Beatport and Microsoft Surface Unite to Empower Musicians With Remote Collaboration Tools

Beatport has announced a unique partnership with Microsoft Surface to empower creators with the latest tech developments from the touchscreen-based device brand.

The alliance will enable musicians using Beatport’s leading electronic music platform to harness the tools of Surface’s innovative products and collaborate remotely in real-time, regardless of where they are. The two powerhouses recently announced the launch of a dedicated campaign, dubbed Originals², which will kick off with a series of educational events featuring world-famous DJs.

“In a world where collaboration between music creators is accelerating online, it’s critical that technology hardware and software keep innovating with frictionless experiences,” said said Chris Beeby, Director, Integrated Marketing & Partnerships at Microsoft in a press statement. “The new Surface Laptop Studio and Surface Pro 8, both with class-leading performance and PixelSense touchscreens, are the perfect creative tools for music production, empowering DJs and producers to work together in real-time from anywhere.”

The first taste of what Originals² has to offer will come December 2nd at Miami Beach’s Art Basel summit with the debut of “Party Mode,” a feature on the Beatport DJ app and optimized for Surface touchscreen interfaces.

According to a press release issued to announce the partnership, Beatport LINK and Surface will connect two iconic electronic music artists—Jamie Jones and Loco Dice—to perform a remote, collaborative DJ set. The former will spin at Art Basel while the latter beams in from Berlin, ultimately performing a landmark set and the first of its kind on the Beatport DJ app.

“The music industry has adapted incredibly in reaction to the pandemic, which inspired us to build the new DJ Party Mode feature on our popular Beatport DJ web app to enable musicians to collaborate on DJ sets, no matter where they are in the world,” added Ed Hill, VP of Beatport Media Group. “Microsoft Surface has been a fantastic partner to optimize the experience for DJs with their innovative hardware and software.”

In December 2021, Beatport and Microsoft Surface will commence an educational event called Originals² Academy. The two-day affair will be hosted in Miami and Berlin’s “top recording studios” and feature select creators, who will be connected via Microsoft’s chat and videoconferencing technology, Teams. A portion of the event, powered by the new Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio and Surface Pro 8, will be livestreamed.

Read more about the partnership here.