TIDAL is flipping the switch on consumers, allowing them to create mixes and mashups to kickstart their careers as DJs.
TIDAL, a digital service provider known for their high-fidelity audio, is testing out a new featured called “DJ” for subscribers signed up for their HiFi Plus plan. In its current state, iOS users are the only ones able to create mixes with the “DJ” tool, but Android users can tune in and listen.
With “DJ,” HiFI Plus subscribers are able to create a set and share it for friends and followers, who can tune in and listen to the mix in real-time, just like a live radio broadcast or podcast.
The new beta program for “DJ” is different than “TIDAL for DJ,” which grants DJs access to the service’s expansive catalog to use within their own software. Last year, TIDAL completely revamped its DJ tools in an effort to revolutionize how streaming services can help artists grow and expand their careers.
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At the moment, TIDAL only allows songs to be played in regular AAC quality instead of the platform’s really high-fidelity audio. AAC, which stands for Advanced Audio Coding, is Apple’s alternative to the MP3 format. It’s a lossy and compressed format, meaning it’s not hi-res.
To get access to “DJ,” you’ll need to sign up for TIDAL’s early access program. You’ll need the HiFi Plus plan, which is free for the first 30 days and then changes to $20 per month once the trial period has ended.
For most DJs, performing for hours on end is an exercise in durability and determination. But for Markus Schulz, it’s child’s play.
With a career spanning roughly three decades, the profile trance producer remains one of the most renowned electronic music artists in the game. And his signature open-to-close NYE sets have become his love language.
Schulz annually descends on the City of Angels to DJ at the famed Avalon Hollywood club, where he rings in the new year by performing for 12 continuous hours with nary a bathroom break. This year’s DJ set, however, has the feel of one of his biggest in recent memory.
“I took a few weeks off from touring in November to work on the next Markus Schulz artist album, which we’re aiming to release in the summer 2023,” he tells EDM.com. “Everything I have earmarked for the album hasn’t been played out anywhere yet, so the Los Angeles faithful can be assured they’ll be the very first to hear those tracks.”
We caught up with Schulz ahead of this year’s NYE set to discuss the secret sauce of his open-to-close sets.
Markus Schulz.
Coldharbour Recordings
EDM.com: This is your 9th year in a row playing New Year’s Eve “open to close” at the historic Avalon Hollywood, where you sell out the venue each year. How does it feel?
Markus Schulz: It feels amazing! I was very fortunate to be able to do it last year. That feeling of gratitude was there throughout the whole experience. It felt incredible to be together again.
EDM.com: What’s key to your relationship with Los Angeles that you keep selling-out Avalon nightclub when you play in L.A.?
Markus Schulz: My relationship with the Los Angeles entertainment scene has always been paramount in my career. When my reputation started growing outside of Miami in the early days, I got some early bookings in L.A. In the beginning, the challenge to play L.A. felt a bit daunting, but thanks to the communities of trance music fans, Los Angeles really embraced me and my sound.
Fans there welcomed me as part of their family. It gave me the confidence that, if I could connect with people there, I had the ability to do it in the other key clubbing cities around the world. Avalon was one of the venues which provided me the opportunity to bring my open-to-close experience to fans as a regular event. It’s an incredible privilege to be able to return to Avalon Hollywood for another year this New Year’s Eve! It’s not something I take for granted.
EDM.com: I’m sure there are many, but do you have one resounding memory of playing at Avalon Hollywood that stands out from all of your other New Year’s Eve shows?
Markus Schulz: For sure! It’s one of those special venues and cities I’ll be forever grateful for. The 2017-2018 New Year’s Eve show at Avalon was where I proposed onstage to my wife, Adina, so everyone in attendance that night got to share that memorable, beautiful moment with us.
Generally speaking, I’m at the point in my career now where people are starting to assess my overall contribution to the music industry. This series of New Year’s Eve open-to-close shows at Avalon Hollywood is an essential element to the story of my career as a DJ.
EDM.com: Performing an “open-to-close” DJ set is something most DJs will never even attempt. It’s not only because there’s not a demand from ticket-buying audiences for those DJs, but also because doing so is so physically taxing. A lot or even most simply don’t have enough music (or stamina) to last that long. Would you agree with that assessment?
Markus Schulz: It’s an enormous challenge, both physically and mentally. For my Avalon New Year’s Eve shows, I typically plan on playing for 12 continuous hours without a break. Mentally, I’d break that down into the role of three DJ sets: an opener, peak-hour and afterhours.
Markus Schulz.
Coldharbour Recordings
EDM.com: Can you elaborate?
Markus Schulz: The opener, where you’re gently easing people in with deep, progressive and percussive music. This helps set the tone of the event and allows me to gradually build. There’s a slight difference with this portion of the night compared with my normal programming because it’s New Year’s Eve. On New Year’s, you obviously have that huge destination point of the clock striking midnight, so I might move through the gears a little quicker in building the energy.
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The peak-hour is where I play all of my biggest hits: big vocals and big melodies. I also throw in a few surprises that people aren’t necessarily expecting. Again, and because it’s New Year’s Eve, this part of the set would begin a little earlier so I can start building towards the big “midnight moment” around 30 to 45 minutes out.
EDM.com: Then the countdown, and… boom! The clock strikes midnight near the height of your peak-time portion.
Markus Schulz: Yeah. Then later is afterhours, which is where my “Down the Rabbit Hole” themed sets this year have been derived from. This is the point in the night when I have the entire room vibing as one. Here’s when I can start moving the music towards a darker, more twisted tip. The bright lights get dimmed and we’re fully on a euphoric techno exploration. I go in, before heading into the morning and coming-up out of the darkness and into the light, musically speaking.
EDM.com: You’re constantly responding to the crowd as you’re playing, so it’s never like you can pre-program a set, right? All you can do is prepare for it. How do you organize your music so that you don’t get completely lost searching for music during a marathon set?
Markus Schulz: When I’m gathering new music, I typically categorize tracks that’ll connect with me into specific folders that match those DJ-roles I’ve just described. There’s a lot of planning involved! You’re essentially topping-up your music folders with new content every week, all year long, and as the show date moves closer, in my mind I can start to piece things together towards the journey I want to take the audience on.
EDM.com: That’s a glimpse into what you do on the mental side—preparing meticulously with your track selection. What are you doing to prepare yourself physically for such a marathon?
Markus Schulz: Physically, you also really have to prepare well. I do a lot of cardiovascular workouts in the gym during the week, year ‘round. On the day of the show, I’ll eat quite lightly and get in a disco nap before heading to the venue. The golden rule is not to consume any alcohol while performing, in order to prevent dehydration. So, plenty of water while performing, and in case I need an energy boost, I’ll also pack some nuts and fruits in my bag.
Markus Schulz.
Coldharbour Recordings
EDM.com: What’s the toughest part of your open-to-close sets?
Markus Schulz: To be honest, I find the hardest point of the open-to-close sets is getting to sleep afterwards. The reason I say that is, while you’re physically drained, mentally you’re still running at a million miles-a-minute because you’re constantly reading the room and having to musically react to ensure they stay with you throughout the journey. It’s the reason why I’ll typically stay in L.A. for a couple of days after New Year’s Eve to recover and relax.
EDM.com: What can clubbers expect this year that’s different from your previous New Year’s Eve shows?
Markus Schulz: Well, I took a few weeks off from touring in November to work on the next Markus Schulz artist album, which we’re aiming to release in the summer 2023. Everything I have earmarked for the album hasn’t been played out anywhere yet, so the Los Angeles faithful can be assured they’ll be the very first to hear those tracks.
EDM.com: Besides preparing for your New Year’s Eve set, how did you spend the last few months of 2022?
Markus Schulz: Following the release of the Dakota EP, Odyssey to the Netherworld, which was released this past summer, the second half of 2022 has been devoted to my collaborative “X” series. For that, it’s been great working with a collection of old-friends as well as new, upcoming talent.
The latest release is “Prestwick” with the legendary BT. The reactions to it have been great so far. I have a couple more finished that’ll be releasing in early 2023, so they’re sure to be showcased during my New Year’s Eve set, too.
EDM.com: As a globetrotting DJ and producer who routinely circles the Earth performing for people of all cultures and nationalities, how do you personally feel about New Year’s Eve?
Markus Schulz: I’ve always thought of New Year’s Eve as a night when everyone goes out to celebrate the incoming year, even if they don’t go out regularly or on any other night of the year. Being around people as the clock strikes midnight is an amazing and perfect way to create optimism for the new year ahead. That’s why—even if you haven’t gone out in a while—you’ll find other like-minded people who are also out for the first time in a long time.
The atmosphere at midnight, there’s nothing like it! Being part of a group celebration and witnessing the spectacle of confetti, music and cheering is something you don’t forget. As the DJ playing a full house on New Year’s Eve at Avalon Hollywood, remember that I’m having a blast, too.
You can get tickets to see Markus Schulz on New Year’s Eve at Avalon Hollywood, Los Angeles here.
‘Tis the season and—love it or hate it—that time of year distinguished by the celebratory buying and exchanging of gifts is closing in fast. For many, shopping for a gift is relatively straightforward. But for others, it never gets easier.
Take the DJ of the family, for instance. Most of us don’t have Santa’s eerily on-target ESP so what’s a loved one to get them? Apart from a deep dive into the weird world that makes them the wonderful person they are, it can be almost impossible.
Fortunately, EDM.com has your back.
Over the course of the last month, we spent more than 40 hours turning knobs and pushing buttons on all the best gadgets we could get our hands on. We went to stores, factories and corporate offices hundreds of miles apart to test out the newest headphones, speakers and a number of other highly useful devices. Suffice it to say, our ears are tired.
Some of our favorites were at the cusp of the cutting-edge. Others simply took the electronic music listening experience to the next level. Want to splurge on a gift for yourself? Trying to figure out what to get the DJ of the house? Read on to discover some of the hottest gifts you can buy this holiday season.
Courtesy of AKG
A Top-Shelf Set of Headphones
Our Pick: AKG K371 Lifestyle Headphones
For the touring artist, audiophile on the road or someone who finds themselves in need of a personal listening device, a lot of fierce set of headphones can be a game-changer. After checking out many of the crispiest headphones the market has to offer we arrived at the AKG K371 Lifestyle Headphones and found their closed-back, oval-oval-shaped design has an edge when it comes to both quality and comfort.
Cost-wise, they also turned out to be one of the most accessible options available today. If you’re wondering why the DJ in the family needs these and not some other random set of headphones, the K371s are built for dissecting songs, recording or all those little moments in between gigs. Like, when it’s time to watch movies on the plane. Their versatility is a bonus and at $103.50 the k371s are about as high grade as you can get without breaking the bank.
Disclaimer: A few of these selections require healthy budgets and none of them are cheap. In other words, value was certainly a factor but items were selected on our preferences and not by how much they cost.
The Vinyl Record Player with a Modern Spin
Our Pick: Victrola Stream Carbon Works with Sonos Turntable
When a producer or DJ collects vinyl records, it’s not just for show. Most take their collecting and their collections seriously, and that means having a serious vinyl record player. For pros like those, turn to the ultra sleek Victrola Stream Carbon Turntable with Sonos.
From those included in this article, this item is probably the toughest to get because they’re so frequently out of stock. In addition to being both controlled by a mobile app and compatible with your Sonos setup (as the name implies), the Victrola Stream Carbon Works Turntable effectively marries that classic warm fuzzy feeling that everyone loves about vinyl records with some of the most modern technology on-hand today.
Our Pick: AKG Lyra Ultra-HD Multimode USB Microphone
Few gadgets can open up the world of potential for dance music DJ like a solid USB mic. Podcasts, instrumentals, vocals and so much more are all suddenly within reach. After testing a dozen of the top plug-and-play microphones available today, we landed on the AKG Lyra both for its $99 price-tag and its multi-pattern coverage, which activates condensers that listen in different directions.
Whether it’s used for a home studio recording or in a hotel room on the road, the Lyra wins out as a big impact upgrade. The best part? It won’t blow the holiday budget. For simpler vocal configurations, gaming, or podcasts the AKG Ara also caught our eye as an even more affordable alternative, coming in at only $69.
Busking DJs, a backyard barbecuers and anyone who likes to party on the go will agree, having your own portable PA is a game-changer and the EON One Compact from JBL is the best all-in-one option on the market. At $599, it’s a bit of a splurge, but the punch packed in this little bluetooth/app controlled, battery-operated powerhouse does way too much, albeit in the best possible ways.
Sound from it is rich, mean and about as crazy as it is genius. Basically, it’s the speaker version of Elon Musk if he could fight. With four separate channels, you can do everything from put on a pop-up desert rave or jam with a few friends on a corner downtown.
Everyone talks about ear protection and staving off the onset of tinnitus, but not many people really bite the bullet and buy something to do something about it. That’s where Minuendo comes in.
With their 7- to 25-decibel shifting, adjustable ear plugs at a modest $159 price tag, they’re more economical than those molded plugs that get the lion’s share of the hype in the music industry. Plus, they come with a variety of rubber molded ear fittings. In addition to just being a more sensible product than those high dollar ear molds (because if you lose one you’re not out the cost of a used car), Minuendo’s Adjustable Ear Plugs offer more bang for the buck while staying at a small price to pay for those who like to turn it up—and keep it that way.
