Insomniac Events launches Insomniac East division, shares EDC Orlando’s 10th anniversary dates for 2021
It’s far from a well-kept secret that the East Coast’s live electronic music space has been severely lacking throughout the years. After acquiring Washington, DC event promotion entity Club Glow and its two renowned venues, Echostage and Soundcheck, earlier in November, Pasquale Rotella and his events powerhouse brand, Insomniac Events, are making a move to rewrite the East Coast’s status with the formal launch of their Insomniac East division.
While EDC Orlando has served as Insomniac Events’ flagship East Coast festival for quite some time now, in 2021, it will officially act as Insomniac East’s first festival offshoot, with its return to Tinker Field for its 10-year anniversary slated for November 12–14, 2021. What else Insomniac East has mapped out for the coming year and beyond remains to be seen, especially considering the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Washington, DC alone can be expected to play host to a wealth of upcoming events given Insomniac’s recent purchase.
The November 20 installation of Insomniac East’s Twitter account, billed as the “new home” for “all new East Coast Insomniac shows, festivals + lineup” announcements, is perhaps the clearest signal that Rotella and company’s East Coast bid will expand beyond EDC Orlando—and perhaps even DC—at a minimum. The next location on which Insomniac East might set its sights could very well be New York, given EDC New York‘s ongoing erasure from Insomniac Events’ destination list, dating back to 2017. The Tri-State area’s harsh deficiency in the festival department seems only to validate this possibility.
For now, read Insomniac East’s full announcement below and find more details surrounding EDC Orlando’s 2021 installment here.
TOMORROWLAND SHARES STAGE TEASERS FOR VIRTUAL NEW YEARS EVE FESTIVAL
The online event will take place inside NAOZ, a digital environment that consists of four stages
Tomorrowland has shared stage teasers for this year's digital New Year's Eve festival.
Following the announcement of the digital festival last month, Tomorrowland has now revealed renders of the four stages for the NYE special. The online event will take place inside NAOZ, a digital environment that consists of four stages, and has been designed by Tomorrowland’s creative team and 3D artists.
The Melodia stage, resembling a Magic Tree, will showcase sets from the likes of Armin van Buuren, Charlotte de Witte, David Guetta, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and Lost Frequencies. The Atmosphere stage, which is NAOZ’s largest area, will be headlined by Artbat, Camelphat, Kölsch b2b Joris Voorn, Maceo Plex and Meduza.
Elsewhere, the alantis-themed Planaxis stage will welcome Boys Noize, Diplo, and Snoop Dogg, and PULSE will cater for the hardstyle lovers, with performances from Brennan Heart, Da Tweekaz, and Sub Zero Project.
Adapted to all 27 time zones in the world, the event will take place from 8pm-3am local time. There will also be a countdown at midnight with fireworks in each time zone.
An NYE Pass costs €20 and includes one access to all four stages, while a €25 NYE Pass + on-demand pass lets ticket-holders relive all the performances on-demand from January 1 until January 14.
There is also the €50 Home Celebration Pass, which includes four on-demand passes. Tomorrowland gift packages and additional add-ons are also available.
Book your tickets via the Tomorrowland website, and check out the stages below.
MONSTERCAT CLARIFIES CONTROVERSIAL TWITCH AFFILIATE "FAST-TRACK" SERVICE
The Canadian label clarified an announcement that seemingly offered Twitch users a way to pay their way into Affiliate status on the platform.
A few days ago, Monstercat announced a new service that would be included in their "Monstercat Gold" program. The new offering was advertised as a way for subscribers to "fast-track Affiliate status" on Twitch. The announcement led to controversy in the streaming community since Affiliate status traditionally had to be earned, not purchased.
The Canadian electronic record label backpedaled two days later, taking to social media to clarify that they did not mean to assert that Affiliate status would be guaranteed to subscribers. "To clarify our original post, all current Gold subscribers must meet Twitch's Affiliate criteria," Monstercat tweeted. "Our goal was never to take away from the achievements that Affiliates worked for in their time streaming on Twitch."
For those unfamiliar with the livestreaming platform, being an Affiliate means you can monetize your streams and earn revenue from subscriptions, donations, game sales, and more. Anyone can apply to become an Affiliate, but only those who meet the platform's specific viewership and streaming time requirements will qualify.
On one hand, some users were upset over the proposed fast-track service because they felt it would enable streamers pay their way to becoming an Affiliate and skip the work it normally takes to be promoted. On the other hand, some felt that since the requirements for reaching monetization were so low and easily obtainable, there wasn't an issue in skipping some steps.
Despite the debates, many felt confused by the clarification and questions arose online about why one would choose to apply for Affiliate status through the paid "Monstercat Gold" service when users can already apply directly on Twitch for free. In a lengthy thread of tweets starting with the embedded pair below, Twitch news commentator Zach Bussey offered his expert insights on the controversy and called on the label to further expound its clarification.
You can learn more about what's included in Monstercat's current "Gold" program without the Twitch Affiliate fast-track service here.
FOUR OF THE TOP 10 MOST SHAZAMED SONGS OF ALL-TIME ARE DANCE MUSIC TRACKS
Avicii, Robin Schulz, Kungs, and the trio of Major Lazer, DJ Snake, and MØ thrust the EDM flagpole into Shazam's list.
Have you ever wondered what the most Shazammed songs of all time are?
Shazam, which is owned by Apple and remains one of the company's crown jewels in its music portfolio, has been a saving grace for music fans since its debut in 1999. With the tap of a button, the app is able to identify songs playing in real-time and link you to their streaming pages. To celebrate the its milestone of 200 million global active users, Shazam teamed up with Apple Music to develop a playlist of the top 100 most Shazamed songs of all time, and dance music is well-represented.
Avicii ("Wake Me Up"), Robin Schulz ("Prayer In C (Robin Schulz Radio Edit)," Kungs and Cookin' On 3 Burners ("This Girl"), and the trio of Major Lazer, DJ Snake, and MØ ("Lean On") thrust the EDM flagpole into Shazam's list. Tones and I's global breakthrough hit "Dance Monkey" topped the list at a staggering 36.6 million Shazams.
Check out the top 10 below and listen to a full playlist of the list's 100 songs here.
1. "Dance Monkey" - Tones and I
2. "Prayer In C (Robin Schulz Radio Edit)" - Lilly Wood & The Prick & Robin Schulz
3. "Let Her Go" - Passenger
4. "Wake Me Up" - Avicii
5. "Lean On (feat. MØ)" - Major Lazer and DJ Snake
6. "Thinking Out Loud" - Ed Sheeran
7. "Cheap Thrills" - Sia
8. "Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra)" - Gotye
9. "This Girl (Kungs vs Cookin' On 3 Burners) [Extended]" - Kungs, Cookin' On 3 Burners
10. "Take Me To Church" - Hozier
Ableton announces Live 11
The latest version includes five new devices and major advancements in the areas of comping and MIDI Polyphonic Expression.
Ableton has announced Live 11.
The latest version of the influential DAW comes just after two years after the introduction of Ableton 10 and integrates several major aspects into the popular Ableton workflow. Live 11 makes comping, or piecing together the best moments of multiple performances, far easier. The new comping tool also allows for quicker and more precise splicing and sampling, allowing for radical, on-the-fly experimentation with arrangement, e.g. easily splicing and substituting samples into the timeline of an existing track.
Another major development is the integration of MPE, or MIDI Polyphonic Expression, which allows for touch sensitivity and other subtle, acoustic-instrument style expressions—such as"bends, slides and pressure for each individual note in a chord"—with a MIDI environment. Owners of MPE-compatible hardware can begin using Live 11's MPE features right away, but those without MPE hardware can edit MPE automation data using Ableton's new "Expression View." While Ableton is integrating MPE after competing DAWs like Bitwig and even GarageBand, popular Ableton devices like Wavetable, Sampler, and Arpeggiator will now have native MPE support.
New devices include Hybrid Reverb, which allows users to place their sounds in any space, use the algorithmic slide to control and modulate the reverb tail, or play the device like an instrument and Spectral Resonator, which builds off of Live's Resonator device, breaking the audio signal into partials and allowing users to stretch, shift and blur the result. The latter is also playable via MIDI sidechain.
Spectral Time, meanwhile, is a simple but powerful frequency-based delay effect, while the Robert Henke-designed PitchLoop89 is built to create glitches and shimmering delays. Finally, Inspired By Nature is a suite of six instruments that use natural and physical processes—such as the root structure of plants or the movement of particles—as their inspiration.
Several randomization features, like Note Chance and Velocity Chance, will allow musicians to add unpredictable variations to their productions. Along with MPE, a Tempo Following feature makes Ableton Live 11 more "live," the DAW listening and adjusting its tempo based on incoming audio in real-time, following the human leader rather than vice-versa. DJs can use this feature to turn Ableton Live into a tempo-synced FX box. In addition, Ableton Live 11 comes with rack improvements, allowing users to save macro states for recall at a later time and use 16 macros, as opposed to the previously available 8.
For a list of all of Ableton Live 11's new features, head over to the manufacturer's website.
Live 11 will be available in early 2021. The Beta Version is currently available for all owners of Ableton Live 10 Standard and Suite. From now until the release, the various versions of Live 10 are selling for 20% off. Those who purchase a copy of Live 10 will be entitled to a free upgrade to Live 11 when it's released.
Watch a video about Ableton Live 11.
Ableton will release Live 11 in early 2021. The Standard version will retail for €349, Suite for €599 and Intro for €79.
Carlos Hawthorn contributed to this piece.
Influential New York producer DJ Spinbad dies aged 46
The likes of comedian Russell Peters and DJ Yoda have paid tribute
Influential New York musician DJ Spinbad has died at the age of 46.
Spinbad, real name Chris Sullivan, passed away in New York yesterday, although his cause of death is yet to be confirmed.
Paying tribute, Canadian comedian Russell Peters shared memories of how Spinbad would warm up the comic’s crowds as his tour DJ.
“This is a post I had hoped I’d never have to make but it’s with a broken heart that I have to say, bye to my brother, my friend, my DJ, one of the most creative and brilliant minds I’ve ever known,” Peters wrote on Instagram.
“I can’t believe you’re not here anymore… trying to find the right pictures of us has me all fucked up and crying, because we have waaaay too many memories together… I love you my brother and I don’t know how to keep it together…”
Paying tribute, UK musician DJ Yoda explained how Spinbad had been one of his main influences. “I’m raw and almost unable to comment on this right now, but I’ve woken up to the news that Spinbad has gone,” he wrote.
DON DIABLO TO APPEAR ON "MTV CRIBS" REBOOT
The Dutch electronic music artist will join celebrities like Caitlyn Jenner, Stefflon Don, Christine Quinn, and more for the rebooted series.
While we constantly find ourselves reminiscing about what life was like before everything fun was shut down, MTV International decided to double down on the nostalgia with a reboot of the fan-favorite TV series, MTV Cribs. For those unfamiliar with the show, it's essentially a series of real estate tours where celebrities show off their luxurious homes and remind us that they have much more money than we do.
Fans who want a closer look into the life of Don Diablo are in luck because the renowned future house producer has been confirmed as one of the celebrities to be featured on MTV Cribs reboot. On Instagram, he shared a trailer that features a brief appearance from him and confirmed his involvement in the series.
The MTV Cribs reboot premiered on October 26th and featured the homes of Caitlyn Jenner and Stefflon Don, among others. It's not yet clear when the episode featuring Don Diablo will premiere, but fans can watch full episodes and view the show's schedule on MTV International's website.
FOLLOW DON DIABLO:
Website: dondiablo.com
Facebook: facebook.com/OfficialDonDiablo
Twitter: twitter.com/DonDiablo
Instagram: instagram.com/dondiablo
Spotify: spoti.fi/2QqOvm0
via edm.com
CLUB GLOW (DC) BOUGHT BY INSOMNIAC
Intended to establish an East Coast home base for Insomniac, it was recently announced that the club had been acquired by the huge event promotion firm.
The acquisition actually took place in 2019 and was just announced in part to let current employees know that they would not only be able to return to their jobs in the future but that additional events may be added above the past schedule of the venue.
The original plan was for the announcement of the deal to be made at the 2020 Winter Music Conference by Club Glow owner Pete Kalamoutsos.
Kalamoutsos told Billboard:
It’s good to give them hope. We’re coming back, it’s going to be bigger than ever and we’ve got incredible things planned cant wait to tell everyone about.”
Club Glow consists of Echostage, the award-winning larger venue and the more intimate Soundcheck.
Pasquale Rotella, CEO of Insomniac also told Billboard:
“We have have been working together in the past few years promoting dance music culture and I’m always watching for people who make an impact. A goal of mine has always been to work with the people that are essentially cut from the same cloth and have the passion with the roots to the culture. Pete’s a fan he’s stuck with it and what he started is as popular today. And he is pushing the music forward and pushing the culture for forward.”
OLIVER HELDENS, MEDUZA, MORE LEAD 1001TRACKLISTS "TOP 101 PRODUCERS 2020" LIST
It's that time of the year again—1001Tracklists have calculated the numbers and revealed their annual "Top 101 Producers" list. The world's largest DJ setlist database compiled a list that features representations from 21 countries across this year's rankings.
Leading the pack is Heldeep Records label head Oliver Heldens. The Dutch producer moves up from #24 to the #1 spot this year thanks to an impressive run of diverse releases both under his own name and under his HI-LO alias. The Grammy-nominated MEDUZA scored the #2 spot after Heldens, marking the highest new entry for this year and of all time. The remaining top five spots were scored by dance music heavyweights Armin van Buuren, Tiësto, and David Guetta, respectively.
Other notable rankings include Skrillex at #71, Tchami at #83, and Habstrakt, who snuck in at the final #101 spot.
Check out the full "Top 101 Producers 2020" list below.
FOLLOW 1001TRACKLISTS:
Facebook: facebook.com/1001tracklists/
Twitter: twitter.com/1001tracklists
Instagram: instagram.com/1001tracklists/