DJ Awards Unveil Nominees and New Categories for 2025

The DJ Awards return for 2025 with the addition of two new categories: Balearic and Hard Dance/Bounce.

Electronic music’s longest-standing global award ceremony is just around the corner. The DJ Awards are back for 2025, recognizing artists worldwide for their expertise and influence across over 10 genres. Founded in 1998, the tradition returned to Ibiza last year after a four-year hiatus. Taking pride in being a non-pay-to-play platform, the DJ Awards enlists a grand jury of industry experts to weigh in on nominations before opening up voting to the electronic music community.

Last year’s relaunch reestablished the award ceremony as a central event for electronic music lovers and DJs alike. Moving into their 2025 edition, the DJ Awards have promised to emphasize women in the industry, promising to have two female nominations in each category at a minimum. Additionally, the award ceremony has expanded its reach with two new categories.

New for 2025, the DJ Awards are recognizing Balearic music, an integral part of the Ibiza music scene. Nominees for the fresh category include Andy Baxter, Clara Da Costa, Jason Bye, Jon Sa Trinxa, Mina, and Willie Graff. With the revival of Hard Dance/Bounce, the subgenre has found its way into this year’s categories, highlighting the music of Adrian Mills, Bad Boombox, Ben Hemsley, Hannah Laing, KETTAMA, and Marlon Hoffstadt.

Along with brand new genre categories, fans can vote for artists representing Afro, Drum & Bass, Garage/Bassline, Hard Techno, House, Latin/Reggaeton, Live Act, Prog/Melodic, Tech House, Techno, and Trance music. Popular categories—Breakthrough, Newcomer, and International DJ—will also return.

While nominees for the main categories have been announced, the Industry Award nominations have yet to be divulged. Decided by a panel of music professionals, the awards for Track of the Summer, Party of the Summer, Icon Award, Lifetime Achievement, Eye On: MENA, DJ Livestream of the Year, and Play It Back – Social Impact Award will be decided on and announced before the iconic award show.

Voting for the 2025 DJ Awards is now open! Visit the DJ Awards website to vote for your favorite artists and follow along on social media for announcements regarding the Industry Awards, this year’s venue, and more.

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