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We’re tired of seeing the same B2Bs and F2Fs over and over again. Or at least, hearing about the same names.These formats should be about connection, sharing knowledge and, above all, taking risks. Yet they sometimes seem to have become marketing tools where the same exclusive circles dominate, benefiting artists who are already well established. Collaborations are becoming increasingly predictable, contributing to a kind of protectionism around visibility. Image-driven business and staged “battles” sometimes take over, and the electronic music industry has (somewhat) forgotten what sharing the decks is really about.
Back-to-Back: Originally, It Was All About Sharing
Let’s go back a few years. Do you know what B2B actually stands for? Back-to-back. Literally, “back to back.” The expression takes us back to the days of vinyl mixing, when one DJ would play while the other searched through their records, sometimes with their back turned to their partner.
B2B was a way of sharing the decks. Two artists would take turns, challenge each other’s selections and build a set whose direction neither could fully control. And that was part of the fun. Being able to react to something unexpected. Stepping outside your usual style because the other person has just played something you didn’t see coming. And adapting. Putting yourself on the spot in front of another artist. That’s what unplanned B2Bs are about, and they seem to be becoming increasingly rare.
Back in 2016, Ben UFO was already defending this vision of B2B against critics who saw it as nothing more than a ticket-selling strategy. He explained how playing alongside other DJs had helped him learn and question his own habits. But hey, if it makes money, even better.
Business to Business: When Visibility Attracts More Visibility
The same duos, often with little artistic risk involved, and above all, artists with similar levels of popularity. We know it’s business. We know promoters need to sell tickets, and putting two big names on a lineup isn’t (just) for the love of music. It’s also about money. But couldn’t we be a little more surprised by B2B bookings every now and then?
Of course, genuine friendships, musical affinities and spontaneous moments exist. It would be absurd to question their sincerity simply because they involve two major artists. But ignoring the economic mechanisms behind these collaborations would be naive.
In a 2019 investigation published by Mixmag, Andy Blackett, then head of programming at London’s fabric nightclub, explained that headliners could account for up to 80% of an event’s artist budget. This figure came from his own experience and was not intended to represent an industry-wide average, of course. But it illustrates just how dominant headliners have become in certain parts of the clubbing economy.
The commercial reasoning is simple: when a promoter invests that much money, they want to minimise risk. And what could be more reassuring than bringing together two artists who already have strong audiences, combining one established fanbase with another? Suddenly, we’re not just looking at two artists, but two brands standing side by side.
We end up protecting a system where those who already have visibility are also the ones who have the easiest access to collaborations. A series of economically rational decisions that, taken together, create a deeply conservative system.
The problem isn’t that stars play together. It’s that the industry constantly reinforces this mechanism.
Meanwhile, how many emerging artists, despite being technically outstanding, are still waiting for a real opportunity to challenge themselves and exchange ideas with international DJs? We’re not asking every headliner to become a training institution. In rap, a feature can be an incredible career accelerator. An established artist invites a lesser-known voice onto a track, and suddenly, there’s an opportunity. Both can learn from each other. So why not encourage more of that exchange behind the decks? Sometimes it’s also a matter of ego, or simply an unwillingness to take a chance on lesser-known artists. Yet even the biggest names had to start somewhere.
We’re not generalising, of course, but there is a real pattern here.
Amsterdam Dance Event has just come to an end. For its 30th anniversary, the event announced more than 3,600 artists across over 1,300 events in more than 300 venues. An absolutely enormous pool of talent, generations and musical perspectives. Yet some B2Bs still feel like we’re going in circles. Not necessarily because those exact combinations have happened before, but because the artists often come from the same scene, bring the same energy and play very similar selections.
To be fair, we should acknowledge some genuine efforts towards collaboration within the underground scene, even among highly established artists:
Chris Liebing B2B Len Faki, Ben Klock B2B Philippa Pacho, JakoJako B2B Rødhåd, Luke Slater B2B Rene Wise… Interesting encounters, sometimes excellent ones, with some genuinely moving beyond the usual pairings. Even if we’re still staying fairly comfortably within the same genre. The intergenerational dialogue between Luke Slater and Rene Wise, booked for Dave Clarke’s event, is certainly worth highlighting.
But shouldn’t these initiatives be far more common, or at least given greater prominence on lineups and by booking teams, especially as we move towards the more commercial and international side of the industry?
We’re not saying these collaborations don’t exist. Two very well-known DJs can absolutely bring a lot to each other, and some collaborations between artists with obvious musical affinities have become legendary. We love iconic collaborations and historic B2Bs. Just to name a few: Carl Cox B2B Adam Beyer, Fred again.. B2B Thomas Bangalter B2B Pedro Winter B2B Erol Alkan, or even the unexpected B2B between Armin van Buuren and Amelie Lens at ADE.
But when are we finally going to see more emerging DJs challenging headliners on the biggest stages? And when we say emerging, we mean truly emerging.
A B2B should be an artistic encounter before it’s a meeting of two follower counts. And what’s the point of playing together if you’re staying in exactly the same comfort zone as when you play alone?
In Ibiza, B2B Has Become a Formula That Works (A Little Too Well)
Let’s take a concrete example: Joseph Capriati B2B Josh Baker.
The two artists have been booked together at Amnesia on several occasions. And obviously, nobody is suggesting that this pairing lacks musical value. Quite the opposite: people love watching them play together. But however excellent the sets may be, they’re not necessarily surprising, are they?
It’s a logic that reflects the approach of many major summer residencies in Ibiza: relying on compatible, recognisable and commercially reassuring pairings for some of the world’s biggest clubs, which aim to deliver increasingly attractive lineups.
Throughout the summer, Joseph Capriati was also announced alongside Mau P, Max Dean, Damian Lazarus, Cloonee and Seth Troxler. Hardly surprising. On the other hand, his much more unexpected B2B with Richie Hawtin deserves recognition, with tracks such as Oxia’s Domino, a selection we wouldn’t necessarily have associated with the Detroit pioneer.
So when it comes to artistic risk-taking, we can’t pretend it never happens. However, when collaborations mainly bring together artists who are already firmly established, we end up maintaining the same dynamics of visibility and privilege. Not necessarily because anyone is deliberately trying to exclude others, but because opportunities continue to circulate among those who already benefit from them.
Surprise shouldn’t be a privilege reserved for exceptional collaborations… it should be one of the driving forces behind B2Bs.
F2F: When the Challenge Is Mostly About the Staging
Recently, another format has been gaining visibility: face-to-face. Two DJs, two separate setups this time, with the decks positioned opposite each other. It feels like watching two challengers enter an arena. Popularised notably by Adrián Mills and the 240 KM/H collective, the format borrows some of the visual codes of confrontation.
And we have to admit: visually, it works. At first, it felt like a genuine breath of fresh air for the scene. And again, none of this takes anything away from the DJs or the format itself, which is actually pretty entertaining to watch. You get to see more of the interactions, and there’s something enjoyable about the showmanship of the setup.
But this time, we’ve seen the same combinations come back again and again: Cloudy, Serafina, Adrián Mills, Kuko… The pairings change, but the names often remain the same.
At the latest event, there were DJs such as Kichta and Two Girls One Mom, genuinely emerging artists on the international scene. Why not put them face-to-face with the headliners? Now that would get us excited.
Where’s the actual confrontation?
Because an F2F is, above all, still a collaboration. The artists have to listen to each other, build a coherent set and maintain some kind of momentum, or at least a direction. But when two artists with very similar musical aesthetics play similar tracks while facing each other across two setups, is that really a musical confrontation? Or just another way of filming and staging a B2B that will perform better on social media?
The problem isn’t that F2Fs work. Maybe it’s precisely because they work so well that we end up repeating the same formula. Two setups, two DJs facing each other, spectacular reactions: the format is instantly recognisable. But once you strip away the staging, what really distinguishes the musical experience from a traditional B2B?
You’re Excellent Curators, and You Love Sticking to Your Own Circles. Now Take It Further.
We’d love to see more risks being taken, DJs challenging one another, different generations crossing paths much more often, perhaps even a few attempts that don’t quite work out, and more improvisation.
Nobody is asking promoters to give up major headliners or artists to stop playing with their friends. But by constantly bringing together the same circles and the same levels of popularity, aren’t we turning a format built around connection into yet another mechanism that reproduces success?
So perhaps the next revolution in B2B and F2F is simple: bringing back surprise and the art of sharing.