In these challenging times, music has a positive effect. It can calm us down during times of anxiety, remind us of better times in the past and help us look forward to those still to come. And when it comes to virtual travel, music is one of the easiest ways of transporting yourself to places that lie outside your own front door!
With this belief in mind Oslo World asked festivals from around the world, including Shubbak, to share playlists of their top 20 featured artists' songs to Maps the World - an interactive website which allows you to listen to some of the best music in the world programmed by some of the best festivals in the world. This celebration of original, new and exciting music features playlists from festivals in Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia, North America, Oceania and the Middle East.
Sarah Hamed, Assistant Producer at Shubbak and the person responsible for curating the Shubbak playlist, says
"Putting together a list of 20 songs from the artists from our past festivals for this initiative was extremely exciting. However, curating this wealth of creativity down to only 20 tracks was also an incredibly difficult task.
For this playlist, I chose artists and tracks that illustrate the diversity of music that Shubbak Festival has presented. The playlist moves through different genres and moods and so selecting tracks to bridge the different vibes was very important. A big thank you to our Shubbak audience who helped with their suggestions of favourite tracks!
Ranging from electronic, to classics, to jazz, the playlist both celebrates our past festivals and displays the surprising connectedness that music offers. As in the message from Oslo World, music is about emotion and I hope you can feel the happiness, sadness, and everything in-between that these tracks bring. It has been a pleasure to re-live some incredible moments from past festivals, and has made us so excited thinking about what we can bring you in the future."
You can interact with the project here Maps the World and listen to all the festivals' playlists here Soundcloud. And if you're interested in finding out about some of the best music stations in the world check out this piece in The Guardian - which also highlights Maps the World.
Thanks also to our festival partners MARSM.