Songs are less and less dj-friendly.

[DeejayAlex]

i think some producers, especially in hip hop, are worried about people looping up their beats and making bootlegs with them. therefore you hear alot of short intros , and also alot of background chatter during any place where they choose to let the beat play.

and to answer the ? about mixing with these, i mix on 3 decks , which allows me more room for more instrumentals or breaks/changes to be manipulated.

Singers can talk a bit on the instrumental intro (like saying their name, etc...), no one could use this as sample to make mashup/bootleg/remix.
I think these guys (producers) just forgot that DJs spread their stuffs like radio stations do.

[Deejaesnafu]

and they do, this doesnt make for the most interesting loop to use to intro your mix tho.

" BIG G MONEY YO, BIG G FOREVA" repeated 8 times while you mix the next song is pretty boring.

[Monkey Mouse]

I don't spin hip hop, just underground prog house and house. House has become a little bit more difficult, but not nothing has changed on the prog side. Won't touch anything remotely related to anything you will ever hear on the radio.

[DeejayAlex]

and they do, this doesnt make for the most interesting loop to use to intro your mix tho.

" BIG G MONEY YO, BIG G FOREVA" repeated 8 times while you mix the next song is pretty boring.

I don't use loop when intro is longer than 4 bars, it's a quick transition but it's enough for me.

PS : bachata is very dj-friendly :instrumental intro, instrumental break in the middle of the song (sometimes 2 breaks)

[jimbrowski00]

1) I make my own intro by looping a portion of the song, then fading in/cutting the song from the beginning
2) Fade in the vocal intro into an instrumental outro.
3) Mix it with the same key song. Count my bar from the chorus and cut into the new song.

That's what I do too...

You gotta think like we did when we had vinyl doubles. Set a cue at some point that could be used as a mix in point, could be an extended break or the outro, and mix into that point.

Deck A is playing, Mix into "Outro Cue" on Deck B. Once your transition is finished Duplicate Deck B onto Deck A but cue to the first verse, or wherever you want to drop into and drop that section back over the outro of the same track playing on Deck B.

It's fun to do and adds some variety into your set, instead of just verse, hook, verse, hook.

[tekki]

You make your own edits?

Thats what I do with tracks that contain things I don't like or want.

Then it is a re-edit.

Add you own outro....or extend the track...whatever.

Easy!

+60!

[AdamPollard55]

it doesn't make it hard, it just makes it non-trivial. mixing together drums is simple as anything, and is actually quite boring. i certainly can't dj like that for hours without getting bored.

get creative. drop an echo freeze on the previous track as you cut, or bring up a lowpassfilter on the new track as it comes in at the same time.

[PartyMcFly]

Edits. People listening to music don't like the extra minute or more on in/out mixes of a song as Karlos said. Album and radio mixes do away with it so that people can commence the fun times. DJ-friendly mixes have them. When there isn't an official one available, you have the tools to make your own without too much effort.

If anything, it's gotten easier. Nowadays pretty much anything you would want to play in a public space is on a 4/4 quantized grid. If it's not electronic, the drummer's on a click track to stay in time with other programmed instruments.

A generation ago, DJs would have killed to live in an alternate universe where sixties classic rock was recorded on a click track. Disco finally made mixing possible, but even then it was still pretty hard. Also, a lot of people hated disco.

But today mixing is a trivial matter, not due entirely to the amazing tools we have, but in large part because most music is just gridded out of the box.