GARRIX, STMPD & ULTRA

Martijn and Ultra seem to have kissed and made up but at what cost?

After Martijn Garritsen better known as Martin Garrix headline set at Ultra 2017 was not streamed due to a technical difficulty. Martin Tweeted "Will not post my Ultra set. They were sound checking for the next act and forgot to mute the audio on the main PA 49 minutes into my set.." The word from inside his camp after the event as he was not happy with how the situation was handled.

However, I don't think many of us expected to see Martijn step away from the Ultra brand. He turned down the chance to play at their 2018 20th anniversary event. This seemed to be an even bigger snub of Ultra considering he was at WMC. (Winter Music Conference) With his new label STAMPD.

Another year has gone by and Martjin has once again won the DJ mag popularity vote. He has also had several massive releases under his own label STAMPD that he founded in 2016. He has also hosted stages under the label at some of the biggest festivals in the world.

When Ultra Australia dropped is Phase 1 lineup many of us were shocked to see the World number 1 on the lineup. Seeing his presence on this lineup would mean he is 100% playing Ultra Miami but what many of us did not see coming was a dedicated STAMPD stage.

We have seen labels host a stage at Ultra in the past as recent as last year with Revealed, ASOT and Jacked all hosting over the weekend. What we have not seen is a dedicated stage to a label.

Some are saying it was part of the deal to get Martjin back to Ultra. Others are saying it was offered to Martjin with the new location. There has been a range of reactions to this news and none more vocal than the Tech House and Techno community. This is due to the removal of the Arcadia Spider and the addition of the STAMPD stage.

How this will continue to play out only time will tell.