What The Judges Look For
Judges hold 60% of your score. Here's exactly what they're listening for — no mystery, no secret sauce. Every mix reaches them anonymously, so the only thing that moves the needle is what's actually in the mix. Real talent, tested — not a popularity contest. Every submitted mix gets measured against the same six things.
Track Selection
Are the tracks the right call for the room and the moment? A great set tells a story or builds somewhere — it doesn't feel like a random shuffle of whatever's trending.
Mixing Skill
Clean beatmatching, smooth transitions, confident use of EQ and filters. No trainwrecks, no awkward silences — the technical foundation has to be solid.
Energy & Flow
Does the set build tension and pay it off? Real peaks and valleys, not a flat 25 minutes at the same intensity. Momentum matters start to finish.
Originality
A personal signature beats an obvious-hits playlist. Unique picks, unexpected edits, something that sounds like you — surprise us in a good way.
Performance Readiness
Would this actually rock a live room at Atherly's? Judges imagine themselves in the crowd at 1 AM — does the set hold up under real Roar-Off pressure?
Sound Quality
Clean recording, sensible levels, no clipping or distortion. A mix that sounds professional gets heard the way it's meant to be heard.
How this fits the final score
Judges rate each of the six things above 0–10, equally weighted, and those six ratings average out into one 0–100 score per mix. That average becomes 60% of the final result. The public vote is the other 40%, and it's the same six things the crowd is (informally) reacting to when they hit play and vote.
Every Roar-Off later in the season is judged the exact same way, live — same panel, same six things, same 60/40 split. This page is the whole rubric, start to finish of the season.