Ultra Music Festival will blow out its birthday candles in just a few days, as Ultra 20 descends upon Bayfront Park, Miami to commemorate a landmark two decades from March 23-25. And if the festival were to figuratively wish for new IDs from its favorite figures in the electronic sphere upon extinguishing those candles, Ultra would find its wish fulfilled.

“Every promoter in the world is there, and they’re watching,” Afrojack notes in the fifth episode of the festival’s “20 Years of Ultra” documentary series, “A Global Phenomenon.” The final installment of the video initiative witnesses a number of prominent DJs testify to Ultra’s status as the first major festival of each ensuing festival season, and thus, the prestige of playing Ultra, and the according level of expectation associated with an Ultra booking.

As Fedde Le Grand observes, the strength of an artist’s appearance at Ultra precipitates that of one’s year. “Basically it comes down to if you want to have a good year, you want to showcase some good new stuff,” Le Grand states.

The advent of live streaming has long contributed to Ultra’s ability to reach unprecedented numbers of viewers, and has accordingly allowed DJs to not only debut unreleased music months prior to an official drop date to crowds, but to make a lasting impression on fans and new listeners alike in doing so, as discussed in episode four, “The Explosion of Electronic Music.”

A challenge to DJs to bring their best to Bayfront each year, those on the lineup for Ultra’s 2018 edition can only be expected to show up to show off.

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Categories: Videos