A ‘No Experience Needed’ DJ Competition Is Launching in the U.S. This Fall

DJing requires capital, with money and access needed to procure even a basic setup. As such, aspiring DJs without the resources to such equipment and skills training can, and do, get left out of the scene.

Your Shot, a DJ competition created 15 years ago in Australia, has long aimed to change that by offering fresh talent with access to equipment, training and industry connections. Since 2010, Your Shot has brought more than 12,500 participants through its programs in Australia and New Zealand, with past winners including Tigerlily, Sippy and Go Freek. A Your Shot rep says that 62% of past participants now regularly perform around the world.

Now, Your Shot will bring these same opportunities Stateside when it debuts in New York and Los Angeles this fall. The program will provide 200 participants in each city with six weeks of expert-led instruction at The Academy. Here, they’ll be taught fundamentals like mixing and music selection and live performance skills, while also receiving advice on how to mentally navigate a DJ career in addition to other technical and emotional support. Your Shot aims to nurture talent to create sustaining skillsets and a life-long love of the art.

After training at The Academy, contestants will show off their newly acquired skills at festival style events, where they’ll play for fans, judges from around the industry and talent scouts. A select group of Your Shot winners also get a slot at an upcoming festival, with past contestants playing at events including CRSSD in San Diego, BPM in Costa Rica, Snowbombing in Austria and more.

In-person selection for the program happens on Sept. 13 at Catch One in Los Angeles and on Sept. 20 at Elsewhere in New York. Your Shot’s 2025 U.S. advisors include artist and Femme House co-founder LP Giobbi, president of Live Nation’s Vibee Harvey Cohen and representatives from dance/electronic management company The Circuit Group.

“Your Shot is about giving people a platform to challenge themselves, learn the basics, build a community outside their bedrooms, and take their passion for DJing and dance music to the next level,” Your Shot founder and CEO Steve Pillemer says in a statement. “That’s what young Americans are asking for today,  just like young Australians,  and it’s so exciting to finally be able to answer the call.”