Spotify is shaking things up in the music scene.
The music streaming giant is the official music sponsor of the Amsterdam Dance Event. Spotify together with ADE have joined forces to celebrate dance culture this fall.
On Friday (October 21), Spotify hosted a Spotify For Artists Masterclass for emerging artists and DJs to learn from industry experts on how they can get the most out of the streaming platform. Topics include new DW-focused features that Spotify offers, as well as specific genres and developments.
Spotify also launched their DJ Mixes Campaign with an incredible drone show over Amsterdam to celebrate the new mixes that launched on Friday. DJ Mixes is the new feature which allows DJs to add their sets to Spotify. The newly-launched mixes included sets from Tiesto, BLOND:ISH, Yung Bae, and Aluna.
An industry mixer was held for the drone shows, with each DJ receiving their own drone show allowing fans to scan a QR code from the air to launch their respective mix on Spotify for each show.
Check out our exclusive interview with DJs Aluna and Yung Bae for Spotify’s DJ Mixes Campaign:
A L U N A
Why did you want to get involved in Spotify’s DJ Mixes? What is it about the program that excites you?
I see mixes as a way to tell a story, it’s a puzzle where you only see the full picture when you put it all together. I like to pay homage to the origins of dance music and push the boundaries of the genre by opening up the doors to cultures making dance music that aren’t considered mainstream and show how it’s all connected. I do that best through my mixing process.
What do you hope your listeners will experience listening to your mix?
I want people to hear the links between dance music at its origins to the hottest tracks today without even realizing it – a rollercoaster of different dance genres, eras and styles from different parts of the world giving you that freshness of sound but a smooth listening experience.
Y U N G B A E
How does Spotify’s DJ Mixes capability help you connect with your audience?
It helps me to give my fans insights into what I’m truly rocking with currently. It lets me play around with my own tracks and see how they fit in with this other side of the music world. It also lets me resurrect some old tracks and be like, “Oh, you guys haven’t heard this in a while. Check this out. It actually slaps in a DJ set.
So it’s a way for me to do what I want, play it by ear, and goof off . . . which is ultimately the most fun part of music.
