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SiriusXM is partnering with the Ultra Music Festival for a new virtual audio festival experience.
The Ultra Virtual Audio Festival will start on UMF Radio this Friday, March 20. It is a limited-run radio channel with exclusive DJ sets from many of the artists booked for Ultra Miami. DJ sets include Afrojack, Martin Garrix, Armin van Buuren, Major Lazer, and many more.
SiriusXM President Scott Greenstein said the Ultra Music Festival virtual experience is ‘necessary.’
“With the need for social distancing, we know our listeners are seeking a sense of community more than ever,” he said in a statement. “To encourage that, we are pleased to be working with Ultra Music Festival to provide our listeners with this virtual audio festival featuring the diverse lineup of artists the UMF delivers year after year.”
SiriusXM’s UMF Radio station will also broadcast past live sets from UMF – The Chainsmokers, Kygo, Zedd, and more.
Ultra Virtual Audio Festival will begin airing on Sirius channel 52, starting on Friday, March 20. The virtual audio festival will wrap up on March 23. The move comes as many festivals and concerts are canceling outright or postponing events.
Ultra Miami canceled its live show this year and refused to offer refunds to attendees. Instead, Ultra Miami 2020 tickets will be honored at 2021 or 2022 events. Ultra teased this new digital audio experience during that announcement.
“We are also working to offer a digital online Ultra experience as soon as possible,” that statement read. Ultra attendees can listen in this weekend to enjoy the virtual audio experience – as long as they’re SiriusXM subscribers.
That’s probably of little consequence to people who are salty about not getting refunds, but it is what it is. It will be interesting to see which other canceled festivals go digital with their show this year amid coronavirus concerns.