What happened to the days of the DJ being the tastemaker and the crowd being up for it and interested in learning about new music? When did people start to get arrogant and stubborn and only want to hear what they know?
I have a mate who's been DJing for 20 years and we are always talking and this was one subject that I couldn't stop thinking about for the longest time. Just wanted to throw it out there and get your opinions.
i dunno i prefer hearing music i've never heard. i'm not sure what scenes you and your mate follow but i'm into dubstep,breaks,electrohouse,nudisco,hiphop,mashup/eclectic...you name it. pretty much the works.
i dont really know anyone who wants to hear the same old thing, we all go through new music faster than toilet paper.
I guess some clubs nurture nights that are forward thinking and then you can be a tastemaker. Others are simply there to serve the masses and give them what they want. Nothing wrong with wanting to hear music that you know and like. The problem is when that is ALL they want to hear (which is your point i guess).
Its a fine line being able to judge what is 'tastemaking' and what is trying to 'educate'.
Trying to educate can be a terrible, arrogant thing to assume which is often used by DJs to just play what they like which is often shite.
Its great when you play a new tune and people come over asking what it is cus they like it. Its a fucking pain when people leave a dancefloor cus they dont know what the tunes is despite it turning out to be huge a few weeks later. Its like "are you not fucking listening, this is awesome"
I once cleared a dancefloor of 200 people with a new single from a band called The Strokes. First time i played 'Last Night' i emptied the floor. 2 weeks later it totally filled the floor and went on to become an Indie Classic (no matter how over played it is).
The internet has also affected how important DJs are in as tastemakers.
It partly stopped when people started uploading and leaking all their promo cds.
Music appears on Hype Machine the same day as it is sent out so people have the music as soon as the DJ. Sometimes sooner.
Thats not always a bad thing i guess but it does take the roll of tastemaker DJ out of the equation.
The traditional way was that the DJ got the tunes first and built up the popularity of a track in the clubs then the clubbers went out and bought it.
Good or bad this isnt the way anymore. You always get some snotty piss-rag of a kid thats managed to download a tune a few days before you and comes over all smug "Have you got the new blah blah single" and when you say no they walk away all superior. hahaha
K
Post!Quote:
Originally Posted by Karlos Santos
Totally agree on most. Although it still happens, a lot of the dubs (at least in Dubstep) do stay amongst the DJs/Producers due to reeally tight control on them, many never being released digitally, only on dubplate & in mixes.
This is IMO although somewhat annoying cos I want the tunes is entirely a good thing. Getting given dubs (by the artist/label) that no one else has is a special feeling as a DJ/Producer and something to be respected and earned, and I hope that it stays this way.
Know exactly what you mean mate. I'm not arrogant enough to think that just because I like something that means everyone should, but at the same time if you can articulate what kind of sound you like I'm pretty sure I have some tunes that are right up your alley that I can introduce you to and from there we can find something you like.Quote:
Originally Posted by Karlos Santos
this is a big issue in michigan. i can't even get away with some of the classic hip-hop songs any more at least half the time. like "house of pain" or "kris kross". they don't just leave the floor either, there is always that one person who has to tell you they hate it. you can also forget about techno or dubstep or anything else along those lines except for the rare occasion or location. i have noticed a change and i have only been doing this for 2 years.
Yeah id say thats right. The Dubstep scene is heavily based on vinyl. I fear though that in UK dubstep may already have crossed over to the mainstream (we just had sold out shows by Skream and Caspsa and the crowd were all average students).Quote:
Originally Posted by midian
I know that Caspa has is new singles promoted by a company that sends all its promos on CD or MP3. I was pretty amazed when his last cd single popped thru the door on cd and the mp3 was sent out.
Yeah totally agree. Its a fine line but if your a DJ that loves new music you cant help yourself from introducing it to other people at your clubs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nephew
I guess if you a DJ that doesnt have any tastemaker instinct in you , you are nothing more that a walking Juke-Box. I know a few of those.
That suck but its common everywhere i think. Especially in the high street clubs.Quote:
Originally Posted by DJBanyon
I play at one every monday and the music policy is pretty open but it is based around Top 40 music. Its amazing how the new Beyonce single can get a terrible reaction only to be a floor filler a week later because of Radio 1 playlisting it .
The same goes for remixes. You can play the Radio Edit to a full dancefloor but try playing a remix and you can lose a crowd. This is especially true of classic tunes.
This is one of the reasons I love bedroom DJing, in that I get to play whatever I want and enjoy it; house-party DJing comes a close 2nd as people tend to be more open-minded I find
In the nyc rave scene its similar. The crowd is in safety mode for some reason right now. I've been spinning a lot of hard techno lately and nobody knows what it is. But they love the rawness of it. I stay away from hardtstyle/hardcore/electro since people only want the same fucking anthems. I noticed hard techno and hard trance and jungle making a comeback though
Gooood shit. I've somewhat noticed that here in NZ as well. Which is awesome, I've been pushing jungle (and dubstep) for a while, hoping it would kick back off.Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ_Animus
Got booked for a Jungle set on the 8th of Jan :D :D Pretty Stoked