DAFT PUNK HAVE SPLIT UP
The robots have called time after 28 years.
Daft Punk have split up.
The French duo made the announcement by posting an eight-minute video clip titled Epilogue to their Facebook page.
Read this next: The best Daft Punk tracks ranked
The clip is taken from their 2008 film Electroma and features an iconic moment out in the desert before displaying a brand new graphic that proclaims '1993-2021'.
It's a typically ambiguous way for the robots to sign out after nearly three decades. However, the band's publicist Kathryn Frazier has confirmed that this is indeed the end.
Rumours have always surrounded Daft Punk, who formed in 1993, but this is very much for real as Pitchfork confirms.
As yet there is no more information on the robots' reasons for breaking up, however we will report more news as soon as we receive it.
The band hasn't released an album since 2013's 'Random Access Memories', their biggest-selling LP and an opus that saw them move away from the dancefloor and toward more conceptual, grandiose music.
Read this next: Unseen Daft Punk footage has appeared online
In hindsight, 'RAM' was a fitting final LP for Daft Punk, who made dance music history by releasing three highly influential albums – 'Homework', 'Discover' and 'Human After All' – as well as two incredible live albums between 1996 and 2007.
This period of fervent activity and world tours – during which they helped invent French touch and later the French electro sound, and set the blueprint for the dance music live show with their Pyramid production – wrote them into dance music history as one of the most popular and mythologised acts of all time.
Read this next: Here are the 500 albums you need to listen to if you're a Daft Punk fan
NYC TO ALLOW LARGE STADIUMS & VENUES TO OPEN STARTING FEBRUARY 23RD
NYC Govenor Cuomo has announced that the State of New York will allow large stadiums and venues to begin holding events with 10% occupancy at events with over a 10,000 capacity. Attendees will have to have had a negative Covid-19 test within3 days.
SIRIUSXM LAUNCHES EXCLUSIVE CHANNELS FROM ARMIN VAN BUUREN AND STEVE AOKI
The two mammoth EDM stars join Diplo in receiving their own Sirius XM channels.
SiriusXM is the foremost source of satellite radio, where users can choose channels that play some of their favorite genres and music from their favorite artists. In the EDM corner, Diplo has been holding it down with the Diplo's Revolution channel, among other genre-based channels like Chill, BPM Discovery, Utopia, and Studio 54 Radio.
Now, SiriusXM has brought two more superstar artists into the fold to host their very own channels. Trance legend Armin van Buuren and EDM renaissance man Steve Aoki have received their own airspace courtesy of the radio giant.
van Buuren's channel, A State of Armin, will of course feature the latest and greatest in trance and progressive, as well as some genre classics from the famed producer himself and many others. Armin previously hosted “A State of Sundays," a 24-hour block of programming that played every Sunday on Diplo's Revolution.
“Part of the reason why I've been around for so long is because nothing beats the feeling of sharing the music you love with as many people as possible," van Buuren told Billboard. "I'm grateful that SiriusXM is giving me the opportunity to reach even more people through this new full-time streaming channel."
Steve Aoki's channel will be centered around remixes of pop and dance music. "Steve Aoki’s Remix Radio is special to me because remixes have really helped me hone in on and develop my own sound over the years," he told Billboard.
For more information, visit the official Sirius XM website.
Tech house: the unbeatable top genre according to Beatport
The end of the year is approaching, which means it is time to analyse the 2020 Beatport Review and find out who came out on top. This year streaming was the king, as live events and artists’ fieldwork were put on pause by the pandemic. The ability of the artists and the record labels to adapt to the new reality was determinant for their projection. The free time forced by quarantine and isolation pushed the artists into the studio, and for those who made the most of the opportunity, this was a big year for releases. According to Beatport CEO Robb McDaniels, by July releases had already grown 10-20%. Although it was not possible to experience live music, it was possible to take advantage of the adversity to give a boost in the sale and streaming of new music. Many of the 2020 releases were the result of the present context and nicknamed as ‘isolation releases’. But which genres dominated the charts? According to Beatport report powered by Viberate, tech house remains the undisputed leader, followed by house, melodic house & techno, and techno (peak time/driving).
Compared to 2019, the winner remains unchanged, house moves up two positions, melodic house & techno maintains its place and techno falls two positions. This top 4 reflects the kind of feeling that dance music lovers have been looking for this year and also the artists who stand out. In a year in which the digital window was wide open, those who best positioned themselves in the consciousness of their fans prevailed. This genre ranking was based on the number of times that tracks of a certain genre entered the overall Beatport Top 100 chart and the positions of those tracks on the chart. In this table that presents us a hundred songs that make up the preference of music lovers, 39% are tech house gems, making it the undisputed leader. The best-scored tracks belong to well-known names of the tech house scene like Michael Bibi, Green Velvet, Chris Lake, Eli Brown, Sony Fodera, Dom Dolla, Dennis Cruz, Martin Ikin, Fisher, Claude VonStroke, and CamelPhat.
DUTCH GOVERNMENT AIMS TO ALLOW FESTIVALS FROM JULY
“In case festivals still get canceled due to changing COVID circumstances, organisers are likely to be compensated for the costs"
The Dutch Government has said that festivals should be possible in the Netherlands from July.
After the Dutch prime minster had previously announced that nightclubs would remain closed until a vaccine was available for COVID-19, a number of festivals and trial events have announced they are planning to go ahead in 2021, following an announcement from the Dutch government regarding live events.
One festival, Liquicity, which is due to take place from the 16th to the 18th July, posted a statement to their website, explaining that the Dutch government had confirmed festivals should be able to go ahead in the country from the 1st July.
“Great news: the Dutch government has announced that they aim to allow festivals after July 1,” the statement from Liquicity said. “In case festivals still get canceled due to changing COVID circumstances, organisers are likely to be compensated for the costs. Festivals in The Netherlands are currently selling out in record pace due to this new government announcement.”
Liquicity also promised full refunds if the event should end up being cancelled — “in case festivals still get canceled due to changing COVID circumstances, organisers are likely to be compensated for the costs" — and another festival, Lowlands, has announced that two trial events will take place later this year, with 3000 participants expected to present negative COVID-19 tests on entry.
Meanwhile, in the UK, Glastonbury 2021 has officially been cancelled due to coronavirus, but festivals of a smaller scale could take place safely this summer with proper coronavirus measure in place, MPs have been told. Speaking to the House of Commons Culture Select Committee last week, Rowan Cannon of festival organisers Wild Rumpus said that, with social-distancing and appropriate safety measures, small festivals should be “as safe as Sainsbury’s”.
“The idea that the festivals can’t go ahead and be socially-distanced is inaccurate,” she continued. “We can absolutely adapt our programming, put infrastructure in place, [and] change the way that we do things, to enable something to happen with social distancing in place.”
SPAIN WILL BE OPEN TO TOURISTS BY SPRING, TOURISM MINISTER SAYS
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez previously stated the country would remain shut to tourists until Autumn
Spain will be open to tourists by spring, the country's tourism minister says.
After Spain's Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, stated the country would remain shut to international tourists until Autumn, Reyes Maroto, the country's tourism minister, has said in a press conference that Spain will begin to reopen in Spring.
Making the admission last Friday, 26th January, Maroto said that “our priority in 2021 is to reactivate tourism and resume safe mobility on a global scale as soon as possible,” and that a staggered reopening will take place.
Tourism is one of the most crucial industries in Spain, especially in nightclub hotspot Ibiza. Spain welcomes approximately 80 millions tourists a year, with the industry providing over 12% of the country’s GDP.
Last year, Ibiza clubs Hï and Ushuaïa officially cancelled all scheduled parties for May 2020 amid the first stages of the coronavirus pandemic, before all bars and clubs were shuttered across Spain. For a recent DJ Mag feature, Anu Shukla investigated how the White Isle has adapted during the pandemic.
In December, it was also revealed that Ibiza clubs and events could use a new app called Liberty Pass to help them open in 2021, according to Spain Nightlife and International Nightlife Association secretary-general Joaquim Boadas. The app collects official information from collaborating medical centres about antigen tests, PCR tests and vaccines, when available. The app then updates with a QR code tied to an individual with a green tick if tests are negative.