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Topic: Just read this....

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Posted Thu 12 Sep 13 @ 9:51 pm
Great read, spot on for many points.
 
An interesting read that addresses or confirms much of what is all ready being felt in the DJ world.

Not sure I completely agree with the music comments. I think music has a way of re inventing itself. Top 40 aside there has always been new music, fuelled by a generation who are continually being replaced as they age. Each generation bringing their own take on things. Many people feel that the music of their era was the best or that they can only relate to music of certain genre's or eras. That does not stop new music being produced or written. What does change is the way it is presented, listened to or otherwise consumed.

Dance Halls with live bands gave way to Clubs with DJ's and in time that might give way to something else. Live music has never gone away and in some venues that is what they have returned to. The technology available to Bands, PA systems and live Sound engineers allows live music to be presented with a level of quality that really could only be produced in the Studio 15 or so years ago. As with the advances in DJ equipment technology this allows bands access to technology that they would only have dreamed of.

When I started putting my first rather modest home studio together, the must have item was a multitrack Open Reel machine. Even second hand a good one would set you back thousands. I remember proudly playing back a recording I had done of a band I was working with at the time to a mate some 10 years later. His only comment was "Its sounds just like a CD, why did I need that massive machine?". That attitude has continued to a point where I think great sound quality is expected and few people care how it comes about. The same could be said for DJing I suppose. Wether you do it with a pair of Decks,CD players or a laptop. Few care if they perceve the result to be the same. The big problem now tho is that in the DJ world, sound quality, or the pride in it has gone to the dogs. I have given up counting the number of times I have heard venue owners say "As long as it makes a noise thats all people care about!" Quite depressing realy. The few out there who are making the effort find it harder and harder to compete with that attitude. You are busy working your ass off and saying "Wow!!! listen to this!!" and there are a whole bunch of people who will just say "So what!" I got it on my Ipod :-(

In the day a DJ who could mix creativly with nothing but a pair of turntables and a mixer was a very special person. You could not hear that anywhere else.They were doing things that no one else could do. Now that technology has caught up with many of the basic skills required to the extent that you just have to push a button, everyone is having a go. Some DJ's embrace the new tech and will find new, creative ways to use it and stay on the top of their game. Others will just become lazy or even worse, start off lazy.

Will we see the Death of DJing any time soon? I doubt it. Is the scene changing and do DJs have to adapt? Almost certainly !!!

Daz
 
other than walking in front of a bus after reading I think I would love to reprint this and have in engraved on a 6x6x6 cube of fine Italian marble and dropped from a great height on the club owners head. repeatedly. until it cracked. the marble that is.

it was both refreshing and depressing and felt like having someone shout out from a mountaintop what we feel sometimes.
 
Good read , and some very good points.

its what its all about ......

''
The skillset that a club DJ acquires over countless gigs can’t be earned any other way than in the trenches. Reading crowds, on-the-fly adaptation, honing technical skills, troubleshooting equipment problems without missing a beat, developing a style, taking chances, f***ing up and learning from it; these are the things make you a real DJ.

'''

so true....


[Moderated: Please don't include bad language in your forum posts - Please read the forum rules.]
 
All the same things the great composers and performers have said through out time. I realize it is a romanticism about the music or craft that one loves that causes such feelings. Remember the outcry when the guitar was electrified? When hip hop took over? DISCO, OMG the gnashing of teeth over disco. Regardless, people keep composing, performing, listening to, making love to, dancing to, singing along in the car to and changing the world to music. Music is very powerful, too powerful to go away or yield to our reluctance to change.
Adapt or get left behind.
 
That was a good read. Very well though out, hit a lot of points. One thing I don't agree with is the death of the ''dj''
I've been hearing that for 20 years, when they came up with cd's. Then they came up with computers, then ipods, then ipads
I was at a hotel and seen a guy djing with an ipod and his iphone with 300 people in attendance. We'll be just fine, the world is just changing
and if you are a decent dj, you got to take advantage of technology advancements. btw Im a video dj, let's see them do that with an ipod.
 
They already can mix video with an iPad using the "djay" app (video version). Been out for some time now.........
 
One word came to mind after reading this article. Evolve! Look it up in the dictionary 'book'. Ok we know you would look it up online, right. Equipment, music, people, and need I remind anyone of the new software version we are waiting for.

I'm sure we could find a grandpa out there that will say "my 79' pickup truck was the best truck ever existed! No other will ever compare to it!"

Some can embrace 'change' better than others. Not much else can be said about it.
 
This is different. Just like the automated tellers at the grocery store, cashiers cannot simply evolve. I can foresee technology getting so sophisticated not only at randomly mixing for a DJ, but allowing the DJ to press a button which will "read the crowd" for him. Soon enough, the DJ will just get paid to setup and tear down the equipment every night.
 
dre99gsx wrote :
This is different. Just like the automated tellers at the grocery store, cashiers cannot simply evolve. I can foresee technology getting so sophisticated not only at randomly mixing for a DJ, but allowing the DJ to press a button which will "read the crowd" for him. Soon enough, the DJ will just get paid to setup and tear down the equipment every night.


automated tellers do "evolve" otherwise they wouldn't have software, firmware, and hardware updates. cashiers have a constant learning curve to adapt to and that is" evolving" - otherwise they lose their jobs.

and if technology advances to the point that a button press will read a crowd then dj's will have already been made extinct because machines will have been developed that can read thoughts, emotions, and can "feel" emotional feedback from a group of people.

WARNING - SCIENCE, HEAD PSHRINKING, AND STUFF - WARNING


because in a way that is what we do. a working dj has to develop the skill that enables them to get up in front of a varied group of people that can differ every night and look out over them and get in their heads so that he (or she - can't forget Renee' among others!) can figure out what to play for them that will make them have a good time and keep coming back. this requires gestalt thinking and while you may become technically proficient at mixing music and be able to scratch/blend or whatever, if you aren't playing what an audience wants then you will find yourself unemployed rather quickly.

look out over a crowd to figure out what you are going to play next and what are you doing? you are making a guess based on demographics and the psychology of large group dynamics who are generally under the effects of outside mental influences. whether the influences are chemical, hormonal, atmospheric/environmental, or mental, you still have to get in their heads and figure out what they want to keep them happy. and EVERY night or gig is a seriously sharp learning curve that you either evolve and adapt to or you might as well pack up your gear and go home and spin as a hobby.

why are most dj booths set up higher than the crowd? ever think about it? is it so you can be noticed and so they can see how great, cool, and just generally awesome you think you are?

NOPE.

it's so you can look out over them and get a better view of them so you can read them and stay employed.

a working dj evolves every night or doesn't survive.

HOMEWORK! I do mine constantly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_behaviour

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_psychology
 
I see that most of you guys sticked with the comments about technology and music production!

However as a reader and a working Dj in another part of the world (than US) I see several valid points.

The most valid point I have seen is the one with the way people are going to the clubs/bars/pubs these days...
In older days they would go out to have fun, dance, drink and meet new people.
These days they go out to take pictures to post on social media and show how cool they are...
It makes our job a lot harder even if we have great tools now that are supposed to make it easier.

I'm not stuck with the past times, I'm not nostalgic/romantic and I do evolve... However there are times that I want to get down from my booth and punch some faces.... :P
 
I think that even that falls under the demographics/social dynamic part of what I was talking about - and its a two-edged sword. that same social media was the cell phone in the 90's, word of mouth and flyers passed around by hand in the times before that. but if you managed to make it work for you they will tell their friends how much of a great time they are having or the opposite and their friends will use that same social media to get them to join up with them. and the other clubs use it too. we constantly troll through the competitions facebook to see what people are saying about them, not just the online reviews on yelp, yahoo, google, etc.

and yes, I have called more than a few people out about the phones on the dance floor. my favorite is telling them that if they put the phone in their pockets they can use both hands on their partner.
but I also encourage them to use that same phone to put the pics and video online - FREE ADVERTISING! - its using that same grab-bag of psychological tricks to your advantage that we have to learn along with everything else.
 
Perhaps I didn't put it on the right context. Language is a barrier on such delicate subjects.

Some years ago (4-5) people would "commit" themselves to the place they would go to attend an event. Sure they would communicate with other people outside the event with several other manners such as mobile phones but they were not texting all the time.

Also my venue and me personally use the social media to promote our gigs. However the social media have changed drastically the way people behave inside a club. They focus more on posting on FB or checking their friends posts rather than having a good time themselves.
And I don't take it personally. If it was happening only on my venue or only when I was playing then it would be a personal issue and it would mean that I s*ck and that I must try harder to get their attention out of their smartphones.
However this happens on all clubs I go to and even with some of the most skilled/talented dj's I had ever the pleasure to see/hear/meet/attend to... (way better dj's than myself...)
Perhaps in the US this problem is not as big as in my country yet. But over here it's getting rather annoying.

I'm not complaining nor I can "blame" the people. I'm there to entertain them. But... Why in hell would you go in a club if you're constantly checking your FB account and you practically don't give a s!!!t what's happening around you? You can do the same thing by staying home and listening exactly to the music YOU like most!
 
PhantomDeejay wrote :
Perhaps I didn't put it on the right context. Language is a barrier on such delicate subjects.

Some years ago (4-5) people would "commit" themselves to the place they would go to attend an event. Sure they would communicate with other people outside the event with several other manners such as mobile phones but they were not texting all the time.

Also my venue and me personally use the social media to promote our gigs. However the social media have changed drastically the way people behave inside a club. They focus more on posting on FB or checking their friends posts rather than having a good time themselves.
And I don't take it personally. If it was happening only on my venue or only when I was playing then it would be a personal issue and it would mean that I s*ck and that I must try harder to get their attention out of their smartphones.
However this happens on all clubs I go to and even with some of the most skilled/talented dj's I had ever the pleasure to see/hear/meet/attend to... (way better dj's than myself...)
Perhaps in the US this problem is not as big as in my country yet. But over here it's getting rather annoying.

I'm not complaining nor I can "blame" the people. I'm there to entertain them. But... Why in hell would you go in a club if you're constantly checking your FB account and you practically don't give a s!!!t what's happening around you? You can do the same thing by staying home and listening exactly to the music YOU like most!


you did put it in context and I do mostly agree. its part of the evolution of what we do as entertainers to incorporate it into the entire experience.
and it was annoying to an extent and it is a problem in the US but I/we adapted.
the group social interaction continues even when the entire group is not physically present, and the ones at the club if they are are a good time will do their best to interact with the ones not there and use the social media to get them to leave where they are and join up with them.
and as cut-throat as our working environment is, I will use that to our clubs advantage like a sledgehammer on an egg. if I can get them to take the picture I took and tag themselves and their friends in it then it can make their friends want to be there as well. and if they aren't having a good time and i'm not doing my job the way I should then the opposite will happen.
facebook, twitter, vine, youtube, everything - if a picture is worth a thousand words and I have them posting pictures all night long of them and their friends having a good time? I call that a win.

as to why they are going in a club to check facebook - to let their friends know how cool they are of course. to fit in with the rest of the social/peer group they want to be a part of: "the cool kids".
we have clubs in the states that have incorporated that so much in that they get free cover for mentioning them in the status or "like". any incentive to get a body in the building spending money. after that its my job to keep them in there.



 
No, Phantom, the constant checking of phones here is an issue. I find myself doing it. I have a group of friends I'm very close with. When we get together, in person, I find I check my phone less. If even one of the group is missing, I find myself checking my phone more. The meme going around Facebook that has the caption "Where are we meeting to stare at our phones this weekend?" is hauntingly familiar.

The other issue the article brought up was, the decline in modern music. Another Facebook meme, "it took 9 people to write Put A Ring On It and, only one to write Bohemian Rhapsody", sort of proves the authors point. I think a lot of newer music relies on studio effects more than it does actual skill, talent, and work, to create.

I doubt, however, that spells doom for DJing. We will do what we have always done. Adapt. It is what every good business person does....
 
wildcountryclub, you took the words right out of my mouth. I use social media to promote myself, rather than buy radio spots.
times are changing. we're saving money on all this technology btw. no more radio spots, no more buying 2 copies of all music you buy(some of you don't know what I mean),led lights are cheaper and last longer. amps are cheaper, and last longer ,I could go on and on but I think you see what I'm saying. My overhead is getting lower and lower. also I post ''the secret phrase'' on my fb to get you a discount @ the door. This is kinda where djing is probably headed.
 
the other meme:



and let's not forget the "performing artist" who does nothing but prance around a stage to a pre-recorded set. both dj's and "singers" are guilty of this.

always found this to be supremely insulting to fans who pay stupid amounts of money to go see someone live in a huge venue and that microphone or the mixing gear is just a prop on the set instead of a vital piece of equipment to the artist. we've never had this happen at the club and that may be genre specific for where we are and our format but if someone got on our stage and did that they'd most likely be chased out of the building by the customers. with me cheering them on over the mic.

the times they are a changin'

when I first walked in to a radio booth 20 years ago it wasn't exactly a cutting edge set-up I was looking at - but it worked and it gave our listeners a good product. as the markets I moved on to got better so did the equipment (and the need to sharpen skill sets) and I adapted. and the same holds true in the clubs - even if you are the resident who has been there for years and years you damn well better learn to adapt and evolve with your customers and their tastes in music or you are going to sit staring at the same barflys and lounge lizards until the lights go out permanently.
 


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