New ownership and a test-bed for a new payment platform see serial entrepreneur, Andrew Grant relaunch the DJ Awards. He tells us what plans he has after announcing the return of the celebration of all things DJ.
Introduce yourself and give us some background on your career so far.
Andrew Grant, born in Scotland but now lives in Barcelona. I launched my first business at age 10 when I charged my sister and her mates 50p each to listen to a record in my bedroom (my mum forced me to process refunds to them ha!). My first proper business was handing out fliers for nightclubs across Glasgow while studying marketing and finance at Strathclyde University. That company evolved into a digital marketing agency that built apps for banks. After the financial crisis saw our client list all but wiped out, I changed focus to build tech that solved big problems across healthcare, music and payments. We currently have five active investments that include a next generation record label called FonoTech and a transformational payments platform for festivals and live events called Onbeat. I also founded a YouTube channel called Bold Minds, the journey of an idea – which is all about how to take an idea from the back of a napkin to IPO.
When did the opportunity arise for taking the reigns at DJ AWARDS?
My business partner in OnBeat, Jack Howell also owns DJ Magazine Spain and is an investor in music stuff and active in the music industry / dance music scene. The founder of DJ AWARDS was looking to exit the business and Danny Whittle mentioned it to Jack, and Jack called me and asked if I wanted to buy it. My initial interest was because I saw the potential for it to be used to test and promote OnBeat and FonOtech, but now I see there is so much more potential for this project.
What were the first few days like, and was there anything specific you recall in those moments?
I signed the paperwork on May 14th 2024 so we have had a lot to do in a very short period of time. Fortunately my day job is building businesses from nothing, so it was actually really fun to work on something that already exists. It’s a lot easier to get people involved in something that has 22 years of track record, global profile and is sexy and fun! I was also very fortunate that Jasmine Ellias, who had run the awards for Jose and Lenny for the last 7 years, was willing and available to help us learn the ropes and reboot the project. We could not have gotten this far, this fast, without her input and support.
Please detail the renewed vision and aims of the DJ AWARDS?
This is still very much a work in progress. However our plan this year is simply to repeat what has been done before but do it bigger and better. Beyond this year we want to totally revamp and supercharge the nomination and awards process and bring some tech to the table and to borrow the best bits of the Michelin (restaurant) and Oscars processes. Ultimately, we wish to have a global army of approved DJA clubbers that attend events and submit artists via an app, then to have an annual global super panel of industry experts across all sectors deciding which of these artists become nominees, with some AI involved to qualify and clean the data, finishing up with a public vote thought the Ibiza summer season. We also want to make DJA an annual adventure, not just a one off gig with events and parties around the world throughout the year. Finally we want to position DJA as the number one electronic dance music awards brand, making it as big as the Oscars while cementing Ibiza as the spiritual home of global dance music culture.
With regards to this year’s awards categories, we understand they’ve also been revamped, tell us more about this.
It’s been four years since the last DJA so things have changed a lot. Also when the awards were created, the world was analogue and they didn’t change them much over 22 years. Now the world is digital and with AI coming down the road, it’s important we understand and recognise the impact this has on the scene. This year we didn’t want to change too much, but we have reduced the categories and brought in some new ideas like ‘best dance floor moment’ where we invite clubbers to upload their story via instagram to win a VIP experience to attend the ceremony and collect their award.
Also, muy importante, I have made the decision to never change the actual award. It’s so bad it’s good. It’s very hard to be different these days and the DJ Award kryptonite based on Es Vedra, is mind-blowingly unique. If you have an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and BRIT Awards on your mantelpiece next to a DJ Award, the DJ Award is the one everyone will notice and comment on. This is the genius of Jose Pascual!
Inclusion and diversity across the awards categories is essential, can you tell us how you’re making sure this is in place?
It’s hard to be honest and it’s not my area of expertise but I know it’s important. Some categories simply don’t have enough artists in there to achieve this, so i think our role is less about shoving in some unknown person to win an award because they tick boxes and more about grass roots support and engagement to stimulate people of all backgrounds to step in and dream of becoming world class artists in a certain music style. This is not going to happen overnight but if all we achieve with the DJ AWARDS is that we bring fresh blood to the table and motivate, recognise and reward artists for their efforts, then everything will have been worthwhile. We can achieve this with a global outreach program and regional awards throughout the year which is 100% on our roadmap for 2025 onwards. In summary, we wish to communicate that the DJ AWARDS is about unity and belonging, with shared qualities bringing us together.
This year there’s a focus on Ibiza heritage, but understand there’s plans to expand further in the future?
Initially this was a key focus, but as plans have developed we have come up with an idea that feels right for the moment and it revolves around the concept that music connects people and when you are on the dancefloor everyone is equal. We believe this idea is so powerful and also so true and something very unique and special to the dance music scene. The world is an incredible and beautiful place and sometimes we lose sight of that with our day to day lives and the stories we see in the news. But everyone is the hero of their own story and we want to remind people of this, the role music and dance culture plays in this and how Ibiza is a place people come to escape and live their best lives.
Lastly, what are you most excited about for the DJ AWARDS ceremony in October?
A mate of mine has this thing called ‘boat drinks’, the idea is that when you buy your first yacht, before anyone else boards it – you sit on the deck with your favourite drink and raise a toast to yourself and say, “Well done!”. As someone that self identifies as an entrepreneur and works in the tech start-up world I see how hard founders work to turn ideas into things, that when things go wrong it’s their fault and how lonely that can all be. It’s not really the done thing to pat yourself on the back – but – I think more people need to do this and recognise when they’ve done good. To stop, look around, take stock of what they have achieved and give themselves a gold star – so – if im 100% honest, the thing I am most excited for DJA 2024 on 2nd October is standing in the corner of Club Chinois as the artists take the spotlight and the whole team can celebrate the successful return of the DJ AWARDS!
