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SoundCloud and ADE Team Up to Support the Next Generation of Electronic Music

SoundCloud and ADE are bringing creator tools, a SoundCloud Artist Pro trial and a San Holo remix competition to ADE Lab On Track at ADE 2026.

SoundCloud and Amsterdam Dance Event are putting emerging electronic artists at the centre of ADE 2026 through a new collaboration focused on creator support, discovery and practical development. Announced by ADE on 21 September, the partnership will bring SoundCloud programming to ADE Lab On Track, the part of the festival built around aspiring producers, musicians and the wider creative community.

The announcement arrives at a moment when the route from a first demo to a real audience is becoming more connected to the tools artists use every day. A strong record still matters, but so do the ways an artist presents it, finds listeners, reads the response and keeps building after the first release.

A practical route from the first upload to a wider audience

SoundCloud’s role in the project reflects its position as a platform where independent artists can upload music, build an audience and develop their careers directly with listeners. For ADE, that makes the collaboration a natural extension of its wider focus on the future of electronic music and the people building it.

The partnership also frames discovery as something that happens in real time. Instead of treating emerging talent only as an audience for the festival, ADE and SoundCloud are creating opportunities for participants to learn, experiment and test their ideas inside the programme.

What ADE Lab On Track adds for emerging artists

ADE Lab On Track is intended to bring the working reality of new artists into the festival conversation. The programme places creator tools, discovery and career support alongside the cultural energy of Amsterdam Dance Event, giving participants a setting in which practical questions can sit next to inspiration and networking.

For a developing artist, the value is often in the details: how to organise a release, how to make a profile easier to discover, how to turn a one-off listener into a returning fan and how to keep a creative project moving when attention is limited. SoundCloud’s involvement gives those questions a direct connection to the platform where discovery can take place.

Artist Pro access for ADE Lab On Track participants

Everyone taking part in ADE Lab On Track will receive a code for a free SoundCloud Artist Pro trial. The trial gives participants access to additional tools and features designed to help them develop their presence on the platform and move their work towards a wider audience.

It is a practical addition to the ADE Lab experience: the focus is not only on inspiration and networking, but also on the tools artists can use when they return to the studio. A conversation in Amsterdam can become a profile update, a new upload or a more focused release plan.

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A San Holo remix competition gives the programme a deadline

The collaboration will include a remix competition built around San Holo. Participants will receive the stems needed to create their own version of his music, with submissions open until 9 October.

The selected remixes will be judged during the ADE Lab session “SoundCloud Remix Competition with San Holo”. That gives producers a clear deadline, a defined creative brief and a public-facing opportunity to put their production skills into practice.

The format also connects the competition to ADE’s club-focused culture. A remix is a chance to show how a producer translates an existing idea into a different dancefloor language, whether the result leans deeper, more progressive or more techno.

Why tools matter after the festival

The strongest part of the announcement is the bridge it creates between a physical event and the less visible work that follows it. Festivals can create momentum, but emerging artists still need a way to continue the conversation once the rooms empty and industry attention moves elsewhere.

Artist tools, profile features and direct access to listeners do not replace the music or the long-term work behind it. They can, however, reduce friction around the next step.

A meeting point between online discovery and Amsterdam’s live scene

The electronic-music ecosystem is increasingly shaped by the relationship between artists, platforms and live communities. SoundCloud and ADE’s initiative sits directly in that space: one side brings creator tools and discovery infrastructure, while the other brings a concentrated meeting point for artists, professionals and scenes from around the world.

Our reading: the value of the partnership is less about a single brand activation and more about connecting the online discovery path with the physical environment of ADE. A producer can arrive with a work in progress, develop it through the Lab programme and leave with a new remix, new contacts and a clearer route to an audience.

ADE 2026 takes place in Amsterdam from 21 to 25 October. SoundCloud will also be represented in ADE Pro’s programme with “SoundCloud | Essential Insider Knowledge” on 22 October at Felix Meritis, featuring Maurice Slade, Mike Spinella and Silva Bumpa. The remix submission deadline is 9 October.