Exron Exclusive Interview: The Creators of 1001Tracklist’s “Top 101 Producers of 2020”

Persevering through the unique set of challenges presented by 2020, 1001Tracklist’s “Top 101 Producers of 2020” annual celebration is set to take place on Friday, October 30th, on Minecraft, making history as the first ever festival to stream on the gaming platform. In anticipation of this historic event, we interviewed the creative team for commentary on their planning process, their decision to involve the world-famous gaming platform Minecraft, David Guetta’s guest appearance last year, the set list, and much more.

Exron Music: This year we are unable to celebrate the release of the “Top 101 Producers of 2020” in person, obviously due to health concerns during an ongoing pandemic. When did your team decide to transition to a digital festival platform, and how did conversations about a collaboration with Minecraft begin?

It became pretty apparent in April that we were not going to be able to host any in-person events this year. Given that we had planned two Miami Music Week Live Stream events that were canceled, we quickly transitioned into Virtual Festivals and held a series of three festivals in April, May and June. This helped us to build our live-streaming presence and gain valuable experience running virtual festivals. 

Right after the third virtual festival, we began brainstorming ways to make as big of an impact as possible for our Top 101 Producers celebration – we wanted to do something above and beyond what we had done in our virtual festival series. We connected with several possible partners, one of which was Genesis, the company that successfully produced the first in-game Minecraft music festival called Blockeley to celebrate UC Berkeley’s virtual graduation earlier this year. We clicked right away with them and decided to go full steam ahead on recreating Amsterdam within Minecraft to offer a unique experience available within the game and also live-streamed for fans to watch outside of the game. 

Exron Music: This year’s celebration will make history as the first ever music celebration on the gaming modem Minecraft. What can fans of Minecraft, as well as fans of EDM, expect to see on this novel platform?

You can expect to see a one-of-a-kind virtual world. For fans of Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), we’ve recreated many famous Amsterdam landmarks that hold a special place in all of our hearts, such as A’DAM Tower, Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, Leidseplein Square, Rijksmuseum, and Amsterdam Centraal Station. For anyone who has walked the city center and canals of Amsterdam, or been in person at ADE, there’s just a special energy and atmosphere you can’t find anywhere else in the world. Given as well that the release of the Top 101 Producers is normally during ADE week each year, we were thrilled to bring this concept to life!

Fans of Minecraft can expect an elaborate map, packed with mini-games, hidden areas, easter eggs and more! Each of the builders who helped create the environment were challenged to create a secret space that was meaningful to them, and as a result there are loads to discover in-game!

For fans of EDM, we’re bringing a true party going experience to fans missing it from home! Our goal was to take people back into the atmosphere of their favorite venue or favorite festival with the stages we created. The Main stage and the Club Stage are both packed with LEDs, lights, CO2 & more! With a super diverse lineup genre-wise, we really feel like there is something for everyone!MO

Exron Music: According to released details, “The event will showcase two stages with 10 hours of non-stop music… with artists ready to bring as many IDs as possible into their sets.” Last year, David Guetta closed the festival, accepting his award for #1 producer in person. Can you talk to us about which artists will be performing this year, and how this set list will unfold via a gaming platform?

The lineup for the event features artists from the 2020 rankings as well as other talents we feel deserve more attention. With 50+ artists, it’s hard to name them all, but we’ll give it our best shot! The sets will unfold across two stages – the Main stage, with artists more from the traditional EDM sounds, and the Club Stage, with artists who are known for House, Tech House, Progressive, or Trance!

On the Main stage in peak time, watch out for the heavy hitters! The standout sets are definitely the first-ever Future Rave b2b set from David Guetta & MORTEN, an extended Oliver Helden‘s set, and sets from Nora En Pure, Nicky Romero, RetroVision, and Vintage Culture. Also watch on the Main stage for Chocolate Puma, CID, Curbi, and RayRay who have all played at in-person 1001Tracklists events before and crushed it! Nostalgix and Malaa are the two of the other sets we’re super hyped for as well!

For House and Tech House fans, Martin Ikin, KC Lights and Illyus & Barrientos represent the Toolroom Records family, while David Penn, Low Steppa, and OFFAIAH will showcase the best from Defected Records. Qrion, Yotto, and Miss Monique are great picks for the Melodic and Progressive House side of things, while Ilan Bluestone, Maor Levi, Giuseppe Ottaviani will be representing the best of Trance.

Exron Music: For those less familiar with gaming modems, how will this live stream experience be different than a more traditional live stream experience? How will the immersive world of Minecraft enhance their experience? 

Anyone with a Minecraft account can enjoy the virtual world in-game. You can stroll around Minecraftsterdam, where you’ll find the recreated landmarks as well as some special surprises. And most importantly, you can be in the crowd at the Main stage where you can enjoy the performances front and center! 

For anyone wishing to watch outside of the game, not a worry as we’re streaming everything on Twitch using multiple camera angles to mimic the streaming experience that you’d find for a big festival like Ultra or Tomorrowland. 

Exron Music: As the team that dreamed this AI 2020 celebration into fruition, what were some of the highlights throughout the production process? What were some of the challenges? 

To be honest, one of the biggest challenges was accepting the reality of the situation. Connecting with our community is so important and at the core of 1001Tracklists, that not being able to put on an event in person where we would physically see so many familiar faces, hug our friends, meet new people, and dance together was tough to swallow. Amsterdam is one of the only times of the year our whole team is together in person, and that alone has been a challenge to be without.

The other biggest challenges would include the sheer amount of work and coordination needed to prepare all of the assets and work with all of the artists. It’s an exciting challenge, but one that requires tons of organization, as we do all of this work and creation of social content in house, so 55 artists for the event and 101 artists in the rankings means communication and execution must be on point!

For the highlights, working with 50+ artists! Really, we are so grateful to every artist to trust us with their music and image for this celebration. We’re massive music fans ourselves so it’s always extra special to have the trust of one of your favorite artists. We can’t wait to listen to every set too!! The first-ever Future Rave b2b set is a definite highlight as David Guetta and MORTEN are both so popular right now with our community.

Seeing the first screenshots of the building replicas from Amsterdam was also a definite highlight. Couldn’t help but have smiles plastered across our faces. And then the teaser video we just dropped last week with some flyovers of the environment and the Amsterdam landmarks was a total treat to work on and release! Still get goosebumps!

One last highlight – getting to work with a lot of partners to do loads of giveaways on stream is really exciting. It’s something we’ve never done before and the opportunity to work with leading gaming and electronic brands like HyperX, THX, and Razer is super exciting!

Exron Music: The “Top 101 Producers of 2020” is a list completely determined by analytics, with no politics or votes. Why is this strictly numeric, data policy important to maintain as a platform to recognize success?

We created the Top 101 Producers concept in 2016 with a desire to do something different, something that is 100% constructed from the data on our platform, with no ability to influence the rankings in any other way. Thanks to our incredible user community – people who spend significant time adding & editing tracklists on the site – we have more than 260,000 tracklists on the platform to date. This gives us an incredible dataset of tracks played in sets and mixes. 

The Top 101 Producers ranking features the artists whose tracks were most supported by DJs around the world. The rankings are composed of an artist’s total unique DJ support, meaning that these rankings are determined by the amount that a producer had his or her tracks played by DJs in live sets, radio shows, and mixes. As a result, our rankings provide a unique indicator for an artist’s performance throughout the year, and an indicator that is generated purely through other artists’ tastes. It’s a ranking that often showcases trending producers before they start to a breakthrough in other avenues of their career, and we are really proud to highlight these deserving artists for the success of the tracks that they’re releasing. 

Exron Music: Thinking ahead to 2021, let’s assume this pandemic completely subsides and we can all gather in person to celebrate once more. Is it fair to say that elements of online streaming may potentially remain, for years to come, to boost inclusivity and viewership around the world?

Streaming already was a major element in the industry before the pandemic. From brands such as Cercle which are based around live stream events, to Tomorrowland and Ultra Music Festival investing so much into the live streams of their events, it’s clear to see that there is a hunger for the content from fans worldwide. For in-person ticketed events, the live streams couldn’t be better marketing as well. Not only are the artists themselves preparing the best possible performance they can because they are on the stream, labels, promotion channels, fan accounts, etc. are all cutting clips to share on their own feed and it all reflects back on the event itself. Smaller events and clubs will always hope to showcase their experience to a larger audience, so live streaming in that space will always be around!

In terms of individual artists connecting with their fans, we think you will definitely continue to see a continued run of streaming. In some cases we suspect that you’ll see a weekly stream replace a weekly radio show. The engagement directly with fans and ability to monetize via live streams seems to be a no-brainer for the artists who are streaming successfully to continue in the future, no matter the global climate! 

Exron Music: What is a standout moment from past Top 101 Producers events? As a team, what made that moment a standout amongst the numerous celebrations from over the years?

Last year when David Guetta came on stage as a special guest to accept his trophy as the winner of the Top 101 Producers 2019 at the end of our event is a moment we will never forget. We had planned for the moment in great detail with his team – sorting backstage, entry, etc. – but it was one of those moments, where we knew it was going to happen, but couldn’t actually believe it until he was there. To have him make a speech as well and speak directly from his heart to our community about how much the award meant to him was unforgettable.

Exron Music: For those around the world struggling with the ongoing nature of this pandemic, could your team share any words of wisdom, specifically regarding how to preserve and collaborate in times of isolation?

Times are undoubtedly really challenging, but we think that any work that you can put into building yourself, your career or your company for the long-term will really pay off once things start to turn the corner. That is not just professionally, but also personally. We’re all very active physically, and the chance to get outside, get some sun, and do some sports together (we really like playing spike ball and ultimate frisbee) have been so needed for us. And then for all of us here together in Indonesia, we talk about how removing ourselves at times from social media and the news cycle has been invaluable to our mental health.

Collaboration wise this has been an exciting time to work with lots of people across the globe that we never would have otherwise. One of the best ways to build these relationships for us has been to take the time to do a video call to first connect with someone. Less talk about work, more talk about life, and building a genuine connection as the start of a work relationship. Especially in a time where you aren’t really meeting new people in person anymore, it’s been a really welcome interaction!

And then in general it’s been important to focus on the positives we can find, and keep things balanced and in perspective. We’re fortunate to be a really tight-knit team and to have each other during these times, and we’re really excited to show you what we’ve been working on this week and bring some happiness through music! 

To live stream the event, and cultivate some happiness through music, click here.