Why should I keep track on labels?
Through doing some research on how to perform live with electronic music, I stumbled on controllerism and through that an interest for DJing.
While reading DJing articles and listening to some DJs, I’ve noticed that keeping track on different artists and different albums labels seem to be pretty important.
It seems like artists from the same label share either some design-philosophy or a sound in their finished productions, but beyond this why is it a good thing to keep track on what label your collection consists of?
You pretty much listed the most important reason i can think of…
Usually if you find a label that consistently puts out quality tunes (like the dnb label lifted music for example) you can pretty much guarantee that anything you get from them is top quality stuff that your going to love.
So its an easy way to keep up to date with top quality tunes if you pick a handful of labels you love and keep up to date on their tracks you can pretty much guarantee that you will be kept up to date with some quality tracks you can play out that are gonna rock da house.
Its also a great way of finding new artists are more artists get signed to the label, if you like the artists stuff then you can also follow that artist for other releases on other labels.
I’ve been completely out of the music scene for a long time. One of the first things I did when I started surfing through music sites was find a few newer songs that I liked and then looked at the other artists on the same label. IMO that’s one of the best ways to find new music.
Thanks for the quick answers.
If I where to try to find some more DJs to listen to, as to find myself some idols that I can use for reference when trying to build some skill, is there an easy method to find DJs in a certain genre or should I just try to find a mix in the genre that I like, look at the DJ and try to see if he’s on a label where I can find more good DJs?
For me, its like stepping into a completely new world. When listening to other kinds of music I usually stumble in to producers and bands regularly, but as I have no connections to DJing at all I can’t seem to just randomly pop into them.
I don’t follow artist, i only follow good labels because an artist can’t have a good track every single time they release something. A good label has a good chance of doing it just right. Example: when i browse beatport for new shit i have a list with favorite labels and i just browse trough the new things they brought out and that’s how i find my tunes. Also if u like Richie Hawtin and his style, you will follow his own label because the music he signs to his label wears his stamp of approval so you most likely will love it too.
Looking at labelmates is a very productive way of finding new producing artists within a certain genre. I also recommend finding if these DJs have any mixes out there for download. If it’s a recent mix you’ll find new stuff in the tracklisting, some songs aren’t even released yet. I’ll typically download a mix each week with the tracklisting, listen to it a few times while travelling to work, and figure out which songs work with one of my sets and incorporate it. The only problem with that is if the song isn’t released yet then you may spend weeks or even months drooling over it while hawking beatport every couple of days. 
I’ve recently given up on trying to get AC Slater’s Calm Down part 2.
Pandora and iTunes are great resources for finding new artists similar to those who you know and like. Whenever you buy an album on iTunes it will show you somewhere, people who bought this also bought… or even recommend albums to look at. Pandora speaks for itself I think
I used to just follow artists myself, and more and more often, I’m finding that I’m looking at labels first and then seeing what they are spewing out.
All the points above are valid because generally if you like a label, you like what’s coming out on it. The only tough part is sometimes artists release things on smaller labels and indie labels, and some of those tracks are harder to keep a handle on.
I honestly search through youtube a LOT to help me find “new” tracks. Following a few blogs that cater to the style of music you like is also a big help. That combined with following labels on Beatport.com or on their myspace pages, really helps you keep well rounded.
Digging is an art, and it’s only changed, not died, in recent times.