Interesting notion.
I’ll never forget when I saw articles in 2000 or 2001 about some college students trying to create a method to play MP3s off a computer using turntables. It wasn’t until 2003 when I saw Final Scratch in action that I was in awe. Made me run out to buy a laptop and Final Scratch. I remember how many DJs were intrigued or laughing at the notion…then a few years later I’d see loads of DJs with laptops.
I also found it funny how Midi controllers for DJing were seen as “eh” compared to timecode, but now I see things going the opposite direction, as timecode seems to mainly be loved by those into turntables.
Now when you look at it all, it seems the goal is to get the laptop out of the booth. We have controllers with screens, and Pioneer’s gear which lets you get much of the joy of DVS without a computer. It’s rather cool one could come to the club with a flash drive and headphones…but not much more.
Now we’re seeing the MP3 stores look into moving away from downloadable files (which I love) and more going into a streaming licensing ideology, where you pay a monthly fee for full access, or buying rights to use tunes, all of which comes from the cloud. I’m still not sold, as clubs and venues would need to have solid fast internet on hand. This is especially difficult for outdoor events and such.
If anything, I think that while many loved the “tradition” of vinyl, I think more DJs and especially producers liked being free of carrying heavy crates of wax or books of CDs. Wildly though, some of the best tips on shopping and organizing digital music come from using an analog mentality…of treating files like vinyls, where you have budgets and limits.
.