2020 was and still is a challenge for the whole planet. COVID-19 affected many industries, and the events industry and the musical one are some of the most affected. The concerts and festivals were postponed or canceled, and the artists went back into their own worlds. What we didn’t miss this year is everyone’s creativity – the events moved into the online world, so did the concerts and sets of many DJs. Wherever and whenever was possible, small events took place, but too few, too small, too different from what we knew and from what we all miss. But the moments we are craving for will exceed any expectations in the future.
In 2020, the world stood still, and yet… did not stop. Creativity was high for many artists who composed new songs and productions. The biggest DJs of the planet will definitely make crazy and amazing shows at the next editions of the big festivals like UNTOLD, Tomorrowland, Exit, Neversea, Coachella, and so on.
This year, David Guetta became, again, no. 1 DJ on the planet, according to TOP 100 DJ Mag. Guetta ally deserves this title, gained on his birthday, 7th of November, at Amsterdam Dance Event. The moment of awarning the prize for the best DJ in the world was illustrated with a lot of images from the show he made at UNTOLD, in 2019.
On April 18, more than 12 million people, from all over the planet, forgot, for an hour and a half, about the pandemic, quarantine, worries, uncertainties, questions without answers, longings, and failures. Their attention was on David Guetta, who made the musical event “United at Home” to raise money for World Health Organisation, Feeding America, Feeding South Florida, and FondationHôpitaux de Paris-Hôpitaux de France.
Located between the high blocks of Miami, the French DJ and producer played a special set, created especially for the event, and united millions of people from all over the world in the online world. He asked them to donate, each as much as he could, so more than 750.000$ were raised.
One month and a half later, on May 30, took place the second session ”United at Home”, this time in New York. More than 25 million people around the world have watched online Guetta’s mastery, which once again called for donations and raised over 750.000$.
The set from New York included a new collaboration between David Guetta & Morten – ”Kill me slow”. The song, that contains vocals, is part of the project Future Rave. On July 17, the duo launched the New Rave EP, that contains: “Kill me Slow”, “Nothing”, “Bombardment” and “Odyssey”.
In the pandemic, David Guetta remained optimistic, creative, and confident. Another proof is the song ”Let’s love”, composed and produced by him, with a strong message of love and hope. The amazing “Let’s love” is sung by Sia and it became very fast a hit. The official video presents the story of 2 young people who connect in the virtual world and live a love story.
The same Guetta has worked this year on new remixes and sets. Amsterdam Dance Event 2020 ended with a spectacular set from Guetta, where he included unreleased songs and special remixes.
A day away from the DJ Mag awards, David Guetta won Best Electronic at the MTV EMA 2020 Awards.
The king of trance remains, without any doubt, Armin van Buuren, the Dutch guy loved by millions of people from all over the world. The star of the UNTOLD festival, where Armin said a lot of times that he feels at home, kept his 4th place in Top 100 DJs.
This year, Armin had a collaboration with Jake Reese, for the song ”Need you now”, that was released on October 9. ”Need you know” has a fresh house rhythm, a strong bass and piano, a perfect match with Jake’s voice. Can you imagine how all of us are gonna dance on it at the first festival we will attend?
The same craziness will happen also on the track “Feel something”, the newest collaboration between Armin van Buuren and Duncan Laurence.
“Emerging with another super-infectious signal, Armin van Buuren teams up with Eurovision Song Contest 2019 sensation Duncan Laurance for a record that ticks the boxes of every dance music lover out there. Reflecting on the pain of heartbreak on a backdrop of gritty beats and touches of synth pop, “Feel something” is bound to resonate strongly with all who listen”, said Armin about this song.
Also this year, Armin van Buuren launched his third collaboration with AVIRA – Mask (ft. Sam Martin). This way he completed the trilogy “Hollow Mask Illusion”. Armin stated that this way he was able to translate some of the things he’s been facing in his life into it not just as a producer, but as a songwriter as well.
Norwegian Kygo has been riding the waves in this pandemic year. He launched his third album “Golden Hour” and remixed, in his characteristic style, famous songs such as “What’s Love Got to Do with It” (Tina Turner) and “Hot Stuff” (Donna Summer).
In only 3 months, the remake of Kygo on Tina Turner’s hit surpassed 21 million views on YouTube and has been played thousands of times on radio stations all over the world.
“Hot Stuff” gathered, in one month since the release of the official video, more than 8.5 million views on YouTube.
The “Golden Hour” album contains the imprint that Kygo has left on Whitney Houston’s hit “Higher Love”, a remix he released in 2019. In 2020, when humanity was in quarantine, Kygo was launching every week a song from his newest album “Golden Hour” and thus brought a ray of hope and something new in the world that was stuck between the same walls. Everything started on the 27th of March, when he released “Like it is”, a collaboration with Tyga and the charming voice of Zara Larsson. On April 3, he gave us “I’ll wait”, with the voice of Sasha Sloan. In total, “Golden Hour” contains 18 impressive pieces.
If they missed Kygo’s old songs and his presence on the mainstage, the fans from all over the world, who missed him at UNTOLD 2018, had the chance to see, for the first time in history, the show he created on Cluj Arena. The organizers of UNTOLD created the show Sparks of Magic in the days when the 6th edition of the festival should have taken place. During the 4 days, the fans were able to watch, in premiere, the broadcasts of the shows of some artists who played on the mainstage in the last 5 years at UNTOLD.
The crazy and energic Steve Aoki launched, this year, the “Tarantino” song, with Timmy Trumpet and STARX, as a tribute to the famous American director, screenwriter, actor, and producer Quentin Tarantino.
Steve Aoki is a huge fan of Tarantino, as he stated many times. Years ago he said that “when you think about Quentin Tarantino and the feel of his movies, you immediately think of the soundtracks too”.
The song “Tarantino”, released on September 30, has the crazy alert and playful rhythms of Steve Aoki, the magic Timmy’s trumpet, and the voice of the MC that urges you to jump and enjoy the song.
Another collaboration launched this year by Steve Aoki is “Lies”, with the Norwegian duo KREAM. “Lies” is a perfect combination of their styles. The 2 brothers from KREAM came with their house and deep house and Aoki with his electro-house, but this time calmer than his electrifying and energetic beats that made him famous.
The new dad Tiesto released, before entering his new fatherly role, several songs, either remixes or singles. In September, he launched the single “The Business” a deep house that sounds perfect with the voice of James Bell. In just 2 months since its release, the official video has surpassed 8.5 million views on YouTube.
This year, the Dutch DJ and producer launched a new project, with his alias VER:WEST, through which he came back to trance. Wervest is Tiesto’s last name. The first song released under this alias is “5 Seconds Before Sunrise”, a truly magical musical journey.
So, from a complicated present, that turned everyone’s lives upside down, many beautiful projects were born, and the future… sounds good and new! See you at UNTOLD and other huge festivals next year!
