Why old school DJs are complainging and you should too
a good little editorial…sums up how alot of us feel…
100 agreed. tweeted. thank you.
The most interesting part of this article, is where it says dj’s used to play music to make it hits now people play hits to make themselfs successful.
I think the best example of this is from the disco days where a very famous club in new york started playing this B side I will survive. That DJ’s song selection spread across the world. Turning a Bside into an A side then a world wide hit
Larry Levan at Paradise Garage?
Great read. Definitely agree with a lot of what was said in that article… Hopefully the shitstorm will soon pass so those of us who are in it 'cause we love music can go about our business.
TBH I’m getting a bit bored with this whole old school keeping it real blog post bullshit. Look, good DJs, in whatever incarnation they may take, will always be around playing great music in various vibrant underground scenes. Guys like Sneak et al have seen multiple waves of the whole superstar DJ phenomenon happen and I get that the Deja Vu must be tiring but shit, let it go and do your thing.
There are a bunch of amazing DJs and artists out there doing rad shit on a regular basis, I’m done with hearing all the whining about the the turds that are SMH and Guetta etc and I’d much rather focus on the folks doing good stuff.
Agree.
Why do people have to blog so much about what they don’t like? Let people do their shit. Who cares? There will always be main stream music that, we that have music as a main hobby/interest/living, think is “shit”. But there is people that don’t care about music and they like when its easy, funny and crazy “bad” with flying cakes, rockets and fireworks.
I don’t like “american action movies”, but I don’t tell other how bad I think it is. Its ok for other to like it!
And, by the way Guette, tiesto, SHM etc is not taking the crowd from the “underground” music. They take crowd from other pop artist.
I stopped reading here:
Never a necessity unless something major’s going wrong.
Yes mate, I agree completely, here’s my submission which is currently awaiting mod approval -
Jesus Christ, some of these comments make me ashamed to be a dj. I’ve been playing for 20 years now and I hope I never sound as pretentious or idiotic as some of you. It’s playing other peoples music in a pleasing way ffs, it’s not anything that important. Don’t get me wrong, I love it like nothing else and I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t buy tunes and play out, but does it really deserve a thousand shitty blog entries whining like little bitches about shit djs and acts that no one who is actually into the music gives a fuck about anyway?
Sturgeon's law - Wikipedia ← There’s some reading for you all, once you accept that into your lives you’ll be happier.
And as for the hate on technology you all just sound like the people shouting ‘judas’ at Bob Dylan for playing electric guitar in the 60s, history will make you look stupid.
He mentions a tour DJ that plays out every night. I guess it will get a bit much…therefore they feel that playing a pre-mix will suffice.
I mean, if thats his job…its his JOB! I would not be happy to pay to see a guy press play.
I just would not…
AGREED!! although i am a noob, i still think this is pretty true.
You have DJ’s and DJ’s. I mean you can’t compare people like Swedish house mafia, to someone like Ritchie hawtin.
I never gotten too much into house because I was told Swedish house mafia was actual house so I never bothered. After listening to some other house tracks I’m actually in love.
I think the label is slapped onto almost anything EDM with a beat. I consider Swedish house mafia, skrillex and other shit pop, yes they RESEMBLE certain styles but in the end it’s just commercial pop music. Just like a few years ago hip-hop was all that, still, the commercial hip-hop was VERY different compaired to actual, decent hip-hop.
Pop music is made to attract the masses, generally the people that don’t care too much about the music and just want to be able to say “yo dude lowl I saw tiesto!”. So my advice if you LOVE music and have a passion for it, seek out other artists, avoid the mainstream, dig a little bit deeper, and the quality of the music will go up tremendously.
Myself I’m going to festivals this year with small names I have never heard of. You know why? They AREN’T there for the masses and EVERY time I go to such places those DJ’s put on a ffing amazing set and try their absolute best. Add to that I pay like 20-30 euro’s less.
If a DJ can’t handle playing every night then maybe they shouldn’t be booking every night.
I think that’s probably the weakest comparison, honestly. I get what you’re saying…I do. And there’s still something to it. But there are some high-budget mainstream hip hop artists that are really awesome, even compared to the underground stuff (which I do listen to). None of the underground shit I’ve heard pushed the music as hard/far as some of Kanye’s stuff, and a lot of it says significantly less than Jay, Drake, or Em.
And we’re not just talking like…the shit you get on beatport or whitelabel.net, the blue scholars that blew up on the internet or the slightly off the beaten path stuff like when a friend was afraid to play lady soverign and shasty at a party, thinking it was too late to get away with it, in 2005. I’m talking about that and the mixtapes (well…cds) you buy for $4 on street corners.
There’s a lot of crap in the mainstream, just like with the dance that all came out of house. But there seem to be a lot more hip hop gems in that rough than there are in the current breed of electro/dubstep EDM headliners.
Yep.
The fact that the monkeys used to just play studio tracks on stage or that some of the big punk bands had members so wasted that they didn’t know that roadies were playing their parts backstage isn’t an excuse. When the shit hits the fan or you realize you’re about to have a riot when the fans realize their idols are crap…you do what you have to do to get through the gig. You don’t make it standard practice.
Accepting this shit just makes it okay.
Yep, thats what I said!
Its his JOB…he best fucking do it! Or take on less work.
let’s not forget they used to unplug Brian Wilson’s (of the Beach Boys) keyboards all the time…
it’s not an old school v. new school thing…
if you are going to call yourself a DJ please be one and yes there is a code…
The closest thing ive ever heard to an acceptable excuse for planning to play even a short pre-mixed portion of a set (not talking about emergency crash situations) was after the Steve Angello/Dance Valley brouhaha last year. The excuse given was that the finale is pre-mixed so that the pyro and fireworks can be synced to the music. Don’t know if that’s legit, but it sounds plausible.
is that acceptable?
I don’t think its the end of the world. Assuming that it would be necessary to pre-mix that portion in order to sync the lights and pyro (for safety, accuracy, etc.), sure. They’re giving they’re fans what they paid to see. It’s a different kind of show, with plenty of people who are into it. Doesn’t mean anybody has to like it if they don’t. Now, if they pre-mixed the whole thing, that, to me, is going too far, even for this reason. All about balance.