The top DJ sets of 2018 according to 1001Tracklists
As the hub of electronic music tracklists, 1001Tracklists is a great resource for artists and fans within the industry. Each year, users submit and edit tracklists from live performances and podcasts. The result is a great deal of eye-opening data that can provide a huge amount of insight into trends within the dance music industry. To start 2019 with a bang, 1001Tracklists has dropped a huge document, featuring a number of the statistics they accumulated during 2018. In this article, we’ll look at the most viewed tracklists of 2018 according to 1001Tracklists.
1. Hardwell – Ultra Miami 2018
Winning by over a margin of over 50k, Hardwell’s Ultra Miami set comes out on top, with a total of 181.9k views. In some ways, it is unsurprising that this set came out on top, firstly, it was stacked with unknown IDs. This is one of the most important aspects within tracklists that achieve the most popularity. First of all, the artist needs to generate curiosity with new music, secondly, the set needs to be of a high standard. Hardwell’s Ultra Miami set featured plenty of new music that fans were curious to find out more about, not to mention, the Ultra live stream is incredibly popular. Another factor that can cause certain tracklists to be more popular than others is whether the set itself was livestreamed and is available on YouTube.
2. Marshmello – Ultra Miami 2018
Marshmello managed to chart in second place, despite having received a great deal of criticism throughout his career. Racking up 131.3k views, his Ultra Miami set proved incredibly popular with fans, despite the distinct lack of new music provided. Factors which may have led to this high ranking are the fact that the set is incredibly enjoyable to watch, and is available on YouTube, the video itself has, in fact, racked up over 4 million views.
3. Hardwell – Tomorrowland 2018
Hardwell’s second appearance in the top chart is marked by his huge return to Tomorrowland. This was an iconic moment in electronic music history, and many were thrilled to see him return to the Belgian festival, having not performed there for a few years. Like his Ultra Miami set, his Tomorrowland performance is available on YouTube, prompting even more setlist views.
4. Swedish House Mafia – Ultra Miami 2018
The biggest surprise within the top chart is the fact that the huge Swedish House Mafia reunion performance didn’t take the top spot. One of the reasons for this could be that the set predominantly featured past hits, so many fans who watched the set would not have needed to dive into the tracklist to hunt for new IDs. Regardless, this set is hailed as one of the most monumental during 2018 and will undoubtedly mark a turning point in the history of electronic music.
5. Tiësto – Ultra Miami 2018
Another industry heavyweight, Tiësto sits at number five for his performance at Ultra Miami. Hailed by many as one of the highlights of the festival, it comes as no surprise that it was one of the most-viewed tracklists of 2018, featuring an abundance of hits past and present.
Other high-ranking tracklists include Armin van Buuren at Ultra Miami, Timmy Trumpet at Tomorrowland, and Oliver Heldens at Ultra Miami. Armin van Buuren undoubtedly secured his ranking by dropping so many exciting new IDs. Timmy Trumpet’s Tomorrowland performance is one of the most-viewed Tomorrowland sets ever, having accumulated millions of views on YouTube. Many will be surprised that Dutch maestro Martin Garrix only managed to reach eighth place in the ranking. That being said, he was up against some incredibly popular sets, which explains why he was not able to break into the top five.
The sets that generated the most tracklist views during 2018 are incredibly revealing in terms of trends. A number of factors were involved in enabling these sets, in particular, to come out on top. Firstly, sets with video footage online have a clear advantage over sets that are not recorded by official sources. Festivals like Tomorrowland and Ultra Miami put a great deal of emphasis on their live set videos, encouraging users to continue watching for months after the festival has ended.
It could be speculated that Ultra Miami’s sets also did particularly well as it is the location where most artists share their new music. Every performance at Ultra is always stacked with IDs in comparison to other festivals. The most obvious explanation for this is that most artists take time in January to work on new music in the studio. By the time the summer arrives, artists are too busy to produce a great deal of new music, so the pace of new releases slows down a great deal.
What can be learned from looking at this tracklist ranking is the importance of documenting your live shows. Performances that are recorded continue to generate interest for months, even years after they take place. Plus, it is vitally important to ensure that your tracklist on 1001Tracklists is correct and includes details about new IDs. When you release an ID from a live performance, you want your fans to remember where it came from. For example, if you drop a new ID at Tomorrowland, use video footage from your Tomorrowland set in your promotion. Many artists including Hardwell and Armin van Buuren are already using this tactic to generate interest around a new release. Ultimately, dropping new IDs and sharing your set video online are the two best methods for generating more tracklist views.
Check out the full report here.
