DJ Mag: diversity & equality report 2023

This is the first of what will now be our annual report on diversity and inclusivity (D&I) at DJ Mag. It follows on from the pledge we made in 2020, in which we committed to make significant changes within the company in order to better represent the scene — from the way we do business, to who we work with, and give coverage to — and agreed to publish quarterly updates on our progress. 

Since originally making that pledge, and through the three years of quarterly updates that followed, we are pleased to report that our work within this space has been established as a central part of our everyday practice. In many cases it has also led to formal company policy, which we will be publishing in the next 12 months.

We have also recently launched a regularly updated microsite: djmag.com/community. This will be a living hub where we can highlight and support vital initiatives through coverage, resources, advertising and more. It will also serve as a space for us to provide our own content-based educational resources, guides and information to support people at differing levels within the industry. As a consequence, we are making a transition to an annual reporting format, where we can share key updates to our policies and initiatives around D&I.

We will be announcing further community support activations and projects as they are confirmed throughout the year. If you are a community organisation interested in working with DJ Mag, please email [email protected].

Throughout 2023 we were actively engaged in community support projects and initiatives to help amplify marginalised voices, artists and groups in the dance music industry. We worked closely with our event partners to ensure that our line-ups remained diverse and inclusive. We continue to offer free advertising to a range of community groups and encourage anyone interested in free ad space to email [email protected]. To date we have released advertising space to the value of £250,000 and we remain committed to continue this in 2024.

2023 saw DJ Mag continue its partnership with AZ Mag on a joint creative fund initiative, to support artists from marginalised backgrounds. The 2023 recipient of the creative fund was Jae Tallawah, AKA TU3SDAY. As a disabled producer and DJ, Jae’s music is "made by, for and with people who live at similar intersections" to them. As part of the AZ Mag Creative Fund they will be creating their second EP. The project will "prioritise working with neuro minorities and re-imagining their existing music to bring it to reach the expansive audiences that exist in the world of electronic music". Jae’s project is in the final stages of completion and will be available during 2024.

You can follow TU3SDAY's journey here, and check out their music here. Read more about TU3SDAY in October 2022’s emerging artists feature. You can also read about the other recipients of AZ Mag's Creative Fund via their website.

In 2023, DJ Mag also partnered with The Halley on their new venture, the Orbit Grassroots Support Programme, which provides space for music communities focused on championing underrepresented groups. Our partnership provided amplification to the Orbit programme via editorial and social support, as well as giving the participating grassroots organisations the opportunity to access DJ Mag resources, contacts and one-on-one support from DJ Mag staff. This is an ongoing project.

Our 2023 Best of British awards once again partnered with Youth Music; the UK’s leading young people’s music charity. Youth Music believes that every young person should have the chance to make, learn and earn in music and wider creativity, and work with grassroots music communities across the UK to ensure the scene is more creative, more diverse and more inclusive.

The partnership saw £1 from each DJTickets purchase and 50% of RA booking fees for DJ Mag’s Best of British awards party donated to Youth Music. All industry guest list attendees were also asked to donate £5 on entry to the event. £2,317 was raised in total, which will go directly to support Youth Music grassroots music projects across the UK. This year’s Underground Hero award, which celebrates the champions of grassroots music communities, was also presented in association with Youth Music. 

You can stay up to date with our community-focused activities via our new community portal here.

In addition to our ongoing commitment to our diversity pledge, led by our head of diversity & inclusivity, we have highlighted four key areas to focus on for 2024:

• Build on our original pledge by publishing an official diversity and inclusivity policy on our website.
• Develop our new community page, building it into an essential hub of information and resources where we can highlight the organisations and communities we support, along with their vital work, and provide resources of our own.
• Update our pitch guide to better reflect our current business structure. This will establish a more fluid commissioning process, improve our community outreach and enable us to provide further support and opportunities for underrepresented voices.
• Expand our community engagement initiatives by tasking individual teams to each develop and work on one community engagement project per year.