
Photos: WireImage.com
Ultra, Miami Music Week With David Guetta, Tiësto, MusiCares & More
Monday, March 26
- Each year, the dance music artists, professionals, and enthusiasts from the whole world over make the pilgrimage to Miami Music Week. This year, we stopped by some of the week's hottest parties and most exclusive events to rub elbows with the world's finest DJs, including up-and-comers like Lost Frequencies, worldwide sensations such as Above & Beyond and genre pioneers like David Guetta.
- As we all return home this Monday, head back to work and try to find our way back to reality, take a bleary-eyed look back at seven DJ sets from Ultra that stuck to the inside of our brains and beat hard on the walls of our hearts.
Sunday, March 25
- Just before his sunset set at Ultra, we caught up with Dutch DJ/producer Tiësto to discuss "Boom" with Gucci Mane, music's power to heal and the motto that has informed his successful 20-plus-year career. Check out our exclusive chat with the GRAMMY winner.
- Weren't in Miami this week? Live vicariously through our roundup of the hottest industry mixers, daytime beach bashes and exclusive afterparties from Miami Music Week.
Saturday, March 24
- For artists, crew members and music fans alike, there are few things more important than protecing your hearing. MusiCares, the Recording Academy's health and human services charity, was on the ground in Miami, providing hearing protection for artists and crew. Get the lowdown on what some of the clients had to say with our full report.
- On Thursday, David Guetta and Sia revealed their latest collaboration,"Flames." Just a day later, we sat down for an exclusive with Guetta for the full story on their fiery new single, his chemistry with Sia and how he's prepping for his headling set at Ultra.
Friday, March 23
- Deep house DJ Nora En Pure's exotic moniker reflects her work: mysterious, unique and authentic. She capped off the resurgence of Winter Music Conference on March 22 with an intimate conversation covering her creative process, thoughts on the current state of dance music, and her deepest inspirations and dreams.
- Despite the huge number of notable music documentaries captivating the stories behind the artists, albums, and movements we love, dance music has had disproportionately fewer shining moments on the silver screen, especially considering the genre's massive and ever-growing popularity and influence. Now, a new film changes all that — What We Started premiered at Miami Music Week on Mach. 22. Learn about the film with our report from the premiere.
Thursday, March 22
From South Beach to Wynwood, to Downtown and back, Miami is pulsing with the world's biggest DJs and most passionate dance music fans this week. The reason? There are several. Ultra Music Festival, Miami Music Week, and Winter Music Conference all coincide, making Miami the place to for all things dance music.
Whether you on the scene and unable to be everywhere at once, or you can't quite make it South Florida, the Recording Academy has you covered. We'll be bringing you inside access to all the hottest performances, parties and panels from on the ground in Miami.
Ultra Music Festival
Ultra Music Festival returns to its picturesque downtown Miami home this year for the festival's 20th-anniversary edition. While the annual lineup is always solid, 2018's docket is particularly strong with headlining sets on the way from a collection of GRAMMY winners and nominees including Afrojack, the Chainsmokers, David Guetta, DJ Snake, Kaskade, Steve Aoki, Tiësto, and many more.
Arcadia The Spider stage (by Arcadia Spectacular) at Ultra 2017
Photo courtesy Arcadia Spectacular
To mix things up at Ultra, the RESISTANCE Stages return with an incredible mix of underground dance music. This year the Carl Cox Megastructure, hosted as always by legendary DJ Carl Cox himself, features a stacked string of performances by Dubfire, Nicole Moudaber, and Paco Osuna. Meanwhile, the unforgettable Arcadia The Spider stage installation is back, and will will be led by dark techno visionary and Drumcode label boss Adam Beyer, along with sets from J.E.S.u.S. (Jackmaster, Eats Everything, Skream, and Seth Troxler) and Better Lost Than Stupid (Davide Squillace, Matthias Tanzman, and Martin Buttrich). This diverse mix of headliners and RESISTANCE stage acts ensure there will be something for everyone at this year's sold-out Ultra.
Phase 2 of the #ULTRA20 lineup is here! GA tickets are SOLD OUT. A limited number of VIP tickets remain.
Full list of phase 2 artists: https://t.co/6WDUvtAOGJ pic.twitter.com/JMyVkUEPiG— Ultra Music Festival (@ultra) February 26, 2018
Miami Music Week
Miami Music Week coincides with Ultra each year, and brings countless parties and club shows to South Beach, making sure industry players and fans alike have no shortage of music to enjoy. We'll be tracking some of the wildest and most exclusive parties and hippest premieres throughout the week.
Winter Music Conference
Winter Music Conference is also enjoying a vital last-minute resurgence in 2018. After a long history of unofficially overlapping to make Miami the place to be in late March, Ultra and Winter Music Conference are now finally under the same roof, with Ultra's announcement earlier this week that it had officially acquired WMC. With these two powerhouses now in step to provide more programming and entertainment, the sky is the limit. We'll be following some of the can't-miss programs from WMC, bringing you the inside scoop on what's what in today's thriving dance music industry.
Many of the world's DJs who make the pilgrimage to Miami feel that Ultra and Miami Music Week mark the start of the New Year for dance music, an opportunity to show off the new stage sets they've been working on through the winter. Make sure you check back at GRAMMY.com all this weekend to see what surprises are in store.