Twitch & Beatport announce live stream partnership

Beatport and Twitch have announced a unique partnership recently, according to a press statement, which will see more exclusive content coming to the Beatport Official Twitch channel. 

Beatport will now also produce several show formats showcasing some of electronic music’s top talent. Sunday evenings will showcase several EDM collectives around the world, including London’s Boko! Boko! and He.She.They, Los Angeles’ Dome Of Doom, and Berlin’s No Shade. Each “takeover” will develop a diverse program of producers and DJs, labels and promoters, and tech and fashion gurus.

The Residency will air every month on Thursday evenings with one artist residency who will curate the entire session. Maya Jane Coles, Eats Everything, Kerri Chandler, Nastia, WhoMadeWho, and Sama’ Abdulhadi are currently slotted to host over the next few months.

Beatport’s long-running Studio Sessions will feature even more educational content from Chris Lake, Chris Liebing, Francesca Lombardom, K-Hand, and more. Beatport’s curation team will also be hand-selecting the best tunes and releases each week and premiering them using Beatport Link during the shows from Berlin.

“We have learned that in addition to big global events, dance music fans are interested in expertly curated and hyper-local live streams as well.  That is why we are committed to focusing a large portion of our live stream takeovers from local collectives who are absolutely essential to nightlife culture globally, and now more than ever, need visibility during the global pandemic.”

Robb McDaniels, Beatport’s CEO

The news follows Beatport’s recent music programming, which has included a 36-hour live stream charity fundraiser, ReConnect, supporting COVID-19 Relief and the Beirut explosion. It also comes after Twitch and Amazon Music announced a similar partnership to bring viewers more artist livestreams.

The official partnerships all come in response to the recent explosion of live streams on Twitch since COVID-19 began shutting down the live music industry in March 2020. Twitch responded by targeting artist live streams that were using other artist’s content, so partnerships were the likely next step. If nothing else, it gives a snapshot of how the pandemic is re-structuring the music industry.

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,” Beatport’s CEO, Robb McDaniels, continues.