TOMORROWLAND SHARES SETS FROM NYE VIRTUAL FESTIVAL ON APPLE MUSIC: LISTEN
Mixes from Armin van Buuren, Boys Noize and Diplo are among the sets available for playback now.
Tomorrowland has shared a selection of sets from 2020's New Year's Eve festival on Apple Music.
Belgian festival Tomorrowland's NYE event, which took place on the 31st December, was spread across four stages adapted to all 27 time zones in the world. It was the latest virtual push from the festival, who also took their flagship festival digital last year.
After sharing footage of the festival exclusively via an on-demand pass, Tomorrowland have now shared sets recorded from the end-of-year spectacular, with performances from the likes of Armin van Buuren, Boys Noize, Diplo and Lost Frequencies available to check out in full.
There's also sets from Duck Sauce, Kölsch b2b Joris Voorn and Major Lazer. Check out the full selection of performances available via Apple Music here.
DJ Mag’s Declan McGlynn wrote about how Tomorrowland's 2020 virtual festival set a new standard for digital events during the Covid-19 lockdown: read the feature here.
Never Stop The Music - The Creation of Tomorrowland Around The World is a documentary about the festival available on YouTube, giving an in-depth look into the technological feat that was its gamechanging event.
DIPLO AND MARK RONSON ANNOUNCE RETURN OF SILK CITY, SHARE PREVIEW OF BUBBLY NEW TRACK
The Grammy Award-winning duo's last original release was 2018's global smash hit "Electricity" with Dua Lipa.
Diplo and Mark Ronson have announced the grand return of Silk City, their Grammy Award-winning collaborative musical project.
Both artists took to Twitter to share the news and post a preview of a new upcoming single. The clip is short but fans are able to get a taste of what's on the horizon, which sounds like a pop-house hybrid akin to their last original track release, 2018's global smash hit "Electricity." Check out the preview below.
Silk City won the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording in 2018 for "Electricity," which they released in collaboration with pop superstar Dua Lipa. After a deluge of tweets from fans guessing what vocalist is featured this time around, Ronson toyed with them, asking Diplo, "should we tell them who’s on the track or just let them guess?"
Diplo's tweet includes a link that directs users to a website for the "New Love Club" and an RSVP link. Trying to access Silk City's official website has the same effect. Mum's the word on what exactly the site will entail, but it has the looks of a merchandise drop.
At the time of this article's publication, Silk City has not divulged any further details about the "New Love Club" or their forthcoming song, including a title or release date.
FOLLOW SILK CITY:
Website: silk-city.com
Facebook: facebook.com/SilkCityMusic
Spotify: spoti.fi/3smziUK
BPM FESTIVAL 2021 COSTA RICA POSTPONED TO 2022
Unfortunately due primarily to uncertainty in regards to international travel restrictions, the 2021 BPM Festival set for Tamarindo, Costa Rica has been postposed to 2022.
The new dates will be January 12-18, 2022 in Tamarindo.
According to the event’s ticketing website, in the case of postponement of The BPM Festival: Costa Rica 2021, multi-day festival pass purchasers will have two available options:
1) Credit: Purchasers may rollover their festival pass to the next edition of The BPM Festival: Costa Rica. In addition 5 day passes will be extended to 7-day and an item of free BPM Festival merchandise will be given to the ticketholder.
2) Refund: Purchasers requesting refunds will be entitled to an 85% refund of the ticket’s face value, excluding Xtixs service charges and associated fees. Refunds will be issued and processed within 30 working days of refund requests. 15% of the face value of all multi-day festival passes are non-refundable.
CLUB SPACE AND BAR LAB LAUNCH SPACE PARK, A NEW OPEN-AIR VENUE IN MIAMI
The outdoor venue features four dance floors and follows social distancing and safety guidelines.
Though it may have been difficult to predict just how long COVID-19 would last after nearly a year of global shutdowns and quarantine measures, some concert and nightlife venues have already begun making necessary adjustments to continue operations during the pandemic.
Club Space in Miami is one such venue. With the help of Bar Lab—and with social distancing and safety measures in mind—the fabled club has announced the launch of its new open-air venue endeavor, Space Park.
In the Magic City Innovation District, Space Park’s events debuted on New Year’s Eve with Artbat and Rony Seikaly. As with all the events planned for the outdoor venue, Club Space sorted out the booking, with Bar Lab spearheading the beverage offerings.
"The opportunity of doing an open-air venue at a park with our brothers at Bar Lab came to us somewhere in the summertime," David Sinopoli, co-owner of Club Space, said in a statement to Miami New Times. "It's a lot about timing, and it's a lot about opportunity and collaboration."
"We're local companies. We're here because we love our community, we're friends and coworkers," added Gabe Orta, co-founder of Bar Lab. "We want to make sure we do it the right way, and our intentions are coming from a community point of view. For us, it's going to be as much of a big party. We're going to try our best to make our community happy."
Of course, for the time being, safety guidelines including face masks and temperature checks are in place, and attendance is limited to 25% of the park's 6,000 person occupancy limit. Miami's citywide curfew is also being followed, and events are allowed to be held from 3PM until midnight.
Club Space reopened in October with many of the same safety guidelines, but without the space to provide a truly satisfying live music experience. "Since the park is so much larger, the surface area we are going to be using feels ten times bigger than the club," said Space co-owner Coloma Kaboomsky. "At [Club Space], we have 30 tables. At the park, we're going to have 60 tables with much more room. We are going to have four small dance floors where you have to wear a mask. It's limited capacity, and each dance floor has its own bar."
"It is not just going to be an event space, per se," Sinopoli added. "We're going to grow it and activate other community businesses in there to come in as a micro-concept."
For more information on Space Park, visit Club Space's Facebook page.
Via: Miami New Times
2021 GRAMMY AWARDS CEREMONY POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19 CONCERNS
Sources say that organizers are now angling for a rescheduled date of March 21st, 2021.
The 2021 Grammy Awards have been postponed due to COVID-19 concerns, according to a report by Rolling Stone.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the Recording Academy has pushed the Grammys to March 21st, 2021. Considering the impact of the virus prior to the announcement, organizers were already planning a restricted and socially distanced show, devoid of an audience and only open to presenters and performers. However, as the state of California struggles to mitigate the spread of the virus, organizers of the Grammys have decided to pull the plug on the event, which was originally slated to take place on January 31st.
"The deteriorating COVID situation in Los Angeles, where hospital services have been overwhelmed [and] ICUs have reached capacity, and new guidance from state and local governments have all led us to conclude that postponing our show was the right thing to do," said Harvey Mason Jr., the Recording Academy's interim CEO, in a statement. "Nothing is more important than the health and safety of those in our music community and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly on producing the show."
The Los Angeles Times notes that LA County has averaged 184 deaths each day over the last week, and capacity across Southern California intensive care units is currently 0%. In a particularly harrowing report, The Washington Post said that hospitals have been so overwhelmed that ambulance crews are being instructed to administer oxygen only for their most dire patients because they are running out. Moreover, a new memo distributed yesterday by the county's Emergency Medical Services Agency directs paramedics not to transport patients under cardiac arrest if they are unable to achieve spontaneous circulation.
Electronic dance music artists who received nominations for the 2021 Grammy Awards include Diplo, SIDEPIECE, Disclosure, Flume, Toro y Moi, Madeon, Jayda G, and KAYTRANADA, among others. Outside of EDM, Beyoncé led the field with nine nominations, followed by six each for Taylor Swift, Roddy Ricch, and Dua Lipa.
IMMEDIATE ACTION AS BREXIT TOURING PLANS REJECTED BY EU
A petition has already picked up more than 200,000 signatures
The UK Government is being urged to take immediate action after Brexit touring plans were rejected by the EU.
It had been hoped the final UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement, which was reached on Christmas Eve 2020 (just days before new regulations came into place on 1st January 2021), would include special consideration for touring professionals — including free, longterm working travel arrangements for artists and crew. Without such a framework in place, costs involved in UK artists playing Europe, and vice versa, risk becoming prohibitive for many, with emerging and rising talent and grass roots organisations expected to be hit particularly hard.
As it stands, the current deal imposes new regulations, tariffs and visa requirements that will make such tours far more expensive and complicated. It raises further fears over what this fresh blow could mean for the recovery of a UK music industry, which was worth £5.2billion before the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic.
A petition has been launched demanding the UK Government negotiates a new Visa-free cultural work permit for touring professionals and artists, which has already garnered more than 220,000 signatures. DJ Mag has been covering what Brexit could mean for music on an ongoing basis. Read up on advice for European DJs playing British dates, our take on British DJs playing European dates, then dive into official UK guidance for artists touring the EU.
DAVID GUETTA HAS URGED PEOPLE TO GET THE CORONAVIRUS VACCINE
The DJ spoke with Reuters shortly before his New Year's Eve performance at the Louvre
David Guetta has urged people to get the coronavirus vaccine in a new interview.
French DJ and producer David Guetta, who topped last year's Top 100 DJs Poll, has said that he hopes everyone will agree to the COVID-19 vaccine so that the world can return to normal.
Speaking with Reuters ahead of a New Year's Eve performance at the Louvre, Guetta said “I’m going to do the vaccine, and I hope people are going to do it too because I don’t see any other way to go out of this situation."
During the interview, Guetta also addressed his fans, saying that after the vaccine "we are about to witness the craziest party year of our lifetime because the minute it’s going to be open, you know, it’s going to be amazing."
‘Get the vaccine': French DJ David Guetta wants everyone to take the COVID-19 vaccine so the world can have a big mad party in 2021 https://t.co/Tghxbcf71e pic.twitter.com/jYaWNOlvcx
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 30, 2020
In October last year, David Guetta revealed he was going to produce Madonna’s album — until he revealed his star sign.
The same month, Guetta released his ninth collaboration alongside Australian singer Sia titled 'Let's Love'.
THOUSANDS ATTEND MUSIC FESTIVALS AND EVENTS IN NEW ZEALAND
The country currently counts less than 80 coronavirus cases
Thousands of festival go-ers attended live music events in New Zealand over the new year.
While most of the globe remains on lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, festivals and events during the festive period took place across New Zealand, with 20,000 people attending Gisborne's Rhythm and Vine Festival alone.
The country closed its borders and adhered to strict lockdown measures early on in the pandemic, and currently have fewer than 100 active cases of COVID-19 nationwide.
Elsewhere in NZ, another non-socially distanced, 10,000-person event took place in Wanaka on NZ's south island, featuring performances from Chaos in the CBD and Six60, with a festival in Mangawhai also holding a three-day celebration across the New Year period.
Following the border closures back in March 2020, New Zealand's prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said the extreme measures had been taken "for the health of the country, and our people.”
(Pictured: Rhythm & Alps Festival - ingmar wein photography)
In the UK, the organisers of Glastonbury Festival have called for “direct financial support” from the government amid ongoing difficulties in obtaining live events cancellation insurance for this summer’s event.
Last summer, a documentary about the impact of coronavirus on electronic music was produced and released by Pioneer DJ.
LIGHTS STARS IN NETFLIX REMAKE OF "THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS"
The singer-songwriter plays a pop star in the new Netflix original movie, "The Magic School Bus Rides Again In the Zone."
In an effort to inspire copious amounts of nostalgia and entertain the younger generation is a new Netflix remake of the popular 90s show, The Magic School Bus.
Released just in time for the holidays, The Magic School Bus Rides Again in the Zone sees the class attend a New Year's Eve concert and learn about timezones. Providing her voiceover and musical talent to the educational program is none other than Lights, who naturally plays the role of the pop star who the class goes to see and later adventures with.
On Twitter, Lights shared a goofy and wholesome video of herself and her family watching one of her scenes from the film. While you'll have to stream the full movie to see her full involvement, the social media footage gives a brief glimpse of one of the musical numbers included.
The Magic School Bus Rides Again In the Zone was released on December 26th, 2020. Subscribers can watch the Netflix Original featuring Lights here.
FOLLOW LIGHTS:
Facebook: facebook.com/lights
Twitter: twitter.com/lights
Instagram: instagram.com/lights
Spotify: spoti.fi/2Yf1k7r
UKF DUBSTEP REVEALS MOST POPULAR SONG UPLOADS OF 2020
Tracks by Virtual Riot, Excision and Downlink, Kompany, Effin, and more made the cut.
Dubstep fans looking to bang their head into the new year just received a helping hand from one of the most popular YouTube channels in the dubstep scene, who has dropped their list of the top uploads of 2020.
Since its inception in 2009, UKF Dubstep has kept a pulse on the scene, shining a light on the most heavy-hitting and forward-thinking songs the genre has to offer. Their new list, which contains the 32 most viewed uploads in 2020 in bracket form, is a who's who of dubstep's finest. Included in the list are Excision and Downlink's "Resistance," Zeds Dead and REZZ's "Into the Abyss," Au5's "Alien Weapon," and Effin's "Cheese," among others.
And what would a dubstep list be without Virtual Riot? The bass music titan's track "Dream Logic" made the cut, of course. Check out UKF Dubstep's full list below.
The channel's parent brand, UKF, has long been championed as one of the most prolific tastemakers in bass music. To this day, their focus on pushing the envelope of the genre at large is unmatched.
UKF Dubstep also recently shared a "Best of Dubstep 2020 Mix," which you can listen to in full below.
FOLLOW UKF:
Website: ukf.com
Facebook: facebook.com/ukfmusic
Twitter: twitter.com/UKF
Instagram: instagram.com/ukf
YouTube: bit.ly/2L50ne1