Technology has enabled a whole new generation of creatives to step into the music scene, with new sounds and innovative new genres
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – XX January 2018. Generation Y and Millennials have grown up constantly stimulated by and connected to technology, so it stands to reason that the music of their generation reflects this too. The amplified sensory experience provided by Electronic Dance Music (EDM) fits perfectly into what the genre’s fans want and expect. As Arthur C. Clarke famously said, “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” and it’s this statement that encapsulates the intensity of the EDM experience.
The way in which innovation impacts musical creativity isn’t new – Mozart used the ‘new-fangled’ piano to create some of the most exquisite music known to man and the Beatles made huge advances in the way in which music is recorded. With technology, music has become about creative ideas and isn’t restricted to only those who are masters of a specific instrument. New sounds are also emerging – with musicians sampling every day noises and incorporating those into the beat or melody of a composition.
February 2018 celebrates the fifth anniversary of Ultra South Africa and music lovers are getting ready for the biggest and certainly most exciting electronic music festival on the SA festival calendar Tech giant Samsung has a long association with the event, bringing music and technology together in a symphonic partnership.
Craige Fleischer, Vice President of Integrated Mobility, Samsung South Africa says, “Electronic music is a genre that is constantly evolving in a highly innovative way and we’re seeing even the integration of virtual reality into the music space, offering fans a highly immersive experience. Samsung is all about giving users the best experience they can have and positively impacting their lives, no matter where or what they are doing. Our partnership with Ultra South Africa is a great example of how we are engaging with cutting-edge activities that are relevant to our consumers.”
on 9th and 10th of February this year, electronic music fans in Cape Town and Johannesburg will be treated to a plethora of international and local artists who are at the forefront of the music industry. The line-up is nothing short of astonishing, making this year’s Ultra a not-to-be-missed event.
Here’s which artists music fans can look forward to experiencing at the shows:\
Cape Town (9th February):
- Ultra Main Stage: Axwell A Ingrosso; Armin van Buuren, Hardwell, Afrojack, Carnage, Malaa, Timo ODV, Sketchy Bongo, Dean Fuel
- Resistance Stage: Dubfire, Black Coffee, Eats Everything, Strange Loving, Thor Rixon, Ivan Turanjanin, KanannK7, JNN KPN, Sonic Bloom, Venture
- Bridges for Music Stage: Boolz and Amilca, Step Brothers, VJ Vybez, VJ Jonno, Sam World, Aux Gawd, DJ Azuhl, Dirty Skittlez, K Yeezi, Gina Jeanz
Johannesburg (10th February):
- Ultra Main Stage: Axwell A Ingrosso; Armin van Buuren, Hardwell, Afrojack, Carnage, Malaa, FEU, Timo ODV, Crazy White Boy, Good Luck
- Resistance Stage: Dubfire, Black Coffee, Eats Everything, Shimza, Da Capo, Dogstarr, Bruce Loko, Guy Herman, Ricardo Da Costa, Abby Nurock
- Bridges for Music Stage: Gil Glaze, Chrizz Beats, Das Kapital, Pascal & Pearce, Kyle Cassim, Vimo, Kyle Watson, Chunda Munki, Lady Lea, No Method, Kyle Worde
If that’s not enough to be excited about, Samsung will also be at the event with incredible activations and give-aways for music lovers. “Our devices are fundamentally geared towards enhancing life experiences and partnering with Ultra South Africa to bring innovative creativity onto the stage is something we look forward to each year,” concludes Fleischer.
About Ultra South Africa
About Ultra Worldwide™
ULTRA WORLDWIDE™ IS THE GLOBAL EDITION OF THE WORLD’S PREMIER ELECTRONIC MUSIC EVENT, ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL®.
The ULTRA brand in relation to live events was founded in 1997 in Miami by Executive Producer, President & CEO, Russell Faibisch, who began by producing electronic music events which led to the inaugural Ultra Music Festival® in 1999 on the sands of Miami Beach.
The internationally renowned festival, which has taken place every March since its inception, celebrated its nineteenth anniversary on March 24-26, 2017 by bringing over 165,000 music enthusiasts to the sold out waterfront event in the heart of the City of Miami. Ultra Music Festival®, recently voted the world’s #1 Festival by DJ Mag for the second consecutive year, returns to Bayfront Park for its twentieth annual edition on March 23-25, 2018.
Choosing to follow a unique and creative vision and a wholly organic growth focused on its true love for music, artists and fans alike, the ULTRA and ULTRA Worldwide™ brands represent not only the world’s biggest and most successful remaining INDEPENDENT electronic music festival brand, but also the most international festival brand in the world. Event organizers continue to transport the unrivaled experience from the Miami flagship festival to an ever-growing number of destinations and Ultranauts all over the globe.
Over the past nineteen years, thousands of the world’s most iconic DJs, producers and live acts have mesmerized audiences with awe-inspiring sets at ULTRA festivals in ARGENTINA, BALI, BRASIL, CHILE, CROATIA, IBIZA, JAPAN, KOREA, SINGAPORE, SOUTH AFRICA and of course MIAMI, as well as ROAD TO ULTRA® events in BOLIVIA, CHILE, COLOMBIA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, KOREA, MACAU, PARAGUAY, PERU, THE PHILIPPINES, PUERTO RICO, SINGAPORE, TAIWAN, THAILAND and the USA. Each new global edition has been founded on the same successful recipe that has been perfected over nineteen years in Miami, combining the most diverse electronic talent with the most technologically advanced, large-scale festival productions in the world.
The ULTRA brands have pioneered the live stream experience with ‘ULTRA LIVE’ (with over 650 million live stream and recorded set views from Ultra Music Festival Miami since 2013) and the audio broadcasting platform ‘UMF RADIO’ (syndicated to FM Radio in over 62 countries and reaching more than 22 million listeners weekly). Also UMF FILMS’ collaboration with FINAL KID has seen some of the most visually breathtaking festival aftermovies in the music space, including a feature-length documentary exploring the explosion of dance music, entitled CAN U FEEL IT™, which was premiered on the red carpet at the Klipsch Amphitheater in Miami in 2012 and was exhibited in over 500 theaters across the Unites States.
2016 and 2017 have seen the ULTRA and ULTRA WORLDWIDE™ brands continue to push the boundaries even further, bringing an unparalleled combination of cutting edge productions and the world’s best electronic acts back to previous strongholds and new frontiers across the globe. With the SOLD-OUT edition of ULTRA Brasil®, ULTRA Singapore™ having become a full scale two-day festival, RESISTANCE’s debut standalone South America Tour, and the debut of ROAD TO ULTRA®’s Hong Kong, 2016 was the brand’s most successful year to date. A RESISTANCE summer residency at Privilege Ibiza is confirmed for 2017, while ULTRA China will debut in Shanghai on September 9-10, 2017. Also in 2017, two ROAD TO ULTRA® events will take place in New Delhi and India. ULTRA® have revealed further expansion into México October 6-7 of this year, and Australia for 2018. The ULTRA brand will be present in at least TWENTY-FOUR COUNTRIES across SIX CONTINENTS worldwide by the end of 2018.