Stevie G: DJ AG brings the party to everybody online

Like many ideas that develop organically, streamed DJ sets have become places where you will hear the very worst aspects of DJ culture alongside some of the best parts.

Now that we are years deep into DJ streaming, it’s worth taking a look at the state of the game in 2025, and it’s worth shouting out some of the people who still make it worthwhile and original.

I’ve been wrestling with the idea of doing more streaming for the last year or two, but have held off for numerous reasons, such as copyright issues and inconvenience. I’m gonna start streaming again soon, but before that, let me briefly outline my own personal DJ streaming journey, which began about 10 years ago.

Around 2015, Facebook introduced their LIVE option and almost immediately DJs such as myself took advantage of this newly found method of reaching a mass audience within minutes, through streaming our sets. Those early weeks were a glorious period for us DJs with a Facebook following who were willing to go live at the drop of a hat.

There were a few reasons for this. First up, this was genuinely a fresh development. DJs could suddenly broadcast live to anyone with very little equipment, and you could stream on your smartphone.

Obviously, expensive equipment could make this even better but it meant nearly anyone could do a basic enough stream. Secondly, Facebook actively pushed this new development and anyone going LIVE saw their posts pushed to the top of the algorithm. My early streams could reach the 1000s in minutes, and I could be DJing in my studio at home to a huge audience in no time.

The third factor that made those early weeks glorious was the same thing that eventually brought it down. The record companies had not yet worked out a way to copyright claims on music being streamed live, but after a few months they changed this, and soon music was being taken down or muted, which changed everything.

Like many people, I slowly but surely became disillusioned with the DJ streaming game, but that again changed at the start of the pandemic, when it became the only party available for a while. I immediately started streaming on the gaming platform Twitch at the start of the pandemic, and for a while, there were again huge audiences and no copyright claims or takedowns.

Other platforms like Facebook and Instagram were also useful in that time, though the only one that seemed to have their copyright issues sorted was Mixcloud, which I still use to this day. It wasn’t as good for live streaming to a ready-made audience for me, and I eventually stopped, as the streaming landscape became too generic after those initial covid months. Losing streams due to copyright violations becomes disheartening, especially when you go to a lot of trouble to set them up. I have streamed less since about 2021 but I’m hoping to do more this year. It got me thinking about how streaming has changed as it’s become more mainstream.

Huge streaming platforms such as Boiler Room have become massive parts of the DJ community in the last 10 years, while new artists have also utilised other generally good ideas, such as the Tiny Desk series. DJs now use unique and personal backgrounds, such as their kitchens, to stream. Indeed, that was where I hosted most of my parties during lockdown, alongside my kids, on Twitch and other platforms.

There’s a lot of contrived DJ streaming sessions now with professional camera work and carefully cultivated crowds throwing all the right shapes in often pre-made sets, but on the plus side there’s still great spontaneous moments too. 

Ashley Gordan, aka DJ AG, has become one of the most important DJs in the UK, and even the most cynical can’t help but be moved by some of the moments that he’s helped develop by bringing his decks and mic to the streets of London.

AG grew organically and now has the biggest legends in grime, dancehall, and garage joining him on the regular, and bringing the party back to the roots of where the music came from in the first place. This is what it’s all about. AG, alongside other legends such as Jazzy Jeff and Koko Shimakita, show that there’s still room for those who can share the best bits of our music culture to the masses through our phones and computer screens!