An online archive is documenting 30 years of dance music history

The Dance Music Archive is an online database that documents 30 years of dance music and rave culture.

Just launched, the website allows visitors to explore each decade of dance music history from the 1980s onwards, through DJ mixes, radio shows, blogs, artwork and more. The team has ripped CDs, gathered physical documents and curated Spotify playlists to create an exciting audio-visual timeline.

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The record has both a regional and a global focus, with material and information stretching from club events in Oxfordshire to DJ sets in Australia.

Beginning as a lockdown project, the ever-growing library has been curated by DJ, producer and radio host Andi Durrant.

He hopes the ‘digital museum’ will create an accessible space to document dance music’s ongoing evolution.

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Of the resource, Durrant says: “During the coronavirus lockdown of Spring 2020 I found myself with a little more time at home than usual. I was having a dig around the loft and came across a couple of boxes of old guest mixes from my radio shows over the years. I’ve been honoured to have some of the biggest names in dance do sessions for us, and I’ve tried to keep as much as possible.”

“I’ve always been a bit of a hoarder,” he continues, “and to the annoyance of my family I have boxes and boxes of what most people would consider rubbish, but I think contain a little part of the rich history of our scene.”

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The Dance Music Archive is part of a string of efforts to celebrate electronic sounds and the subcultures around them. Earlier this month, it was announced that a museum dedicated to sharing the story of electronic music will be built in Frankfurt.

Safi Bugel is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter