Twitch to Launch New DJ Category With 24-Hour Streaming Festival Headlined by Zedd

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Twitch is celebrating the launch of its new DJ category by virtue of a worldwide, 24-hour streaming event, according to a blog post from the company.

Scheduled for Thursday, August 8th, the virtual event will feature a headlining DJ set by Zedd. The superstar producer is set to broadcast live from Brooklyn, where he’ll play brand-new music from Telos, his first album in nearly a decade. ZHU, Sofi Tukker, Sam Feldt, Aluna, Cheat Codes and EDM.com Class of 2024 star HoneyLuv will also perform, among others.

It’s a big moment for Twitch, with whom DJs have locked horns for years due to the pervasive risk of takedowns, bans and muted content. The platform had consistently found itself in hot water after issuing rampant DMCA takedown notices to legions of its users, who were unwittingly playing songs in their streams without the rights to do so by virtue of the service’s business model.

Twitch in June announced landmark licensing deals with UMG, Warner, Sony and “hundreds” of independent music rightsholders. The agreements precipitated the launch of the “Twitch DJ Program,” which enables DJs to legally play copyrighted songs in their streams and collect royalties.

They can now sign up for the program, which provides a catalog of music for them to legally use in their streams as well as a list of restricted artists.

“Today’s DJ category launch is a major moment for Twitch, the music industry, and our creators,” Twitch CEO Dan Clancy said in a statement. “There is something special in the way DJs on Twitch introduce music to their listeners. It’s personal and it’s community-oriented, so we’ve built a stable, long-term home where they can invest in building their brand and community.”

Learn more about Twitch’s new DJ category here and check out the full lineup for the August 8th stream below.