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I started an audiovisual services company a few years ago, and so I've worked as a DJ off-and-on for a few years (mostly for fun, as it doesn't pay as well as s

I started an audiovisual services company a few years ago, and so I've worked as a DJ off-and-on for a few years (mostly for fun, as it doesn't pay as well as software). The reality is that DJs play what people want to hear. The average club-goer goes out once or twice a week; while the DJ may be playing the same shit over and over, the people in the club at that moment probably haven't heard that track that week, and if it's a "banger" they probably will be happy to hear it. Clubs are not venues for new music, on the whole. Taking in truly new music is challenging in a way that most people out to get drunk/high and dance their ass off just don't want. I have a list of tracks that I know will start a dance floor, every DJ worth anything does. They aren't effective because they're new or innovative, but because they connect with a large percentage of people. The party starters are hits from when the audience was in college or high school; you just have to look at your crowd, and pick the right year, play some songs from their era, and the crowd will be happy. I think the best DJs will expand the horizons of their crowd a little bit, by playing something interesting and new for the people in the crowd. But, as much as I might like to do a set of all my favorites, I know I can't play Kraftwerk and Dead Prez and The Big Boys in the same set...I can probably get away with one such obscure track (and, I'm often surprised to find somebody in the crowd recognizes it, or asks who it is because they really like it and hadn't heard it before). You've gotta empty the dance floor every now and then to keep the bar ringing, anyway, so you can do it with the weird tracks. So...if you want to be paid to DJ in almost any environment, you have to play the music the audience wants to hear. Hell, you can effectively be a jukebox playing nothing but requests (which are always hits) and people will be happy; but, if you ignore all requests, the crowd won't be happy (though clubs are less prone to requests than private parties, in my experience). If you achieve a huge level of success, maybe then you can play a majority of your own tracks...but, even the biggest names who are also "producers" are mostly just playing the hits and waving their hands around while visuals and pyrotechnics go off around them.

pmoriarty 10y ago
"I have a list of tracks that I know will start a dance floor, every DJ worth anything does. They aren't effective because they're new or innovative, but because they connect with a large percentage of people." The thing is, after a while, you can get a sense of what kinds of music is danceable and catchy, and know that there's a high chance you'll fill the dance floor with it, even (or especially) if it's new. About popular oldies: each of these was new once, and some DJ had to take a risk to play it for the first time somewhere before it was popular. I'll be showing my age here, but I've seen on multiple occasions cases where a new danceable, catchy song will come out, and would have been perfect for a club, but it doesn't actually get played in clubs for a decade or two. Then I'll finally hear it played in a club, and by then it's already stale, and has lost a lot of the energy and excitement it would have had were it played when it was fresh. Also, even if a DJ lacked confidence in their own ability to pick danceable new music, and felt that they had to stick to the tried and true oldies: there are so many great oldies out there! Why should they stick to the same exact 10 oldies every night when there are hundreds if not thousands of them to pick from? Then, in my experience, most DJs don't stick to just the popular club hits. They play obscure music all the time. Even music that is virtualy undanceable, and clears the dance floor as soon as they play it. So they're taking risks, and sometimes even paying for it by the audience clearly not liking what they played. But they play those very same obscure songs night after night. It's obvious that no one's requesting these songs, and the DJs don't give a shit that people don't like them, but they play them anyway. So catering to what the audience likes is not an excuse in that case.. and that happens all the time. All the time. So my questions are: 1 - If DJs are brave enough to play obscure songs, why do they have to be the same obscure songs all the time? 2 - If they feel the need to play old hits a lot, why play the same old hits over and over again?
- SwellJoe 10y ago
  Both are valid points. And, I make fun of DJs who play the same set over and over, night after night. I don't understand why any DJ would subject themselves to that kind of tedium; but let's be honest: the majority of DJs are not musicians, and their interest in music is not deep or wide. And, being repetitive is not a negative in the mainstream DJ market. Regardless of my preference for variety, the people hiring DJs generally don't care about that metric. My favorite DJs in the market where I've worked were playing really obscure stuff for their whole set...but weren't making a lot of money doing it. But, it was clear that they loved the genres and artists they were playing.

pmoriarty 10y ago

"I have a list of tracks that I know will start a dance floor, every DJ worth anything does. They aren't effective because they're new or innovative, but because they connect with a large percentage of people." The thing is, after a while, you can get a sense of what kinds of music is danceable and catchy, and know that there's a high chance you'll fill the dance floor with it, even (or especially) if it's new. About popular oldies: each of these was new once, and some DJ had to take a risk to play it for the first time somewhere before it was popular. I'll be showing my age here, but I've seen on multiple occasions cases where a new danceable, catchy song will come out, and would have been perfect for a club, but it doesn't actually get played in clubs for a decade or two. Then I'll finally hear it played in a club, and by then it's already stale, and has lost a lot of the energy and excitement it would have had were it played when it was fresh. Also, even if a DJ lacked confidence in their own ability to pick danceable new music, and felt that they had to stick to the tried and true oldies: there are so many great oldies out there! Why should they stick to the same exact 10 oldies every night when there are hundreds if not thousands of them to pick from? Then, in my experience, most DJs don't stick to just the popular club hits. They play obscure music all the time. Even music that is virtualy undanceable, and clears the dance floor as soon as they play it. So they're taking risks, and sometimes even paying for it by the audience clearly not liking what they played. But they play those very same obscure songs night after night. It's obvious that no one's requesting these songs, and the DJs don't give a shit that people don't like them, but they play them anyway. So catering to what the audience likes is not an excuse in that case.. and that happens all the time. All the time. So my questions are: 1 - If DJs are brave enough to play obscure songs, why do they have to be the same obscure songs all the time? 2 - If they feel the need to play old hits a lot, why play the same old hits over and over again?

SwellJoe 10y ago
Both are valid points. And, I make fun of DJs who play the same set over and over, night after night. I don't understand why any DJ would subject themselves to that kind of tedium; but let's be honest: the majority of DJs are not musicians, and their interest in music is not deep or wide. And, being repetitive is not a negative in the mainstream DJ market. Regardless of my preference for variety, the people hiring DJs generally don't care about that metric. My favorite DJs in the market where I've worked were playing really obscure stuff for their whole set...but weren't making a lot of money doing it. But, it was clear that they loved the genres and artists they were playing.