Beatport Partners with Anjunabeats for Beats in School

Win a year-long scholarship with Above & Beyond’s Anjunabeats label and more with Beatport’s Beats in School!

Calling all trance and progressive producers! Beatport and legendary trance label Anjunabeats are teaming up this fall for the second edition of Beats in School, a one-of-a-kind DJ-producer contest designed to find and nurture up-and-coming talent. The winner of this phase will win a transformative year-long mentorship with Anjunabeats among other prizes.

Beats in School started back in June, seeking out a rising house and techno DJ-producer with a partnership with Yousef’s Circus Recordings. After sorting through a flurry of entries, Taya Mills from Byron Bay, Australia was selected as the scholarship winner. The competition is produced in conjunction with Point Blank Music School, AFEM, Mixcloud, and Future Music. Upcoming editions will feature mentorships with drum n bass label Hospital Recordings and tech house label Dirtybird Records. For more information, click here.

Legendary trance and progressive label Anjunabeats is owned and A&R-ed by Tony McGuinness, Jono Grant, and Paavo Siljamäki, better known as Above & Beyond. The label has a long and storied history of finding and nurturing some of the finest talent in dance music, including artists such as Andrew Bayer, Arty, Mat Zo, and ilan Bluestone.

So how can you take your shot to hone your craft with the one and only Anjunabeats?

Aspiring producers will produce a track that fits the sound and style of Anjunabeats and include it in a mix, uploaded to Mixcloud. Anjunabeats will judge entries and select up to 20 participants to continue on in the competition. Anjunabeats Label Director Allan McGrath provides this guidance on what the label is looking for:

Musicality, melody, emotion, integrity and originality are just some of the things we look for when signing new music. Ultimately, we’re always looking for music that will move the scene forward and stand the test of time.

The winner will also receive:

One-to-one guidance from Beatport and its industry partners
- Intensive tutoring from established artists and industry players including the Association For Electronic Music (AFEM), Mixcloud, and Point Blank Music School.
- Coordinated press and social media exposure, including monthly videos and coverage from Beatport, Future Music Magazine, Computer Music Magazine, and more.
“Hardware Homework” with the world’s leading hardware products
- The winner will work closely with product specialists on a homework task to hone their skills, while also taking home sought-after gear from Allen & Heath, Novation, Native Instruments, Serato, Teenage Engineering, Pioneer, and Roland.
Exclusive prizes from the best in the business
- Adam Audio (ADAM A5X monitors), Allen & Heath (Xone:K2 MIDI Controller), iZotope (Music Production Bundle 2), Native Instruments (KOMPLETE 11), Roland (lifetime Roland Cloud subscription), Urbanears (Zinken headphones), and Landr (two years unlimited mastering subscription).