tapes MTV Unplugged in New York that November. Loud, raw guitar bands take over downtown stages and the airwaves.
Photo: Nirvana at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards · P.B. Rage, CC BY-SA 2.0
Queensbridge · Brooklyn · Staten Island’94
1994
The golden age of rap
Illmatic out of Queensbridge, Ready to Die out of Brooklyn, Wu-Tang out of Staten Island. Pop and R&B run the radio, and New York runs rap.
Photo: Wu-Tang Clan in concert, 1990s · MTV UK, CC BY 3.0
Lower East Side · Brooklyn’01
2001
New York resets
Is This It and The Blueprint land within weeks of each other. New York rock and New York rap both start over.
Photo: The Strokes, 2002 · Roger Woolman, CC BY 3.0
Hot 97 · Summer Jam’07
2007
Mixtapes and ringtones
MP3s, mixtapes and ringtones rewire the business. Hot 97’s Summer Jam is the summer’s main event.
Photo: Hot 97 Summer Jam 2007, Giants Stadium · Richard Alexander Carabal, CC BY 3.0
Randall’s Island’11
2011
EDM and dubstep
Dance music goes stadium-size. Electric Zoo turns Randall’s Island into a three-day rave, and the dubstep wobble hits the main stage.
Photo: Electric Zoo 2011 · Roman Fuchs, CC BY-SA 3.0
Randall’s Island’12
2012
Festival season
Festivals become New York’s summer. Governors Ball moves to Randall’s Island, and a weekend wristband becomes the hottest ticket in town.
Photo: Governors Ball, Randall’s Island, 2017 · Andre Benz, CC0
Commodore Barry Park · Brooklyn’15
2015
AFROPUNK
Started in Brooklyn in 2005, AFROPUNK grows into one of the city’s biggest weekends: punk, soul and hip-hop on one bill, with a crowd dressed for it.
Photo: AFROPUNK Festival, Brooklyn, 2015 · Mary Nichols (FuseBox Radio), CC BY-SA 2.0
East Williamsburg’22
2022
Back in the room
After 2020 shut every venue in the city, New York goes back out. Open-air rooms like the Brooklyn Mirage sell out night after night.
Photo: Brooklyn Mirage, 2022 · Legoktm, CC BY-SA 4.0
1520 Sedgwick Ave · Bronx’23
2023
Hip-hop turns 50
Fifty years to the night, the party goes back to the community room at 1520 Sedgwick. The city celebrates where it all started.
Photo: 1520 Sedgwick community room, 11 August 2023 · Crottyajohn, CC BY 4.0
Pop Lab’26
2026
Pop Lab
The next room. Built for the artists, DJs and producers making what comes next.
Photo: Pim Myten / Unsplash
Drag →1969 — now
Eye level
The city on
the sidewalk.
No postcard. Just the block, the stoop and whoever's on it.
Photos: Documerica, U.S. National Archives (1973–74). Public domain.
Nights
The room
gets loud.
Decks, crowds, colour. Dates go to the list first. Everyone else hears about it after.
Pop Lab · The Sound
Loops Lab Lo-Fi Radio
The Loops Lab bands, slowed down. Straight from the app radio, on while you browse.
The Pop-Up Shop · Ep. 01
Ari x Ama
An intimate set on the DJ Set, filmed in the room, with a guest.
Coming soon- Listening Sessions
New records, played loud, with the people who made them.
List first - Drop Nights
Release nights, listening parties and limited pieces.
List first - Takeovers
One artist. One room. One weekend.
By invite - The Pop-Up Shop
Intimate performances for a small crowd, filmed in the room.
By invite
Pop Lab
Everyone who plays here was invited.
Pop culture you can play
The characters are the music.
Every Loops figure is a real sound. Stand one on the Stage and it joins the track. Add more and the song changes. One band alone has 486 ways to play.
The shelf
Shop.
The full Loops Lab collection ships from here. Collectibles and artist editions live in the room only.
4,374
playable configurations$199.00
7 figures
7 figures
The list
Hear it first.
- 01First word when the DJ Set drops
- 02Dates for listening sessions and drop nights
- 03Early access to raffles and limited pieces
You're on the list.
No spam. Drops, dates and first access.
FAQ
Questions.
Contact
Help desk.
Orders, product help, visiting or press. Pick a topic and it goes to the right person.
Sent. We'll be in touch.