Tips on a Commercial Set
Hey Guys,
Have been DJing a while - mainly house & trance - and am looking for tips DJing a mainly commercial/pop set. I am finding it challenging due to a lack of breaks/intros/outros etc.
Any suggestions on technique/approach to getting a good commercial set together? Any good examples?
Cheers,
JP
One bar loops! 
Transitions do go fast with top 40, There was a good thread about mixing hip-hop a little while back with some advice that can work with pop.
One thing to keep in mind is that smooth, beatmatched transitions aren’t as important with commercial music. The brainwashed masses that listen to these tunes are more concerned with hearing their favorite songs than how well you mix them. Song selection is key.
You can also get a lot of commercial hits with extended intros/outros to make mixing easier.
With top 40 stuff, you can go a long way with making mash-ups of almost the entire set. People go nuts if they hear their favourite song, if they hear two favourites mashed together they go apeshit. pop songs are easy to find the acapellas&instrumentals for, too. Just make sure the songs are in the same key etc.
fixed*
+100
+1 on the one-bar loops. But it’s just gotta be fast, just slam shit together. That’s what the dj’s at the clubs I go to do all night. They maybe transition between songs about 4 times in a 3 hour set and just slam things around the rest of the time
^^ yep.
filters work good too. and echo freeze.
quick, simple. ending of a song into the begining of another… if you overlap with a loop… the more the better.
bitchez do go “apeshit”. that was a perfect description.
If you can find extended intros/outros, you can blend the drums of your new song into the song playing during a break/build. In my mind at least, hip-hop and top 40 don’t have to be nearly as clean or seamless as EDM. Def check out Ean’s posts on the echo freeze and other tricks to mix, they are fantastic.
Pretty much what people are saying here. I played some top 40 the last few nights after playing house, and it was easier and more effective to just slam a track in. Obviously it depends on the track, but if you find the right remixes they can give you some wiggle room that is very similar to normal house.
As for hip-hop my experience there is slim, so I can’t offer much there.
Thanks guys - most appreciated!
On a related note - any standout DJ’s that you rate who nail this genre?
checkout
Z-Trip & Dj P’s Uneasy Listening.
Mike Relm’s Radio Fryer
Solid Steel Radio