Your Record Could be Running for a JUNO Award

You may not believe a nomination is possible until it is.

That's Fred Everything, a two-time JUNO nominee, on what recognition actually feels like once it happens. This fall, one more door just opened for the artists who never thought to knock on it.

But recognition here was never going to come from a chart. Underground Dance Single of the Year was never built on streams or downloads. It runs on community: a ten-member committee spanning Canada, coast to coast, who reached out to over 300 Canadian producers last year. It runs on record store owners, radio hosts, promoters, and music enthusiasts across the country, the whole web of relationships built with the industry itself. If you make underground dance music in Canada, you might already be eligible, and simply not know it.

That evolution just took its next step. Beatport is now recognized as an eligible digital service provider for JUNO Award submissions across all categories.

Artists are already feeling the shift. That feeling is what the category was built to create in the first place. It was founded in part by Joanne Hill, Mark Quail, and Natale Pizzonia, built to represent the evolution of the sound and to recognize underground dance producers' contribution, not just to the Canadian music industry, but to electronic music worldwide.

"While Canada has made many contributions to the history of electronic music globally, electronic music remains relegated to its own spaces and channels when it comes to recognition from the Canadian music industry at large", says Hua Li 化力 Montreal-based artist. 

It is a great step forward for the JUNOs to include Beatport as a DSP, meeting electronic artists in the spaces they already exist. 

Asked how the decision came about, Liz Morgante, Director of Academy Operations, said:

Each year, the Academy Operations team works closely with our Music Advisory Committees and other internal and external industry experts to review the JUNO Awards' categories and eligibility criteria. […] Recognizing Beatport as an official digital service provider was an important part of that evolution. Beatport is a prominent platform for electronic and dance music, particularly within independent and underground communities, and its inclusion helps ensure our eligibility criteria reflect the ways artists in these genres bring their music to audiences. We are pleased to recognize Beatport and to continue creating more inclusive pathways for exceptional Canadian music to be eligible for JUNO Award consideration.

Here's what that means in practice. To be considered for nomination for the 2027 JUNO Awards, national release dates must fall between the eligibility period of September 1, 2025 and November 6, 2026. Submissions open September 21, 2026, with a deadline of November 5, 2026, 11:59 PM PT (November 6, 2026, 2:59 AM ET) for all submissions. Full criteria here.

Here's who made the cut last year, and where to find them on Beatport:

Winner: "Phantom Vibrations", Gene Tellem, Teddy Bryant

Nominees:

• "Cosmic Affliction (toi toi toi)", AADJA
• "Yeah!", Teen Daze, Pacific Coliseum
• Not available on Beatport: Annie-Claude Deschênes – "Main de fer"; F7 – "Icarus"

More Canadian producers on Beatport:

• “Arrêt Infini: , Pt. 1” (Original Mix), Fred Everything, Teuteu
• "Slow It Down" (Original Mix), Moonshine, UNIIQU3
• "Bayside Blue" (Original Mix), Paul Chin, KOREA TOWN ACID
• "RUAFREAK" (Club Edit), Keys N Krates, 96 Vibe, Afrique Like Me
• "Bubble Mechanics" (Original Mix), Bambounou, Priori
• "Forever" (Original Mix), Èbony, Jordan Gardner, R-oderick

Èbony, whose track "Forever" is on this list, won Electronic Album of the Year at last year's JUNOs for "Shades of Meridian."

If you're a Canadian electronic or underground dance producer, we'd love to hear from you. Reach out and we'll connect you with your local representative. Send us your music. You don't have to wait on your record label to do this for you, though it would be wonderful for labels, including foreign ones, to reach out as well. We can help you understand if a release meets the requirements. Our mission is to move Canada's electronic music culture forward, and we can't recognize what we don't know about. Find us on Instagram: @studiohausofham.

You may not believe a nomination is possible until it is. We'd like to help you find out.

By Fiona Ham, Chair, Underground Dance Single of the Year