Help with a question please.

This sounds like a weekend question article…hint hint.

Being A DJ, I put myself in the middle of the battlefield

I know exactly which part of the music I play that will shake the crowd in front of me, and I know which one I have to avoid

It’s been a while but I am back temporarily and will take this time to offer some experience to some of these deep thought questions. Don’t mind if I take it to another level. But one thing OP, if you use this for your paper, do so in your own words because I will be putting this up as an article on my website soon.

Let me answer the question first then go into details below. I have been doing more electronic dj coaching, nightclub and dj booking agency consulting so it has allowed me to see things from the back-end. I have been getting more complaints from producer turned djs that their booking agencies are not pairing them properly. Why? Because now venues are about the current “sound” rather than the music and flavors of the month rather than considering the long term identity of their venues. This creates “default” crowds because common people go for the sound rather than the resident or act. Most of this comes from promotional groups running things with no music manager to buffer between promoters and djs and or owners being hands off. So if techno is in, they will get techno djs- despite the venue having had 3 past weekends of open format/top 40 for example. This happens more often than people think. And also, it has become like a conveyor belt system and djs are just being pushed to keep everyone in business- hence why djs are getting kicked off or time slots shortened. It’s not reported often because of the 1 hour slots and 5 dj line-up concept. But because of the lack of experience, these poor producer turned djs are left out to hang- and that is where I come in and do the research for them and help them pair their sounds to the right nights and venues. This means less but more quality gigs because of more of a synergistic relationship between the dj and audience.

Producing is indirectly impacting the performance of the dj as they are separate disciplines/arts that have through time, been forced to merge. Contrary to popular belief, producing doesn’t always help with djing. Djing requires subconscious depth and width, whereas producing requires restricted depth and width. Meaning, production deals with fitting together incomplete puzzle pieces and djing with whole completed puzzles. However, both require knowledge in understanding sonic properties and may benefit each other on various levels based on several factors as explained below. Brains are wired differently- same has how some engineers are better at specialized tasks like transmissions while manufacture engineers oversee putting all the vehicle parts together. Coach vs player- (big picture vs specializer)

Today, art has so many moving parts- especially anything having to do with music. Just in the way we consume, produce, and perform has been altered drastically. As a result of the trickle-down effect, everything leads down and funneled into one hole. But surprise, it has failed the actual culture at its core.

Djing, with respect to nightclubs, is a separate art then producing as we know. But because of the above stated trickle-down effect, people no longer listen to full length mixes and albums but rather singles. So the result is that people produce in order to get the quick social response in order to perform these productions via dj platforms. Calvin harris didn’t make it as a band member but was able to apply his skills at production- but he has to perfrom his work via CDJs. As a result, many sets have gone from Single genre, to specialized sub-genres, and to now individual productions. You go to Calvin Harris to see him play his hits. It’s natural. But on the back end, more concentration is put on producing as it is more restricted and convenient via a laptop and headphones on a plane. Djing requires more components than many other art. However, it is not to undermine producing- which requires its own discipline and learning curve.

Djing requires the following:

IQ (Intellectual Intelligence) – the basic ability to hone and cultivate one’s craft and know-how in order to navigate within the business environment.

EQ (Emotional Intelligence) – the ability to relate to people, read a crowd, and pair music to the room’s demographic (young, mature, single race, mixed, hipster, European), time (opening, peak, or after-hours), structure (whether indoor or outdoor), lighting (knowing how varying lights impact moods over an extended period of time), etc. This requires intense exposure for those that aren’t naturally gifted “people person” types.

TQ (Technical Intelligence) – the ability to mix, cut, scratch, juggle, etc. All physical work in order to process a dj set to include, lighting, sound, and now visuals. TQ is entry level as anyone with enough basic skills can perform these tasks. What separates the best from the rest is the higher IQ and EQ (actually giving a crap about people on a much deeper level- almost to the point where you can pick out certain individual groups in a crowd and play a couple tracks for them to keep them in place) Same as what separates a leader that sees the big picture and cares for everyone vs an employee that simply shows up.

In order to be a master at your craft of djing, you must put in intense practice, expose yourself to a variety of demographics within your specialty, and listen to a variety of sounds. One has to apply all of this to the perspective demographic and venue landscape. But this also requires a deeper learning experience that often leads people to saying things such as “it doesn’t matter, just play good music”. It’s a sort of “just get the job done” attitude that is presented often with djing based on the absence of the middle-man aka proper promoters, music managers to properly cultivate a resident dj and room.

There is a whole lot more I can get into in terms of how the gap between extreme underground and commercial is widening and there no longer being a balance of sounds. This can be found in all forms from rock, rap, and dance. New generations have to choose between uber underground or high commercial at festivals but choose the more commercial route. This then means less patience, more producing, and the sacrificing of the art of djing. – All this comes down to my “trickle-down effect” theory.