Beatport announce first Beats in School winners

Beatport have announced the four winners in its Beats in School mentorship program.

The year-long initative set out to "uncover new and unsigned talent [and] provide the tools and mentoring for a lasting career in electronic music."

Spanning the realms of tech-house, drum and bass, progressive house and techno, this year's winners are Sammy Legs, Redemptive, Donny Carr and dotdat.

The producers now begin a year-long mentorship with an elite label in their genre: Dirtybird, Hospital, mau5trap and Second State respectively.

Beatport are among the brands that will appear at this year's Winter Music Conference in Miami in March.

While there was an "overwhelming response" this year, Beatport have said that they are committed to addressing the program’s gender imbalance in future installments. "Following a low number of female entrants, this year’s winners are all male," they said. "Beatport is working together with industry advocacy groups to encourage more entries from women in future seasons."

Last month, Beatport CEO Robb McDaniels told DJ Mag that he feels like streaming is like "the dawn of a new DJ experience."