bitbird has revealed the third edition of their yearly community-created and curated compilation album, create together vol. 3. Featuring 25 songs and collaborations, the compilation can be heard now below.
When music producer San Holo and his colleague Thorwald van den Akker first decided to start a record label, their main goal was to build a space where they could support creative freedom by releasing genre-bending music which often didn’t have a place elsewhere in the music industry. From the very beginning they had a vision for bitbird, which eventually became the label’s motto: “create forever”.
Inspired by this concept, the label’s fans took the initiative to create a bitbird Discord server as a way for them to connect. Over time, the server organically became a place for mutual inspiration, collaboration, and sharing creative expertise.
Then, in 2019, the bitbird community decided to use this Discord server to promote something they called the “create together month”: a one-month challenge in which young producers worked together to push each other into further developing themselves as creatives. At the end of that month, 10 original tracks were recorded and sent to the bitbird team for feedback, and the label was blown away by the result! bitbird was so inspired and impressed by the project they decided to make it an official bitbird release titled ‘create together vol.1’.
“It’s incredible to see how every year the community pushes itself further and shows what it’s capable of. Even more than previous years we have seen collaborations pop up! This shows again how music even in such a polarising world is able to connect people! Music is love, and we love music. create together.” – Thorwald van den Akker, bitbird’s creative director
After the success of the first compilation, bitbird decided to turn the project into an annual event and ‘create together vol. 2’ was released on July 2nd, 2021.
Earlier this year, the 3rd ‘create together’ month was held, once again in the bitbird Discord Server. The activities included a full schedule of masterclasses hosted by bitbird artists such as San Holo, Pauline Herr, Tails, Dot, and masterclasses on visual art creation from artists such as Hein Hamers (previously part of DROELOE). The project also had the support of Twitch, Ableton, FL Studio, Auto-Tune, iZotope, XLN Audio, which provided the community with educational resources and discounts on software and hardware.
As a result, the ‘create together vol.3′ compilation has achieved its most ambitious format so far by bringing together 41 independent artists (from 13 different countries and 5 different continents) in a 25 track album that pushes the boundaries of electronic music and showcases the sounds of the future.
In the week that leads to the release, bitbird is putting out 4 singles that highlight the variety and innovative sounds the compilation is already known for. The first single to be released is “Stay Awake”, by dossyx. This is dossyx’s first release with a label and her testimony is a great example of how the incentive to create together can be helpful for young artists: “It was pretty difficult to get started with the track at first. But then, a week in, people started sending their WIPs (work in progress) and it gave me some inspiration to try it again. So even though I didn’t collaborate with anybody, the rest of the community participating was pretty helpful in me finding some inspiration.”.
Similarly to 2021, bitbird will commemorate this years’ ‘create together’ by hosting a release premiere on the Discord server on June 30, which is open to all fans who are part of the server. Later in the month, on July 23, the label will gather all of the creators involved in the compilation for a full day online music festival on Twitch, which will include appearances from other artists from the label’s roster.
Once again, the talent and passion found in the ‘create together’ compilation has completely blown our minds and it has reminded us why nurturing our community and creating space for new talent to be heard should always be at the core of what we do. We hope this compilation brings fans not only a great source of music, but also enough inspiration for them to keep creating forever!