it easy to find that pro-label that you like and drop them with an email and introduce yourself, but what about the chances of being rejected? and you could be worried about that? so really the question could be is, how do you get on the winning team of that pro-record label who are finding 30 big gigs to their top dj’s. what do you do? do you start to spin like them, and make songs like them, and then when the time comes for the dj to retire, do you msg the company like if your his replacement but you don’t mention it. and the songs you made and the style you spin is just like the dj who retired.
plus dj’s never retire, the big names are almost the same 10 years on, its not like pro sports where injury’s and age take a toll, its simply a case of keeping your eye on the ball once you’ve made it, the trick is to make it.
i guess but what about if no one else has that style, what about if you can take that style and make it better. some djs have families, i dont rlly know any pro dj’s that are spinning and are 40yrs+ can u list some, i’d be interested to know.
morales, tenaglia, oakenfold, fatboyslim, pearce, cox, probably tong and jules too,norman jay anyone who remembers 1988 as the summer of love and dancing in the fields to 808 state.
damn lol so i guess this brings things back to where you say the trick is to make it. but people might wonder, well how do you make it? what do you do, and i guess this means making good tracks, having a good set, or sets and just presenting yourself with these tools to a record label or a few and hope one picks you…idk thats my guess unless you want to add your input or anyone else. lets hear what YOU got to say
you keep at it for years and years. you constantly push yourself to be better at what you do, and EVENTUALLY it pays off (if you play your cards right). the people that have “made it” have been doing it for a long, long, time.
You don’t “make it” as a DJ now a days, you “make it” from producing tunes that every other DJ wants to play, then you start getting asked to play gigs.
The trick is to be ahead of the curve, and to get everyone else trying to produce in the style that you helped make big. You want to be an originator, not a follower.
As for DJ’s over 40, Hawtin, Vath, Dubfire, Dave Seaman, John Digweed, Sasha, Carl Craig, Ricardo Villalobos, Little Louie Vega and many more who are still at the top of their game and still show no sign of slowing down because they are always innovating and ahead of the curve.
Not sure exactly where you’re coming from but my first thought is D.I.Y. Love your tracks, have your own style, don’t try to emulate ANYONE. Many of the GREATS have carved their own niche, started their own record label, started with a grass roots club following and just kept on laying it down. The era of the “DJ” as a Rock Star has come and gone. It’ll come back again (someday) but if what you’re looking for is “Fame” then maybe look somewhere else, like, ie. producing pop music with vocoder/pitch bending vocals. DJing for me has always been a hobby but I have MANY friends that have tried to make it their career with only a few, truly “succeeding”. Many of my favorite DJs have moved on to producing tracks, putting DJing on the back burner. Only you can decide where your heart lies.
good inputs guys and i hope that this thread helps those who wonder what it takes to make it to the spot light of getting gigs, playing your stuff, and having a good time. i’m 24yr now and hopefully by the time i’m 50yr, i hope ill be getting gigs and djing, producing, PARTYING !!! yeah hhhh boyyy lol.
No one should be doing this with their single goal being to “make it”, you should be doing it because you have a need and desire to produce music and entertain. If you make it awesome, but if you don’t that shouldn’t deter you from doing what you love.
Don’t expect over night success either, I’ve been DJing since I was 14, playing out professionally since 20 and have been producing since I was 24. I don’t try to copy any trends, just try to produce what I’m feeling at the moment and play music that I think is quality tunes.
25 years here. At the start of Detroit. Spun all the Majestik parties when Ritchie Hawtin was just starting out. I spent every weekend at the Music Institute… when Derrick May and Juan Atkins (prior to crack) would wander in at 4am and throw down beauty. It was a black room with one strobe light… in 1989. Jeff Mills would spin the Nectarine Ballroom in Ann Arbor regularly… “The Wizard” from WJLB. Detroit was magic for music… did 4 TT set with Jeff Mills in Chicago 1991. Seen em all come and go… been around the world and seen all of them. Some guys in Detroit are the best I’ve ever heard… and nobody would know them. Terrence Parker was the best… he’s out in Vegas. He could put any 2 records together and make it pump. He actually played Duran Duran over a Prince track… sick bastard. Chuck Hampton rocked the party… Stacey Pullen still great. I’ll get around to posting some of the old school mixes and videos from shows I have saved.
