Founder Sydney Blu is backing the pledge with a relaunched remix contest and a new label pitching initiative called The Demo Room.
Change the Beat has set an ambitious target: three hundred women and gender expansive electronic artists are to be signed to labels by 2028, 600 within five years and 1,500 within ten. The global non-profit, founded by producer and DJ Sydney Blu, is closing one of dance music’s widest gaps – under 5% of artists signed to electronic labels identify as women or gender diverse.
The organisation has already helped facilitate more than 100 signings with labels around the world since launching in 2021 as #23by23, backed by Native Instruments and Beatport. It now counts more than 1,200 community members and has run over 30 events since then across Ibiza, Miami, Toronto, New York, Montreal and San Francisco.
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The relaunched Remix Contest Programme, hosted through Beatport’s LabelRadar platform, has partnered with Sydney-raised bass producer SIPPY and DeadBeats, with Westend, Trace Amounts and Sara Landry’s HEKATE Records lined up next. Past collaborators include Drumcode, mau5trap, Armada, Anjunadeep, Dirtybird, Toolroom and Insomniac. Artists connected to the contest have worked on projects involving deadmau5, Nicole Moudaber, Eli & Fur, Maya Jane Coles and DJ Minx.
The newer piece is The Demo Room, where participating labels lay out their sound and A&R priorities so Change the Beat members can submit music directly, get feedback and reach the people who sign artists. A third strand, the Going Global development programme, sits alongside free and low-cost workshops, a Masterclass series and an active Discord network.
“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,” says Sydney Blu.
Blu knows the route firsthand. Across 25 years she has released on mau5trap, Drumcode and Universal Music, became the first woman to score a solo #1 overall on Beatport and earned a JUNO nomination for Electronic Album of the Year. Change the Beat has since won the Beatport Parity Prize and picked up a 2024 Organisation of the Year nomination from Women in Music Canada.
“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,” Blu says. That leaves close to 200 more signings to find in under two years.
For more information on Change the Beat, head here.
