Beatport Launches Exclusive Livestream Partnership With Twitch

Variety Staff
·4 min read

Beatport and Twitch have announced a partnership that will enable Beatport to bring more exclusive music and programming to its Twitch channel.

With over 140,000 followers, Beatport has seen 48 million views on marathon livestream events like ReConnect (to benefit COVID-19 Relief) and a fundraiser for the Beirut explosion, as well as festival partnerships including Glastonbury, Movement Detroit, Junction 2 and Creamfields.

Outside of the bigger festival partnerships and ReConnect events, Beatport will now also produce several weekly show formats showcasing some of the best talent in electronic music.

A centerpiece of the programming will be called “The Residency.” Each month on Thursday evenings, Beatport will be giving the reins to one artist to host their own residency and curate each session fitting their artistic vision. Artists like Maya Jane Coles (pictured above), Eats Everything, Kerri Chandler, Nastia, WhoMadeWho and Sama’ Abdulhadi are slated for residencies over the next few months. According to the announcement, diversity will play a vital role in Beatport’s Twitch and editorial content, offering collaborations with a diverse representation of electronic music creators and performers.

Sunday evenings will be given to electronic music collectives around the world such as “Boko! Boko!” (London), “Dome of Doom” (Los Angeles), “HE.SHE.THEY” (London) and “No Shade” (Berlin) to showcase a diverse program of producers, DJs, promoters, and other talented artists.

Beatport CEO Robb McDaniels said, “We have seen firsthand how live streams are playing a crucial role in nurturing the dance music community during the pandemic, with millions of fans watching our events on a regular basis. We have learned that in addition to big global events, dance music fans are interested in hyper-local live streams as well. That is why we are committed to focus a large portion of our live streams and content to takeovers from local collectives who are absolutely essential to nightlife culture globally, and now more than ever, need visibility during the global pandemic.”

Independent labels are the lifeblood of Beatport. Its initiative Beatport HYPE will be given the spotlight in the HYPE Label Showcases. HYPE labels such as Soft Computing, Sense Traxx, House U and Hotfuss will be given the platform to push their sounds and talent each month, bringing visibility to up and coming labels. Following on from the likes of Drumcode, Tronic, Toolroom and Soma, more of Beatport’s staple labels such as Ultra, Kittball and Stereo Productions will be taking Beatport’s Label showcases series, premiering their talent and promoting their new releases.

Educational content from industry legends in the form of Beatport’s long-running Studio Sessions, with Chris Lake, Chris Liebing, Francesca Lombardo and K-HAND slated to give the Beatport audience in-depth looks at their studios and creative process.

Beatport’s curation team will be hand-selecting the best tunes and releases each week and premiering them using Beatport LINK during the shows from Berlin, whilst ENDO will be running the LINK sessions from L.A. Weekly guests will include regular Beatport big sellers and up and coming artists.

“Beatport has been a key part of Twitch’s music growth over the past couple of years, driving the diversity and artistry of the electronic music industry in unparalleled ways,” said Will Farrell-Green, Head of Music Content at Twitch. “When events all moved to virtual this year, Beatport was one of the first to accelerate their programming on Twitch. We’re thrilled to expand this partnership to continue connecting this group of avid electronic music fans globally.”

Speaking about the partnership between Beatport and Twitch, Ed Hill, Beatport’s Vice President of Creative Services, explained, “Collaborating with Twitch and expanding our livestream programming allows us to continue to bring critical visibility and revenue to artists, labels, and collectives during a time when live club shows, the lifeblood of our industry, do not exist. Our goal is to help the creative forces in electronic music stay innovative and thrive in the current digital-only performance environment and keep the connection between fans, artists and labels alive, and through this programming, build a closer relationship between us all via the amazing community vibe that Twitch offers. I’m really excited to make something amazing out of what we have all, as a community, been dealt.”

 

 

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