The 'hype' of the big names

Bigger names will inherently have people show up in more of a “this is a concert” mentality than just a regular night out with the local DJ. People will swing from the chandeliers for music they would normally not even stand up for, let alone go all dancey-dancey crazy.

There are a couple factors involved here:

#1 the old system is dead but we don’t know what is to replace it. So if you haven’t achieved internationally known or local “big name” status, you will never achieve the reaction by the people. The current system is NOT designed for you. But in reality, you should be the star but are not and for a reason. Standing in front of a dj watching him or her as if the dj was an animal at a zoo is totally different than everyone dancing and engaging.

#2 nightclubs today are event driven whereby local talent and culture is not groomed to become stars at home. Social media plays a big roll and the job of the promoter is to bring people in. Djs become stars in other cities before they can return and be appreciated in their own city AFTER. They didn’t even get a chance to play their song at clubs in their own cities but are being flown all over the place now. (Everyone has different experiences but we are speaking in general terms as a whole). The death of the dj residency has taken away the ability for identity, ability to break local music, push talent fwd, and maintain a regional dynamic. Now, it’s about playing host to guest djs or playing along 4-5 djs for 1 hour sets.

#3 booking agencies and promoters have killed the game as well. It’s a cash money business so to speak and people come to clubs for the “sound” not music. This is why people will go to a club because “deep house” or “techno” is playing. Not because they want to be taking on a musical journey. They want to hear what they like. So the promoter is going to contact the local booking agency and supply them with what the flavor of the month music is. Now, it’s deep tech, tech house/techno.

We can argue all we want about the minor differences. The bottom line is that guest djs are praised moreso than the home dj. Imagine if Spain praised the guest team over the home football team? This is the same concept for djing. The country’s best player is the man in football. He comes before anyone. All artists represent their city and state. But djing? Forget about it today. Before, yes.

So, the old way is broken, local djs are not getting cultivated, but we still don’t know what is going to replace even the current way.