How Ongoing DJ Broadcasts Became an Informal Archive of Electronic Music

When online DJ streaming surged during lockdown periods, much of the infrastructure was already in place. A small number of projects had been recording sets continuously for years, offering a reference point for how the format developed. One of them is The DJ Sessions, started in Seattle in 2009 by Darran Bruce.

The concept centred on recording full performances alongside extended conversation. At the time, most online DJ media consisted of edited interviews or short mixes. Continuous broadcasts were technically demanding and less common, which shaped a slower, talk-focused format.

Across thousands of episodes the structure has remained consistent even as platforms changed, moving toward Twitch streaming and Mixcloud distribution. The recordings include both established touring DJs and lesser-known local artists, creating a chronological cross-section of performers at different career stages.

In recent years the project has added captions and searchable transcripts, treating the recordings as reference material rather than disposable content. The approach aligns more closely with documentation practices found in radio archives and lecture recordings than with promotional media cycles.

Location broadcasts such as mobile and rooftop sessions extend the same format into physical environments while maintaining simultaneous online viewing. These hybrid recordings reflect an ongoing shift in dance music, where performance increasingly exists both in a room and on a screen.

Viewed collectively, long-running broadcast projects like this provide a record of how DJs describe their craft over time, capturing working habits and context that rarely appear in short-form coverage.