Change the Beat pledges 300 label signings for women and gender expansive electronic artists by 2028

Change the Beat, the global non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting women and gender expansive artists in electronic music, has announced new milestones focused on increasing representation across the industry. Founded by electronic music artist, producer and industry professional Sydney Blu, the organisation creates pathways for artists through education, mentorship, industry access, live events and release programmes. Its objective is to increase the percentage of women and gender expansive artists signed to electronic music labels by creating meaningful routes to label opportunities. As part of this next phase, Change the Beat aims to support 300 artists in securing label opportunities by 2028.

Change the Beat Sets New Signing Goals

Alongside its target of supporting 300 women and gender expansive artists within two years, Change the Beat aims to support 600 artists within five years and 1,500 artists within ten years. The organisation has already facilitated more than 100 label opportunities and signings, while building a community of more than 1,200 members.

Sydney Blu comments:

“Over the course of my career, I’ve learned that talent alone isn’t always enough. Artists need access to mentorship, industry relationships, education, and opportunities to be seen and heard. Change the Beat was created to help provide those pathways.

“We’re not here simply to talk about the challenges facing women and gender expansive artists. We’re here to be part of the solution. Our focus is on creating real opportunities through education, mentorship, industry access, and artist development. Every signing, mentorship, contest winner, showcase slot, and industry introduction helps move the needle and creates a stronger future for the next generation of artists.”

Originally launched in 2021 as 23by23, with the support of Native Instruments and in partnership with Beatport, the organisation has since evolved into an international artist development platform. Alumni have gone on to release music with labels including Armada, Drumcode, Anjunadeep, Anjunabeats, Toolroom, Insomniac Records, HE.SHE.THEY, Dirtybird, mau5trap and REALM.

Remix Contest Programme and The Demo Room

Following the recent relaunch of its flagship Remix Contest Programme, Change the Beat will also launch The Demo Room, a new initiative designed to increase access to label opportunities and strengthen connections between emerging artists and the electronic music industry.

The recently relaunched Remix Contest Programme builds on a proven model that has created official remix and release opportunities for emerging artists in collaboration with leading electronic music labels and artists. Since its relaunch, the programme has partnered with SIPPY and DeadBeats, with upcoming collaborations including Westend and Trace Amounts, alongside Sara Landry’s HEKATE Records.

Previous partners include Drumcode, mau5trap, Armada, Anjunadeep, Anjunabeats, HE.SHE.THEY, Insomniac Records, Nervous Records and Toolroom Records. Artists connected to the programme have worked on projects involving deadmau5, Nicole Moudaber, Eli & Fur, Crystal Waters, Ultra Naté, Maya Jane Coles, DJ Minx, VNSSA, Giorgia Angiuli and Azzecca.

The Demo Room will see participating labels showcase their sound and A&R priorities, giving the Change the Beat community a direct route to submit music, receive feedback and connect with industry decision-makers.

Expanding Access Across Electronic Music

Sydney Blu shares:

“We’ve already helped facilitate more than 100 label signings, but we’re only getting started. The goal of 300 signings by 2028 is ambitious by design, but it’s also achievable because we’re creating opportunities every month through our Remix Contest Programme, The Demo Room, and artist development programmes like Going Global.

“We’ve already seen labels, artists, managers, brands, and industry partners rally behind this mission, and many have discovered incredibly talented artists through our community. We invite the wider electronic music industry to join us in creating more pathways, more opportunities, and a stronger future for the next generation of talent.”

Through workshops, masterclasses, mentorship, club events, industry partnerships and career development programmes, Change the Beat provides artists with practical support across music production, DJ performance, branding and music business. The organisation continues to expand its activities through events, showcases and educational programmes across the UK, US, Canada and Europe, creating further opportunities for women and gender expansive artists to develop their careers and connect with the global electronic music industry.

With the relaunch of its flagship Remix Contest Programme, the introduction of The Demo Room and its artist development programme Going Global, Change the Beat is continuing to expand its work creating greater access to label opportunities for women and gender expansive electronic music artists. Through its growing network of artists, educators, labels and industry partners, the organisation invites the electronic music community to support its mission of building a more inclusive and sustainable future for the next generation of talent.

DeadlyNoiz reflects on creating a 60-minute opening mix for the opportunity to support Martin Garrix on his American tour

Long before DeadlyNoiz began producing his own music, he was watching Martin Garrix perform through festival livestreams and imagining where his own career could eventually take him. Earlier this year, that influence became part of one of his most personal projects when he created a 60-minute opening mix for the opportunity to support Garrix during his American tour. He was not selected for the slot, but the work behind the submission gave him the chance to test himself as a DJ, think carefully about how an opening set should progress and create something connected to an artist who has inspired him for years.

Creating the Martin Garrix American Tour Opening Mix

The competition invited DJs to submit a full one-hour mix that could be played before a Martin Garrix performance. For DeadlyNoiz, the challenge was not only choosing tracks that worked together, but understanding how the set needed to function at the beginning of the night. He had to gradually increase the pace, leave enough space for the headlining performance and make sure the mix still reflected his own musical direction.

Working within that brief changed the way he approached the full 60 minutes. Each transition needed to move the set forward, while the track order had to feel natural from the opening minutes through to the final selection. The process pushed him to think about the role of an opening artist and how to prepare a crowd without moving too quickly into music that would be more suitable later in the show.

Although DeadlyNoiz did not receive the opening slot, he remained proud of the final mix and decided to release it publicly. The submission allowed him to work with a clear performance setting in mind, improve how he builds longer sets and better understand the choices required when creating music for a specific place on a lineup.

How Martin Garrix Influenced DeadlyNoiz

Martin Garrix has been one of DeadlyNoiz’s biggest inspirations since his early introduction to electronic dance music. Garrix’s releases helped strengthen his interest in EDM, while his festival performances later encouraged him to begin producing music of his own. For years, he followed those performances through Ultra Music Festival livestreams and online videos, paying attention to the track selection, progression and way Garrix introduced his own productions during each set.

The Ultra Miami 2019 performance became especially important to him. Watching Garrix play the Ultra Music Festival Main Stage at night made DeadlyNoiz more certain about the goal he wanted to pursue. One of his biggest ambitions is to perform on that same stage during a night set and play his own music to people from different parts of the world.

Creating the tour opening mix gave him the opportunity to connect that long-term inspiration with his own work. It was no longer only about watching another artist perform and learning from those sets. He now had to make his own decisions, arrange a complete hour of music and show how he would approach the responsibility of opening a Martin Garrix show.

Experiencing His First Martin Garrix Shows

Following the competition, DeadlyNoiz attended both nights of the tour as part of the crowd. These were his first Martin Garrix shows, allowing him to experience in person the performances he had previously followed through livestreams and recorded videos. The music, visuals and full-scale production gave him a clearer understanding of the type of event he had created the mix for.

Attending both nights also added another personal connection to the submission. Although he was not performing before Garrix, he could see how the evening progressed and how the supporting music led into the headline set. The experience allowed him to reflect on his own mix while seeing the complete show from the audience’s perspective.

Most importantly, the two performances reminded him why Martin Garrix had influenced his decision to pursue electronic music. After years of watching his festival appearances online, hearing the tracks live brought that early inspiration back into focus and reinforced the goals DeadlyNoiz is continuing to work toward.

The mix may have begun as a competition entry, but it now represents a clear point in DeadlyNoiz’s development as a DJ and producer. It challenged him to create for a specific performance setting, strengthened the way he approaches longer sets and connected his current work with the artist who first encouraged him to take electronic music seriously. By releasing the mix, he is sharing the progress behind the submission and the ambition that continues beyond the end of the tour.