The Best Music Streaming Services For DJs In 2026
Beatport
Beatport, the underground electronic music store that has its corner of the market stitched up, also doubles as a streaming service. It works with all the coolest dance music labels, and has established itself as the place to buy electronic dance music.
DJs can stream most of its catalogue into compatible software and hardware. To audit tracks and build playlists, you can either use the Beatport store (where you can listen to full tracks, unlike general users of the store), or you can listen through the Top 100s, Genre playlists and Curated Playlists, all available in the file tree in your DJ software.
Beatport streaming works on a three-tier system. The Essential tier at $10.99/month gives you streaming access to the full Beatport catalogue with full-track playback on Beatport, the Beatport mobile app, and Beatport DJ (their web-based DJ app), but doesn’t work with professional DJ software or hardware – it’s mainly for discovering music.
For actual DJing, you need the Advanced tier at $15.99/month, which works with DJ software and hardware and gives you 128kbps AAC streaming. Audio quality is 128kbps AAC at this tier (although don’t confuse 128kbps AACs with 128kbps MP3s – AACs at this bitrate sound much better).
If you want better audio quality (256kbps AAC) as well as the much-touted offline locker (for 1,000 tracks), you need to upgrade to the highest tier, namely Beatport Professional at $29.99/month.
That offline locker is crucial for working DJs – it means you can cache your music locally and keep playing even if the internet drops.
The Professional tier also includes access to stems where available, letting you isolate vocals and instrumentals for creative mixing.
Available in: Rekordbox, Traktor, Serato, VirtualDJ, Djay Pro, Engine OS, DJUCED, Pioneer DJ CDJ-3000, AlphaTheta CDJ-3000X/XDJ-AZ/Omnis DuoFind out more: Beatport streaming website
Beatsource
Beatsource is a DJ music store founded by Beatport and DJcity. DJcity is a DJ download pool and streaming service beloved of open-format DJs. If Beatport is underground and independent label-focused, Beatsource is mainstream and major-label focused. It carries genres like pop, mainstream dance, country, hip-hop, Latin, reggae/dancehall and R&B music.
Read this next: The Best DJ Download Pools
Beatsource is all about curation. It provides busy open-format DJs with useful charts, lists, curated new releases and so on to make their lives easier. That carries over into Beatsource streaming, which is full of the same playlists you find on the store.
It runs on the same platform as Beatport, but there are only two tiers. Beatsource is $12.99/month, and works with your DJ gear (unlike the lowest Beatport tier), while Beatsource Pro+ is $34.99/month, and gets you the same 1,000 tracks offline as Beatport, but also exclusive DJ edits – instrumentals and acapellas, extended intro/outro mixes, transition DJ tools, radio-friendly versions and short edits.
Available in: Rekordbox, Serato, VirtualDJ, Djay Pro, Traktor, Engine OS, DJUCEDFind out more: Beatsource website
Aren’t these two merging?
There is a timeline towards Beatsource eventually merging with Beatport, which makes sense as they’re both from the same company. As a first step, currently most of Beatsource’s catalogue has been added to Beatport.
If I were choosing between the two today, I’d probably go for Beatport, in the knowledge that anything that is currently not there from Beatsource should be soon.
SoundCloud
SoundCloud’s subscription tiers (Go, Go+ and SoundCloud DJ) are an interesting proposition for DJs. They offer a decent chunk of the mainstream music that the likes of Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and Deezer have – But also, they give you access to the rich stream of music uploaded by independent creators, which is a real differentiator from the other services.
I know of DJs who claim to only spin with music they find on the SoundCloud site, to remain upfront/”underground”. So being able to stream such music into your DJ software could be a great thing for you, if you too like being the first to new music that you can’t find anywhere else.
SoundCloud now offers three tiers for listeners. SoundCloud Go at $4.99/month removes ads and allows offline listening for a large portion of the catalogue. SoundCloud Go+ at $10.99/month gives you the full catalogue, high-quality audio (256kbps AAC), and works with DJ software. At $19.99/month, SoundCloud DJ adds unlimited offline downloads for DJ use – crucial for DJs who need tracks cached locally.
Available in: Serato DJ Pro, Rekordbox, VirtualDJ, Djay Pro, Engine OSFind out more: SoundCloud website
Tidal
Tidal is of course the streaming service originally founded by Jay-Z. As well as offering standard audio quality, it also offers hi-fi audio, if you subscribe at a higher tier.
It is roughly comparable to the mainstream music streaming leaders Spotify and Apple Music. Maybe it is comparatively such a small player because there are few differentiators other than audio quality.
We find it to be fit for purpose, although it does have a poorer search function. We found you had to type the names of artists and tracks in exactly, whereas the main players are more forgiving.
Tidal used to include DJ features in its HiFi Plus plan, but as of 2024, you now need to pay for a separate DJ Extension add-on. The basic Tidal subscription is $10.99/month, but to use it in DJ software you need the DJ Extension add-on at an additional $9/month – bringing the total to $19.99/month.
The DJ Extension gives you access to stems where available – though “availability varies by partner”, which is frustratingly vague. Crucially, it also now includes offline mode, letting you download tracks for offline playback during performances.
Available in: Serato DJ Pro, Rekordbox, Djay Pro, DJUCED, VirtualDJ, Engine OS, AlphaTheta CDJ-3000X/Omnis DuoFind out more: Tidal website
The stems issue
In recent times, some streaming platforms have introduced a restriction on using software’s built-in real-time stems functionality. Basically, the controls that allow you to make an instant acapella, instrumental, drum-only track and so on are disabled when using the platforms.
This is a limitation imposed by the record labels, not the platforms themselves. Here’s the current status across all streaming services:
Apple Music: No stems support due to licensing restrictions Tidal: Stems restored with DJ Extension add-on (availability varies by partner) Spotify: No stems support in current integration Beatport/Beatsource: Stems supported where available SoundCloud/Deezer/Amazon Music: No stems support
Apple Music
Apple Music is by far the biggest name on this list alongside Spotify, dwarfing many of the other services mentioned. It is second only to Spotify for number of subscribers, and reaches into over 160 countries. It costs $10.99 per month.
Until recently, it was only available in one platform: Djay Pro. But as of March 2025, Apple Music now works in Serato, Rekordbox, and Engine DJ – a massive expansion.
And because Apple Music is incorporated within Apple’s Music app (iTunes, in other words), which also is where you store your own music, if you set this up that way, you can have not only your streaming library but all your own music too, across all of your devices, as a bonus.
However, there are important limitations. There’s no offline mode – you need a steady internet connection throughout your set. Also stems functionality isn’t available due to licensing restrictions, and you can only use Apple Music tracks for personal, non-commercial use, which means bedroom practice and private parties are fine, but legally grey for paid gigs.
Available in: Djay Pro, Serato, Rekordbox, Engine OS, AlphaTheta XDJ-AZ/Omnis DuoFind out more: Apple Music website
Spotify
After years of absence, Spotify is back in DJ software – and this time with proper integration into the industry’s biggest platforms.
As of September 2025, Spotify Premium works natively in Serato, Rekordbox and Djay Pro. This is huge for beginner DJs who want to start mixing without buying music.
Read this next: How To DJ With Spotify
However, there are important limitations. You need Spotify Premium starting at $11.99/month (obviously – you don’t want ads interrupting your mix). There’s no offline mode, so you need reliable internet throughout your set. Stems aren’t available. And the integration is designed for personal, non-commercial use – meaning bedroom practice and private parties are fine, but there’s licensing ambiguity around paid gigs.
But for casual DJs and beginners, this is genuinely transformative. Being able to DJ with music you already own and playlists you’ve already built removes the biggest barrier to entry that DJing has had for years.
Available in: Serato, Rekordbox, Djay ProFind out more: Spotify website
Deezer
Deezer is a pretty big music streaming name in Europe, coming out of France. It’s like Tidal, in that it’s a mainstream service roughly comparable to Spotify and Apple Music. Of course it is a minnow, but nonetheless established enough.
So no surprises about what you’ll find: roughly the same catalogue as Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal, same features, similar pricing (11.99/month), and so on.
As with most of the platforms here, there isn’t an offline locker facility, so you need reliable internet to DJ with it.
Available in: VirtualDJFind out more: Deezer website
Amazon Music Unlimited
Amazon seems to want to have its hand in anything you buy, rent or subscribe to – and makes it easy to grab Amazon Music Unlimited, its mainstream Spotify-rivalling streaming service, especially if you already have an Amazon Prime account.
Therefore it may well be the obvious first choice of music streaming service for new DJs – if they have the right hardware of course, as this one is unique in only working with certain newer Engine DJ-powered devices. At $10.99 per month (for Prime members), if you have a compatible unit, this one is worth considering.
Available in: Denon DJ Prime 4+, Denon DJ Prime Go+, Denon DJ SC Live 2, Denon DJ SC Live 4, Numark Mixstream Pro+ and Pro GoFind out more: Amazon Music Unlimited website
