How Do I Found Out What Music is Hot?

[victoryrisen]

Fellow DJTT junkies,

I'm wondering how you guys know exactly what's hot in the DJing world, besides staring at the Beaport Top 10 Downloads?


Let me know, because that's exactly what I've been doing for the past few months (as a noob).

[bucky]

Download live sets/podcasts from your favorite dj's

[padi_04]

...besides staring at the Beaport Top 10 Downloads?

Actually, it's quite the opposite of this. I follow a bunch of labels/artists and spend some time listening to semi-random stuff, giving 2-3 sec per sample for them to catch my attention.

[3heads]

What? Just listen to lots of stuff and decide what you think rocks. I'd rather have something I play not being from Beatport Top10-Lists () - and as far as taste goes, there really is no manual for that

Oh, and when skimming through tracks I usually imagine myself on the dancefloor when those tracks are played - and then see if it fits the style/mood I'm looking for at that particular moment...

[DJ NiteFlite]

Well don't worry about what's hot first of all... if you take requests you'll find out without any effort.

-Find what you like and watch videos on youtube of those tracks... follow the related links on the right side.
-Check out similar artists to the ones you already have huge tracks from ->
- Facebook: Use the artists you've entered in your profile to find friends who also
like them. Check out their favorite artists that are similar.
- Last.fm
- Pandora
- Google: Type in "similar artist to <blank>"
- Similarartist.com

Beatport's top ten aren't really tracks that are going to set you apart as a good, tasteful dj. In my opinion, they're just tracks people expect to hear and expect you to have. If that's what you're looking for you don't really need to exert much effort in the hunt.

[diezdiazgiant]

Rectal thermometer.

Use as directed and follow with a taste...

[photojojo]

Don't listen to those guys, here it is in four easy steps.

1. Go to music site
2. click on new releases
3. listen to new releases for an hour or two.
4. pay for the only two tracks that were worth a crap.

It's called digging and it's not easy, well physically it's easy, but it's time consuming as hell. The first time you see one of the tunes in the selected music sites top 10 a month after you bought it'll give you a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

You can also find podcasts or mixes on one of the hosting sites like soundcloud or mixcloud with songs you like in them. Chances are there will be more songs you like in them. Hopefully, after about a year you'll have developed a pretty good sense of what's good and have the makings of a nice music library.

Stay away from the blogs with all the free downloads. You'll start downloading songs of questionable quality thinking maybe you'll play that sometime. Chances are you never will and it'll just fill up your hard drive. Paying for your music is the first step to really knowing and understanding your music.

[sobi]

1. Go to music site
2. click on new releases
3. listen to new releases for an hour or two.
4. pay for the only two tracks that were worth a crap....

+1

Playing all the "hot" tracks will fast track you to having a rep as a crap DJ who just plays all the beatport top 10. Part of being good is caning the hot tracks before they get on a list. It's a fine line, but learn to get respect from the audience, AND your fellow DJ's. When you do, your ready.

[Paka Ono]

Even with all of the digital technology, digging/selecting still is a trait that separates the good DJs from the average.

[Shane Says]

Even with all of the digital technology, digging/selecting still is a trait that separates the good DJs from the average.

+1

Set a few hours aside each week and dig! Find labels and artists u like. Follow them on twitter and facebook. Download free mixes by producers play them in the car or whenever u can and follow up on the songs u like. Most producers will have access to tracks before they come out and incorporate them into those mixes. And when they release them they will announce them on twitter or fb! Well that's how I go about it. Nevermind that top 100 list on BP. But always keep the dance floor in mind!