Futuremusic, a multifaceted, electronic music concern, has announced "The Next Big Thing" - the largest DJ contest of the year. The winner of the contest will receive an incredible arsenal of best-in-class DJ gear, and open for Superstar DJ John Digweed on his US tour this summer. "The Next Big Thing" is open to all US-based, “non-professional†house music DJ's who don't earn the majority of their income from DJing. "In today's climate, it's very difficult for a DJ to get a big break solely from their DJ skills," Futuremusic's Dan Brotman reveals. "We're giving a talented, up-and-coming DJ the opportunity of a lifetime...to open for a Super Star DJ, at a premier club, and receive the largest prize package of the very best DJ gear ever assembled." Contestants will need to download the official entry form and rules from Futuremusic.com and submit a 60 minute, house music mix on CD. The mix has to be achieved on vinyl turntables, digital CD turntables, and/or Final Scratch. Futuremusic, John Digweed and the sponsor's philosophy behind the contest is to "give back" to the DJ club scene in the US. There are already several scratch DJ events, but none aimed specifically at house music that gives a rising DJ their big chance. All mixes will be judged on track selection, mixing ability, creativeness and sound quality. The winner of "The Next Big Thing" will receive an unprecedented prize package that will include 150 free tracks from dance music's best digital download site, Beatport.com, an Ozma Digital Audio Workstation from Alienware, a software suite from Native Instruments, DJ gear from Technics, cutting-edge digital mixing software from PCDJ, a complete turntable suspension system from FreeFloat, The Grabber from Peavey, 100 promotional CD's of their mix from The DubHouse, and much, much more! July 31, 2004 is the deadline for submissions. For the latest information about The Next Big Thing 2004 visit http://www.Futuremusic.com/djcontest