I believe there is a great opportunity for collaboration between Plex and Engine DJ that could significantly improve the modern DJ workflow and bring a real cloud-native solution into our industry.
Right now, Engine DJ does not yet offer true remote streaming or cloud access to a music library, and DJs must still copy libraries manually to USB/SSD devices or perform long exports. Meanwhile, Plex already provides a complete and mature infrastructure for local & remote streaming, secure access, NAS support, mobile apps, and excellent media management.
A direct integration between Engine DJ and Plex could enable:
– full streaming access to a DJ’s music library (local & remote)
– playlist preparation and track preview from any location
– instant sync of changes to Denon players without exporting USB drives
– elimination of duplicate libraries and time-consuming file copying
– modern workflow that matches the reality of 2026
This collaboration feels like the fastest and most realistic way to achieve a powerful cloud-enabled DJ ecosystem, without Engine having to build a streaming platform from scratch. Plex already has what Engine is missing, and Engine has the professional performance hardware. Together, they could create something truly unique in the DJ world.
I really believe many DJs would love and appreciate this development.
Absolutely yes x10, this would be an awesome feature. It doesn’t even have to be the Plex API, could also be Emby, Jellyfin or Subsonic API, but at least something selfhosted. Since Tidal/Apple Music/Amazon/etc support is already built, the main functionality within EngineDJ of a using a REST API to access remote music is already there.
Would also solve the problem of syncing playlists back and forth between your hardware (when you add/modify playlists during performance) and your library at home.
OK, admittedly, it would be cool not needing to keep a USB stick in sync with your computers disk…
I am astonished however with how many people trust their internet connection enough to let their career depend on it? Am I really the only one playing on locations without internet connectivity?
It’s not even about does the location have internet connection - it’s about trusting servers and API to function everytime you want to use it.
There were and there will be global outages for every streaming service and it’s crazy for me people are ok with trusting it.
I completely understand the concerns about relying on an internet connection.
But the idea here is not to depend on live-streaming from the internet during performances.
The goal is simply to avoid keeping multiple USB drives and laptops manually in sync.
A self-hosted or local network solution could work even without internet, because it doesn’t require any external servers. Everything stays under your control.
USB sticks will always remain the safest fallback, and nobody wants to replace that.
This feature would just give DJs one more workflow option — especially for those who work with big libraries, multiple devices, or multi-DJ teams.
So reliability is exactly why having both options (USB + local/self-hosted library) would be useful.
Fair enough, run your own server on your own network, and you have control. Unless hardware breaks, but USB sticks or media players can do this too…
But how is this different from the local streaming service Engine DJ provides? You know that when you connect your PC running Engine DJ to the same network as your SC6000 or Prime unit, you can access Engine DJ’s library remotely?
We’re not talking here just about “local or remote access” — Engine DJ already does part of that today.
Our idea goes much further: it’s not only about accessing the library through hardware. What we really want is a mobile app that lets users create and edit playlists not only from the PC or Denon hardware, but also directly from a phone or tablet.
This way you could sort your music, manage playlists, and keep everything synchronized across devices — PC, hardware, and mobile — without relying on an expensive cloud service. A self-hosted solution would be more efficient, more secure, and would give users far more freedom.
You have your music library on your PC at home.
You go to work or school — it’s in your pocket.
You arrive at the club — everything is there exactly as you prepared it earlier.
Automatic sync, no complicated steps.
This would save a huge amount of time and make the workflow much smoother.
I’m going to be a Debbie Downer for this thread. What I’m about to say may seem harsh, and I hope to not offend you or anyone else with my umbrella statements.
I think your assumption that Denon’s target audience has the experience to self-host such services is rather flawed. Here’s why.
It’s easy to argue that most of Denon’s customers don’t know the term “self-hosted” is. Cloud, sure. It’s in the public vernacular.
My basis for this is that so many of these DJs call USB storage devices “USBs” and mostly have a clue about keeping backups of their own music collection. Evidence for this is found in the countless posts asking "how can I get my library back from the SD card that’s in my device because my laptop died. I bet many of these same people use the term “Wifi” when their cellular phone has a bad data connection to their cellular service provider. All of this is to say that to self-host something, you need to be pretty technically savvy.
Your ideas sound really cool in theory, but in practice are incredibly complicated to develop and can be very frustrating to end users if they don’t perform perfectly. There are already tons of cases where people blame Denon gear for not performing well, all to find out that it’s the end user’s own WIFI being the problem. One could only imagine the flood of support queries coming in due to a self-hosted setup being part of the problem a DJ is experiencing.
Add to that the complexities of installing and managing said infrastructure to self-host an internal syncing solution, where most people just want their stuff to work for them in the easiest way possible and as @SlayForMoney mentioned, all you need is a USB storage device (USBs for those who prefer that term) or SD Card to sync your music & play.
Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
I’ve been in the software industry for over 25 years now and we have a saying that goes something like “Ideas are cheap, execution is expensive.” The costs to implement these features could be in the hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars and would hardly be worth the investment.
This is just my $2.00 (had to increase from $.02 due to inflation & tariffs).
Not everyone will use self-hosting, and they don’t have to.
The idea was never “everyone needs to be an IT expert,” but rather to provide an option for those who want more.
Just like not everyone uses Ableton Link, MIDI, or advanced settings — yet those who do benefit greatly.
That’s how innovation usually works: at first it seems complicated, then it becomes normal, and one day people wonder how they ever lived without it.
We’re not trying to remove USB sticks from the equation — just opening the door for those who want a more flexible workflow.