“Music has power – the power to unite us, to cheer us up, to give us the chills, to instantly remind us of a long lost memory, to create a vibe, to set a mood, or to even motivate change”: The DJ Awards return after a five year absence

The DJ of the Year Awards returns after a five year break in October with a ceremony held, appropriately, in Ibiza at the Chinois venue.

The big award is the International DJ of the Year award. This year’s nominees include Calvin Harris, David Guetta, Peggy Gou and Swedish House Mafia.

Calvin Harris - I'm Not Alone (Official Video) - YouTube

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The awards were first set up back in 1998 and have long been regarded as the Oscars of dance music. They’re now under new ownership with considerable investment behind them. 

The new man at the helm, long time DJ and promoter Andy Grant, has been explaining why they’re important: “Music has power – the power to unite us, to cheer us up, to give us the chills, to instantly remind us of a long lost memory, to create a vibe, to set a mood, or to even motivate change.”

“That is why we have chosen the theme of Unity for the DJ Awards 2024 reboot with the launch of our Best Dancefloor Memory user generated competition which will see everyone everywhere share their top memories via Instagram, tagging @thedjawards and our panel of judges will select someone from any corner of the globe to come to Ibiza and collect a genuine DJ Award that they can keep on the mantelpiece forever.”

Peggy Gou - (It Goes Like) Nanana - Official Video - YouTube

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Along as the main award, there are genre awards for house, techno, drum n’ bass and so on. As is the way with these things, the gongs are decided between a mixture of public voting and via ‘industry professionals’ from the Association For Electronic Music (AFEM). The public voting is currently open and runs until Friday week (September 13). If you’re interested in getting involved you can visit djawards.com.

October’s event will be the first DJ awards since Covid and much has changed in dance music since the 2019 edition. Music technology has advanced, including AI, and streaming has become the dominant way we consume music. 

There have been much needed discussions on diversity and mental health, and in many countries the cost of living crisis has precipitated a worrying decline in the number of club venues. All this is likely to be reflected in what is a new era for the awards.

For more details about the awards and a full list of nominees go to djawards.com