Crate Digging vs. Net Digging - Your Impressions

[Nosferatu]

Not really a question but rather a commentary to stir dialogue.

For those of you who used to crate dig religiously...

Coming from Toronto, I used to enjoy doing the rounds at Starsound and Carnival records... Thursday afternoons (new shipments) back in the late 80's through to the early 90's.

By the mid 90's I was lucky enough to have a bin where the manager would leave 1 each of the new stuff for me to listen to. Anything I didn't want would go on the rack for sale.

These bins were usually reserved for local DJs with club residencies... it was nice to be able to break a new song at the club because there may have only been 4 or 5 copies in the entire city. This was the "edge" some DJs enjoyed for quite some time. (there was a bit of DJ snobbery going on too, but that's a topic for another day). The "hard to find" songs would eventually turn into anthems, but for the short time this would be a "secret weapon" at peak time.

Today, with new releases on vinyl being so scarce, I can't help but think sites like Juno and Beatport have somewhat leveled the playing field.

As far as selection goes, how does a digital DJ get that "secret weapon" in an age of dwindling vinyl supplies? Is it a matter of...

1. "I bought it online as soon as it became available"?
2. "I know a producer who gives me digital promos"? (which has prob. been going on even during vinyl's hey day.)
3. "I spend hours searching the tracks beyond the site's listed top 10"?
4. "I track other DJ's charts"?

I suppose for folks that are just now entering the scene, there is no "old way". It really seems like old rules no longer apply in the digital age.

thoughts?

[Afterhour Ali]

I do my secret weapons myself (even when they're just copies from another track no one can get).

Another good option is to get in touch with producers itself.

The internet also gives you the chance to find pretty unknown stuff because of the sheer amount of remixes/edits no one can handle these days.
Today I can still play Barbara Streisand without people yawning at me, because Ziggy Stardust did a remix hardly anyone knows, which is very good though.

I've got a good friend who owns like 30k vinyls. If I need exclusive stuff I go to him.

So you see, there are still enough viable options for you to get secret weapons.

All the software-help we got may even help you turning a normal song into a weapon of dancefloor mass-desctruction.
Look at Eskei83 performing a live-edit from Empire State of Mind here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoRyAVCZspc

[Ghostdad]

I think DJ's and dance music labels still like to hold on to some form of "exclusivity" when releasing new tracks. While the internet makes it easier to see what's out there and rising to the top, it's also a lot harder to weed through the abundance of stuff out there.

There's still no good substitute for the "buzz" that builds around tracks. No amount of banner adds or email spam can make up for a solid track that catches on. How that song catches on may be what has changed most on the internet though. It may take one blog posting the track, or a youtube video with the song in it that goes crazy viral, or a Levi's add that uses the track. In a lot of ways these new ways of aggregating good stuff are similar to DJ's picking tracks out of the record bin. It still takes a taste maker to feature that song in their blog, youtube channel, or commercial to expose it to the public.

[wrong chris]

1. "I bought it online as soon as it became available"?
2. "I know a producer who gives me digital promos"? (which has prob. been going on even during vinyl's hey day.)
3. "I spend hours searching the tracks beyond the site's listed top 10"?
4. "I track other DJ's charts"?

^yeah you pretty much covered it.

net digging is interesting because although it may seem like it has leveled the playing field, it really has just made things even more complex and interesting.

in addition to digging in online music stores and getting promo material from other djs + producers, it's also worth mentioning the importance of digging via social networking websites and blogs.

i think this challenges djs to work much harder to have an edge than ever before. this means to stand out we need to have deeper crates, or more advanced technical skills on the decks, or other skills such as producing and marketing - because being the first person to have a new song that their favorite stores get in just doesn't exactly cut it these days.

[Nosferatu]

Something that has always amazed me....

Given the amount of time I spend digging (thinking I've exhausted every possible avenue), there is always that one person that will drop a track title on me and although I don't have it... I write it down and then search for it... only to find out that it is a bomb of a track.

leaving me wondering where they found it.

[photojojo]

I spend time going through daily new releases and never buy from DJ charts. I haven't spent enough time really doing this lately though. One of the benefits of digital though is that some of the older stuff that would never have been repressed is available now. This probably doesn't pertain so much to EDM as it does to a lot of the soul/funk/jazz I buy though. you can literally find some undiscovered funk song that tears it up that maybe only had 1000 copies made in the 70's.

[Nosferatu]

^good point..

I now find myself buying tracks that I already have on vinyl, only because my time seems to be more valuable these days...

The amount of music that is available is actually quite staggering.

[bartboy]

1. "I bought it online as soon as it became available"?
2. "I know a producer who gives me digital promos"? (which has prob. been going on even during vinyl's hey day.)
3. "I spend hours searching the tracks beyond the site's listed top 10"?
4. "I track other DJ's charts"?

1. This seems to be the how most of us get a hold of tracks.
2. I know a lot of people who have Dropbox soundcloud accounts or something similar that get tracks ahead of street date. This is usually reserved for well known DJs. Either well known in there own particular scene or more so.
3. There a some gems to be found but they are few and far between sadly. I do try to go past even the top 100. I follow about 20 DJ's/Producers and check out everything they put out and a lot of times they'll do a remix of an artist I've never heard of so I start checking there back catalog.
4. I find DJ charts mainly on site like beatport to be more promotion tools for them then what they really think to be there top 10. Now there are some DJs I'm sure that do post what they think is there top 10 at the time but most just post what there most recent label releases are.

I find DJs to be a lot like magicians in that they are very secretive of there Bombs and hidden gems. Some DJs wont release it publicly for months even years. Just look at KNAS. That was an alright track but he held off releasing it for about a year and it built up this hype. He more than likely sold more than if he had just released it when it was done. Not to mention only he and the people he may have given it to could play it. It's the ultimate DJ snobbery.

While I think sites like beatport have helped the average DJ get better, I think it takes out some critical human element where you could interact with shop owners and other DJs. DJing is all about networking. You could be the best DJ in the world that no one ever has heard of because you can't get your sound out there. Plus shop owners would always be in the know they knew what was flying off the shelf and what they had 30 copies of. I myself prefer to have the option of human being that I can talk to and say this is what I'm into what to you got for me?

Plus now I have so many tracks to dig thru I have to set aside hours everyday to listen, rate, sort, catalouge new tracks it's hard finding time actually practice. It was a little easier when you had someone to kinda sift thru some of the garbage ahead of time before you even walked in the door. These days anyone with half a brain can get released digitally (No offense to any of the members who have been released on any of the sites) that you have a mountain of crap to go thru to get that 2-3 good tracks.

Just my two cents.

[Nicky H]

Yep the dj's with residencies at big clubs and the famous names still get stuff sent to them way before you can download it - in fact this is probably where vinyl was an advantage if you weren't a name. You could get white labels and test pressings if you knew you're local record shop well enough - now it's almost impossible.

I too had a pile put away behind the counter - then on a Friday I used to go spend about £150 every week.
The buzz of playing the new stuff Friday night was immense - I didn't even have time to listen to most of it properly before playing it, which seems weird now...

[Phil Morse]

"I have to set aside hours everyday to listen, rate, sort, catalogue new tracks it's hard finding time actually practice."

I think that picking up on the buzz is what's important, and the earlier we manage to do this, the quicker we get new music that others haven't got.

Sites like Hype Machine help by aggregating mentions of tracks - there are some pretty good remixes that bubble to the top on there through blog exposure only.

Also, you need to put your neck out, the second you hear something you like, even if you don't know why you like it (probably, BECAUSE you don't know why you like it) you should play it in front of a crowd immediately.

You could be holding a bomb that nobody else has realised is a bomb, but you won't know till you chance some dancefloor reaction. (This has always been the case, mind.)