How to dig through DJ mixes and tracklists

Pick sets from DJs you trust, get the tracklist or ID the gaps, then listen to each track on its own before you keep it. A step-by-step method.

CatchIt! Editorial · Published · Updated

On this page
  1. Why mixes are one of the best digging sources
  2. Step 1: choose the right sets
  3. Step 2: get the tracklist
  4. A real tracklist, read row by row
  5. Step 3: fill the gaps with recognition
  6. Step 4: pull everything into one list
  7. Step 5: listen to each track on its own
  8. Step 6: follow the best finds sideways
  9. Step 7: decide what to buy
  10. A digging session, step by step
  11. Doing this with CatchIt!
  12. Checklist

To dig through DJ mixes for new tracks, start with sets from DJs whose taste overlaps with yours, get each set's tracklist (or identify the tracks yourself), and pull every track into one list. Then listen to each track on its own, not only inside the mix, and keep only the ones you'd play. Follow the best finds sideways to their labels and remixers. A set is a shortcut to music someone else already dug for; your job is to filter it to your sound.

Why mixes are one of the best digging sources

A good DJ set is a curated selection, sequenced and tested on a dance floor. Store charts tell you what's selling. A set tells you what a DJ you respect chose to play, often including older tracks, edits and B-sides that never chart. Will Lynch, writing for Pioneer DJ about digging, tells readers to "be shameless" about finding music this way. The limit he sets is on copying the set itself, for example lifting another DJ's blends or opening and closing a mix with the same tracks they did.

Step 1: choose the right sets

Not every set is worth digging. Choose deliberately:

  • DJs adjacent to your sound. Not your exact twin, but someone one step to the side: same tempo range, slightly different genre, or a different decade of the same style.
  • Recent sets for new music. A set recorded last month is more likely to contain current releases and upcoming promos.
  • Older sets and radio archives for depth. These are where you find classics and forgotten B-sides.
  • Long sets and closing sets. More tracks, and often more personal choices.
  • DJ charts. A DJ chart on a store is a tracklist without the mix. Beatport keeps DJ charts on their own page, each with the tracks listed and playable.

A reasonable starting point is two or three sets per digging session. Finish those before you open more. For sets beyond the big tracklist sites, finding DJ music on SoundCloud covers SoundCloud's search filters and DJ mixes.

Step 2: get the tracklist

Look for a tracklist before you reach for recognition. Usual places:

  • Tracklist sites. For club, festival and radio sets, start with 1001tracklists. Its users post the lists and fill in tracks one row at a time, and each row shows who added it. How to use 1001Tracklists to dig covers its search and track pages.
  • Mixcloud shows. DJs add tracklists at upload with Tracklist & Timestamp, typing rows, pasting a list, or importing a Serato, Traktor or cue sheet file. Mixcloud's help center notes that its automatic fingerprinting "will not create a tracklist for you", so a show without a list may simply not have one.
  • SoundCloud descriptions and comments. Check the description first for the DJ's own list. Then skim the comments: on a popular upload, the track you're after may already be named there, or someone has asked and got a reply. If you only need one track, how to find a song in a SoundCloud mix lays out the routes.
  • Comments under videos. Lynch describes scanning comments on a set's video for track IDs, then looking up the records, as a fun way into "a new corner of the musical universe".

Learn to read the list: an ID marks an unidentified track, and w/ usually marks a track played together with the one before it.

A real tracklist, read row by row

Here's what that looks like on an actual page: the 1001Tracklists list for Skrillex at the T-Mobile Stage, Austin City Limits Music Festival, on October 2, 2026. When we opened it on October 3, 2026, the header showed 70 of 76 tracks identified for a set of 1 hour 29 minutes, and a username next to each row showed who had added it.

  • Start times. The page has 40 numbered rows, and each one after the opener shows when the track begins (row 2 at 03:48, row 40 at 1:25:29), so you can jump straight to it in the recording and check it by ear.
  • Layers. Almost half the entries begin with w/. The first track, Skrillex & Nitepunk's "Soma", has a Lil Uzi Vert acappella listed under it with w/, because the two were played on top of each other. Those layered passages are exactly where Shazam tends to fail, so the list is worth more than recognition here.
  • A partial ID. The second row reads "Skrillex & Flava D & Taichu - ID": the artists are known, the title isn't. That's usually something unreleased. The page links it as the same ID as track 14 of an earlier set, Skrillex & Knock2 at Navy Pier, Chicago, on September 11, 2026, so if either list gets a title, both do.

From one page, you get around 70 named leads to listen to, a few IDs to watch, and a timestamp for each.

Step 3: fill the gaps with recognition

When there's no list, or the list has holes, identify the tracks yourself. Play the set on your phone with Auto Shazam on, and it keeps identifying music even when the set plays in another app. Or click Recognize Music on your Mac at each new track. How to Shazam a whole DJ set from a link covers the methods and their limits.

Recognition will miss tracks during long blends and won't know unreleased edits. Note the timestamp of each miss; it may turn up in someone else's tracklist later.

Step 4: pull everything into one list

The tempting shortcut is copying a tracklist straight into a store cart. You skip listening, and the cart fills with tracks that only sounded good in the mix. Instead:

  1. Put every track from the set into one list, alongside your other finds.
  2. Remove duplicates, including tracks you already own.
  3. Mark where each track came from, so you can return to the set for context.

Step 5: listen to each track on its own

This is where most of the value is. A track inside a mix is shaped by the DJ: an EQ'd blend, a loop, the energy of the track before it. On its own, it may be weaker, or better, than you thought.

  • Listen on headphones or monitors, not a laptop speaker.
  • Skip to the part that would matter in your set.
  • Decide keep or reject. If you'd only play it in the exact blend you heard, it's a reject.

Lynch calls listening "perhaps the most overlooked and underappreciated part of the digging process". He suggests listening "purely for your personal pleasure, without picturing yourself playing it to an imaginary crowd". That's a good test for a track lifted from someone else's set.

Step 6: follow the best finds sideways

For each track you keep, open its label, the artist's other releases and the remixers' pages. This is how a single set turns into a week of digging. Lynch suggests doing it on Beatport by listing an artist's or label's discography by tracks and working from old to new, or on Discogs, hopping from record to record. He also points to a Bandcamp route: a release page shows who else bought it, and those buyers' collections often lead to music no chart lists.

Step 7: decide what to buy

Your keep list from a set is a shortlist, not an order. Before you buy, cut again, and make sure the store listing matches what you heard in the set: extended mix, remix or edit. For the full route to owning the tracks, see how to find and buy the tracks from a DJ set.

A digging session, step by step

The times below are a suggested starting point, not a benchmark. They depend on how long the sets are and how many gaps you have to fill.

StepSuggested timeOutput
Pick 2 to 3 sets5 minutesLinks to the sets
Get or build tracklists10 to 30 minutesOne list of IDs
Pull into one list, dedupe5 minutesNew candidates only
Listen to each track alone30 to 60 minutesKeep or reject for each
Follow keepers sidewaysOpen-endedNew candidates for next week

Doing this with CatchIt!

CatchIt! is a Mac app with a free iOS companion. It handles steps 2 to 5: tracklists come in by link, every track lands in one Inbox, and you decide keep or reject with two keys.

  • Import a tracklist by link. In the Add Tracklist sheet, paste a page from 1001tracklists, TrackID.net, set79 (/tracklist/ pages) or Djooni (/query/ pages). Each import becomes a tracklist in the Inbox sidebar. See Importing tracklists.
  • No tracklist? Shazam the set. Paste a SoundCloud or Mixcloud link instead, and CatchIt! fetches the set and runs Shazam recognition over the whole thing, with live progress and a stop button. YouTube sets aren't supported.
  • Decide on the Mac. In the Inbox, Return keeps a track (green) and Space rejects it (red), then moves to the next one. A track you've already judged from another source shows its previous decision, and the Previous filter can hide those tracks so you only see new ones.
  • Or decide on the phone. The iOS app's Tracklists tab plays each track's Apple Music match and lets you mark it green or red. Walking Mode turns the screen into a pad: swipe up for green, down for red, tap the halves to skip 15 seconds. This needs Apple Music access and a subscription.
  • Close the set. Mark a tracklist completed when you're done, and Hide Done keeps finished sets out of the way.

Checklist

  1. Choose two or three sets from DJs adjacent to your sound.
  2. Find a tracklist; fill the gaps with recognition.
  3. Put every track in one list and remove duplicates.
  4. Listen to each track on its own and decide keep or reject.
  5. Follow keepers to their labels and remixers.
  6. Cut again before you buy, and check the version.

This guide is part of how DJs find new music. See also the glossary and Core concepts.

Frequently asked questions

Is it OK to play tracks you found in another DJ's set?
Generally, yes. Finding music through other DJs is how most DJs dig. Will Lynch, writing for Pioneer DJ about digging, draws the line at copying someone's set itself, such as imitating their blends or using the same opening or closing track.
What does "ID" mean in a tracklist?
An unknown. Whoever wrote the list couldn't name the track, and that's often because it's a promo or a private edit that isn't out. "ID - ID" puts the placeholder in both the artist and the title slot. Lists get updated, so an ID can gain a name weeks or months later.
Where can you find tracklists for DJ sets?
On tracklist sites such as 1001tracklists, in the tracklist section of Mixcloud shows, in SoundCloud descriptions, and in comments under uploads. When no list exists, you can identify tracks with Shazam while the set plays.
How many sets should you dig through at once?
A few at a time, and finish them. A reasonable starting point is two or three sets per session; fully processed, they give you more usable music than ten half-opened tracklists in browser tabs.
Should you buy every track you like from a set?
No. A track that works for a moment inside a great blend can be ordinary on its own. Listen to each one separately before you decide, and keep only the tracks you'd actually play.

Sources

  1. Pioneer DJ: How to find music you love, in a way that you love
  2. Mixcloud Help: How do I manually add a tracklist to my shows?
  3. 1001Tracklists
  4. 1001Tracklists: Skrillex @ T-Mobile Stage, Austin City Limits Music Festival, 2026-10-02
  5. Shazam User Guide: Identify a song using the Shazam app on iPhone, iPad, or an Android device
  6. Beatport: DJ Charts