W Hotels Worldwide, the iconic lifestyle brand that breaks the norms of traditional luxury, today announced a partnership with Mixcloud, the online radio platform that connects listeners to the world’s largest community of music curators. W Hotels Worldwide and Mixcloud come together to launch FUTURE RISING, a platform that identifies, cultivates and celebrates emerging artists and creatives. Vetted up-and-coming artists will perform live in seven W Hotels and destinations across Europe and the Middle East. Music lovers that will not make it to the events will have the possibility to hit repeat on the original content available on the W Hotels Mixcloud Channel.
“FUTURE RISING celebrates both a new generation of budding talent and our guests’ endless appetite to discover what’s new/next in music. Combined with our recently announced W Sound Suite music studios and the newly launched WAKE UP CALL music festival, this prorgamme is affirming W’s passion for music”. said Jenni Benzaquen, Vice President, Luxury Brands EAME. “With the breadth and reach of their platform, Mixcloud is the perfect partner to build this with us.
FUTURE RISING will engage and champion the creative leaders of tomorrow from across the artistic sphere – from musicians and DJs to visual artists and videographers, to creative entrepreneurs and innovators. Those chosen will be invited to mix it up in a month-long series of exclusive happenings at W Hotels across Europe and the Middle East, kicking off in Doha on the 3 November and continuing on to Dubai (4 Nov.), Istanbul (5 Nov.), Amsterdam (9 Nov.), Barcelona (17 Nov.), St. Petersburg (19 Nov.) and London (24 Nov.).
The 2016 line-up has been carefully curated by Mixcloud and W Hotels’ Music Director – EAME Becky Tong, supported by a select panel of independent curators and influencers in each local market to ensure this programme has relevance, impact and supports the local creative community in each city. Local Curators include party promoters 264 Cru in Dubai, This is Underground Magazine in Barcelona, 22tracks in Amsterdam, Future SNDS in London and forward thinking club promoter Roots United in St. Petersburg.
“Championing talent of the future – in the broadest sense – is in our DNA. It is exciting to be working with a partner as innovative and inspiring as W Hotels to build this platform to both celebrate and accelerate creative talent.” said Mixcloud Cofounder Nikhil Shah.
Each event location will also host a FUTURE RISING Suite Session, W Hotels’ up-close and personal conversation series with industry visionaries and emerging stars, within the intimate environment of the participating hotel’s Extreme WOW suite (the brand’s sensational take on the Presidential Suite). Both the upcoming performances and discussions will be recorded and made available on the W Hotels Mixcloud Channel.
FUTURE RISING will also serve as a platform to showcase creatives in other fields beyond music. For this launch, visual artist Joe Cruz has been commissioned to take on the role of resident Art Director for year one, while short films about the project will be produced by rising filmmaker, Hamish Stephenson.
For more information on FUTURE RISING and to attend these exclusives events check out the programme on www.futurerisingnow.com.