1
Play as normal
CrateMate reads your music library and suggests tracks to play next while you're DJing.
For open-format DJs · Coming to Mac
Never play the same set twice.
DJs, we all have the same problem. Thousands of tracks in our library, yet we default to playing the same ones from muscle memory. CrateMate sits beside your DJ software and recommends tracks from your library that would mix well with what you're currently playing, with the good matches you haven't played in months first.
See when you last played something, or how many spins it's had, before you drag and drop it onto the decks.
Built by a DJ with 17 years of open-format experience.
Works with Serato DJ, rekordbox, VirtualDJ and djay Pro on Mac, together if you use more than one. Your library stays on your Mac.
Songs you forgot you hadTracks from your own library that haven't had a spin in a while, ready when you need a fresh idea.
Last played, at a glanceEvery row shows how often and when you last played it, so you never repeat last night by accident.
Your call, alwaysIt brings ideas. You bring the taste, the crowd-reading and the final say.
How it works
Crate to Deck in three steps.
Set up once. After that it just sits there, ready when you need an idea.
2
Tap the deck, set the range
Set your tempo range and browse through CrateMate's suggestions.
3
Spot gems you forgot
Scan the suggestions and see when you last played those tracks, if at all. You can send tracks to the 'Do Not Play' list and never see them suggested again. Select your suggestion and drag it onto the available deck.
A night with CrateMate
Built for the long sets.
Open-format DJs play more, for longer, to crowds that want everything. Here's where it earns its place.
9:40pmFriday. Set five of the week.
Your hands know what's next.
You've played this crowd all week. The next ten songs are already in your fingers, and most of them are the ones you played last night. It's not a bad set. It's just the same set.
11:15pmHalfway through five hours.
Fresh ideas, from your own library.
The corporate crowd is up and you need new options without leaving the vibe. CrateMate lists songs you own that fit what's on, and each row shows when you last played it. Not played in months? Never played at all? That's the one to try. Tap P on the ones you like and they wait in your Prepare list, even after the suggestions move on.
12:30amThe request.
Never lose the thread.
Someone asks for a song you hadn't planned and it's nothing like what you were building. You play it, because that's the job. Now where do you go? Load it, tap the deck, and CrateMate suggests tracks with a similar vibe, so the night keeps flowing.
1:50amThe one you forgot.
"Oh, I own that."
A song you bought years ago and never got round to playing. It fits, it's a left turn, and the room has never heard you play it. You drag it on and the floor reacts. That's the whole idea.
Not a replacement for your creativity. A reminder of everything you already have.
Prepare list
Shortlist as you play.
Tap P on any suggestion and it joins your Prepare list. The suggestions move on as you mix. Your shortlist doesn't.
Drag from it onto a deck when you're ready, or save it as a Serato crate to pick up next time.
Last played
Every row remembers.
Not played in months, played twice, played every night this week. You see it before you drag it on, and the list leans towards the songs that need a spin, so you stop defaulting to the same ones.
- Never playedOwned, never tried. Fair game.
- Played once · last 3 MarEight months since it last had a spin.
- Played 14× · last 6 NovLast night's favourite. Maybe not tonight.
What's new
Smarter every set.
Built with the working DJs testing it.
Safe bets, one tap away.
The main list leads with fresh ideas. When you need a sure thing, tap Safe bets: the songs you've mixed after this one before, like Played after this 26×.
Climb the night.
Set the tempo range to + and only see tracks at your tempo or faster, for building through a set. Or − to bring it down. Half and double time still count.
Your crate, in numbers.
See how much of your library you actually play. James's: 26,094 songs, 26% ever played. The other 19,350 are what CrateMate is for. Worked out on your Mac.
Your DJ story.
Every set you've played, from every DJ program you've used, as one story: sets over the years, your most played songs and your records. Share it as an image.
Your old history counts.
Moved from Traktor or rekordbox? CrateMate finds old history on your Mac and, if you say yes, counts it too. It reads the files and never changes them.
Gig lists.
Give each gig its own Do Not Play and Must Play list. Requests rise up the list until you've played them.
Eleven looks.
Match the window to your DJ software, go Booth Red for dark booths, or Daylight for outdoor sets.
Played tonight? Gone.
Once you play a song, every version you own drops out of the suggestions for the rest of the set: intros, short edits, remixes, bootlegs.
No same artist twice.
The top suggestions skip the artist you're playing. Their other songs are still there, just further down.
Plan a set.
Pick a direction (climb, wind down or hold the tempo) and CrateMate plans a run of tracks from your crate, each one mixing into the next.
The key rule
Three chips. One question: will it blend?
Once a song is in the right neighbourhood for vibe, the chips tell you if it will blend with the track you're about to mix into.
8A✓
Fits
Same key, one step either way, or the relative major or minor. Safe to blend.
- 8A → 8A same key
- 8A → 9A, 7A one step
- 8A → 8B relative
10A↗
Energy shift
A deliberate lift. Plus two on the wheel, or a semitone change. You decide if tonight needs one.
- 8A → 10A energy +2
- 8A → 3A energy +7
4B≠
Key clash
The keys don't match. Plenty of DJs mix these on purpose, so they stay in the list, ranked after the keys that fit. Your ears, your call.
- Hollow grey chip with ≠
- Always the words too, never colour alone
Vibe firstSuggestions start from songs that sit close to what you picked, then tempo and key decide the order. Half and double time count as a tempo match.
Freshness is on every rowThe meta line shows how many times you've played it and when you last did. Good matches you haven't played in months come first; your proven moves wait in Safe bets.
The window
Learn the window in a minute.
A narrow window that sits above your DJ software. Big targets, built for a dark booth.
● Serato live1
On air · 2:41
Midnight Signal
Kline
123
9A
3✓ Fit9A → 8A · tempo locked
2
Next · Deck 2
Glass Harbour
Oda Vane
124
8A✓
4
Search crate
Filters
Up next24 from your crate
- 1
On Air
The track you're mixing out of, with time remaining. Its key chip stays neutral because there's nothing to compare it with.
- 2
Next
The track you've just cued. Its chip shows whether the transition from On Air works: Fits, Energy shift or Key clash.
- 3
Mix-check strip
One line that answers "does what I've loaded actually work?" Key move, tempo lock or BPM difference.
- 4
Search and Filters
Search your crate, then narrow the list by key and tempo range.
- 5
Suggestion rows
Key chip, title, and a meta line with the key move, BPM difference, how often you've played it and when you last did. Drag a row onto a Serato deck to load it, or tap P to keep it in your Prepare list.
- 6
Do Not Play
One tap, no confirmation. The row collapses with a few seconds to undo, then that track is never suggested again.
Also in the box
Small things that matter mid-set.
±
Tempo range slider
From 3 to 16 BPM, up, down or both ways, right on the main screen. The list re-ranks instantly.
⇄
Crate or everything
Show only what you own, or include ideas you don't have yet for crate-digging.
▲
Always on top
Pin a compact window above your DJ software so you never alt-tab mid-mix.
◐
Night, Day or Auto
Dark for the booth, light for daytime sets, or follow your Mac's appearance.
P
Prepare list
Tap P on any suggestion to shortlist it. The list stays put while the suggestions change, and you drag from it onto a deck when you're ready.
♪
Playlists via Claude
Connect Lexicon through Claude Desktop and ask for playlists built from your own library.
Built by an open-format DJ
Made for the set, not the demo.
CrateMate started as a tool for James Campbell's own open-format sets: a 49,000-track library and a lot of long nights where the same favourites kept coming round. It's still tuned on real gigs, from Ibiza clubs to ships at sea.
17years behind the decks
5Ibiza seasons
23Virgin Voyages contracts
Four DJ programs, together.
Use more than one and CrateMate joins your libraries and follows whichever program you played a track in last. Your play history from all of them counts, so moving from one to another doesn't wipe your past. More DJ software is planned, one reader at a time.
Serato DJ Works now
rekordbox Works now
VirtualDJ Works now
djay Pro Works now
Waitlist
Be first in line.
The beta is full and working DJs are testing it now. Join the waitlist and you'll be the first to know when CrateMate launches.
What you'll need
- A Mac running a recent macOS (Apple Silicon or Intel)
- Serato DJ, rekordbox, VirtualDJ or djay Pro, with your library on that Mac or a connected drive
- For rekordbox and VirtualDJ: one setting changed in that program so it logs tracks sooner (CrateMate shows you which). djay Pro needs nothing.
- An internet connection for new suggestions
What you'll get
- First to know. An email the day CrateMate launches.
- Nothing else. Only CrateMate news, never shared.
You're on the waitlist.
Thanks. Check your inbox for a quick confirmation. You'll hear from me the day CrateMate launches.
FAQ
Straight answers.
When can I get it?
The beta is full: a group of working DJs is testing it now. Join the waitlist and you'll be the first to know when CrateMate launches.
Who is it for?
Open-format DJs with big libraries and long sets: weddings, corporate gigs, residencies, ships, anywhere you play five hours and a bit of everything. Genre specialists can use it too, but that's who we're building for.
How does it choose what to suggest?
It starts from the track you pick, finds songs with a similar vibe, keeps the ones you own, then orders them by tempo and key. Each row shows how often and when you last played it.
Does it suggest tracks I don't own?
By default it only shows tracks in your library. A toggle adds radio ideas you don't have yet, marked as not in your crate, for crate-digging.
Will it work with my DJ software?
Serato DJ, rekordbox, VirtualDJ and djay Pro. djay Pro tracks you stream (Tidal and the like) are left out for now, because they aren't files on your Mac.
Can I use more than one program together?
Yes. Turn on each one in Settings. CrateMate joins the libraries (a file both know shows once, and plays are added up) and follows whichever program you played a track in most recently, so there is nothing to switch on the night.
Do I need to change anything in my DJ software?
For rekordbox, one setting. rekordbox only writes a track to its history after it has played for a set time, 60 seconds by default. Lower the Playback time in rekordbox's History settings (1 second works) and CrateMate sees each track almost as soon as it plays. VirtualDJ is the same: set its history to be written (writeHistory) and lower historyDelay (it waits 45 seconds by default). djay Pro needs nothing, but it only logs the deck you can actually hear. CrateMate never changes your DJ software's settings itself. Only Serato shows two decks; the others show one On Air track.
Is my library safe?
Yes. CrateMate only reads the folders you choose and keeps its own list on your Mac. Nothing in your DJ software is altered.
Does anything leave my Mac?
Your library never does. To find similar music, CrateMate looks up only the track you're mixing from. If set sharing is on, it also shares your set history anonymously: the songs in order, with BPM and key, but only the artist and the song's name. Remix and edit names are never shared, and nor is your name or your files. We use it to improve suggestions and build DJ charts, and never sell or share your individual sets. Switch it off any time in Settings. How set sharing works.
What if the venue Wi-Fi dies?
Your library and the mixing maths are local. Suggestions you've already looked up are cached, so they still work offline. New lookups need a connection.
Is there a Windows version?
Not yet. CrateMate runs on Macs, both Apple Silicon and Intel.