getting caught with ur pants down

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-- getting caught with ur pants down

Posted by lawrenceq on Mar-20-2007 01:45:

getting caught with ur pants down

hey question...
I've never done any live gigging, but I heard down the grapevine that there are inspectors out there who can go up to a DJ and ask to see if his collection is legit, or not illegally downloaded. something about getting a massive fine if you are caught to be playing burnt cd's and whatnot. I'd love to know what the deal is and if I can read the legislature somewhere, because where there is legislature, there are loop-holes.

Posted by nefardec on Mar-20-2007 01:51:

here's a loophole - buy music

Posted by lawrenceq on Mar-20-2007 01:53:

yah thanks i do on the whole, but some tracks I cant find in stores or on beatport etc... so its music like that I'm referring to.

Posted by nefardec on Mar-20-2007 01:57:

it's not worth it for several reasons:

1. getting caught with your pants down
2. generally bad sound quality
3. loss of respect

have you tried discogs? ebay? dancerecords, juno records, the TA marketplace etc?

it's a world of instant gratification sadly, but just because the internet makes it possible to obtain music and for you to make money playing it doesn't mean it's ok...

Posted by lawrenceq on Mar-20-2007 02:01:

you make a fair point. I will try more of those sites out you mentioned. Are any other stores I could be looking for online?, because around here there dont appear to be too many shops stocking what I'm looking for...

Posted by Dojomaster26 on Mar-20-2007 02:34:

There are two 'last resort' sites that I am using:

Juno Records
and Ebay

I use Juno to get tracks from Italy and what-not that I either can't get in the states, or that I could get on Beatport if they weren't territory restricted

I use Ebay for the same reason, although the sellers there are more geared towards older collectable tracks than the newer releases. Still a great resource though.

The "inspector" guys that you are mentioning are probably from ASCAP or the other artists' groups, and they are mainly going to be messing with mobile/Top40 DJs and the venue owners. Basically they're going to be more concerned with collecting their yearly fee than to check for bootlegs in your sets.

The short answer: I wouldn't worry about it.

Posted by SPAWNmaster on Mar-20-2007 02:34:

www.cdjshop.com

beatport.com

trackitdown.net

audiojelly.com

juno.co.uk

ebay

local record store (youd be surprised the gems ive seen from the back of local shops on CD or vinyl)

when in doubt try going to the label's website, more often then not they are affiliated with an online music store or sell label tracks directly from their website.

why go through the hassle to get shit-quality tracks with fluctuating tempos and whatnot?

Posted by lawrenceq on Mar-20-2007 02:50:

cheers guys, that was more or less the advice I was looking for, thumbs up.
Loz

Posted by AlexXdude on Mar-20-2007 03:59:

How would this inspector tell if it's legit or not if you're playing your music digitally, in something like Ableton or Traktor?

Posted by nchs09 on Mar-20-2007 04:02:

ya i dont really see how they could tell..... unnless you hbave a laptop with the actual mp3 on it. but with cd's, unless its a vinyl rip and its popping like crazy, u couldnt really tell with a vbr mp3

Posted by lawrenceq on Mar-20-2007 04:04:

thats what I always thought too, how could one look at your cd's and say that theres no way they are legit unless of course the quality is absolute shit, which would be a bad idea to play live anyway. Quality wise though I prefer to have official artists albums, cos its always a sure thing.

Posted by nefardec on Mar-20-2007 04:06:

i heard these big guys in trenchcoats come up behind you and they have a special scanner that looks like a glowstick (it is green if legit, red if ILLEGALLL), so you can't really even know if they're about to bust you or they're just tripped out dudes in trenchcoats!

seriously though discogs marketplace has some rare stuff

Posted by AlexXdude on Mar-20-2007 04:07:

quote:
Originally posted by nchs09
ya i dont really see how they could tell..... unnless you hbave a laptop with the actual mp3 on it. but with cd's, unless its a vinyl rip and its popping like crazy, u couldnt really tell with a vbr mp3

Exactly. What's stopping me from buying a 320kbps MP3 and burning it to a CD? It'd be impossible to tell what's legit or not.

Posted by lawrenceq on Mar-20-2007 04:08:

LOL'z to nefardec, people do the craziest things when you give them glowsticks... especially green ones

Posted by Storyteller on Mar-20-2007 09:23:

quote:
Originally posted by AlexXdude
Exactly. What's stopping me from buying a 320kbps MP3 and burning it to a CD? It'd be impossible to tell what's legit or not.

No it is not. You need to keep your orders sheets (from beatport or your shop) organised. That's your proof. You don't have them? Then you got a problem when being checked?

I'm not saying you have to take them with you everywhere you go, but it would be wise to at least have them around somewhere, even if it is in your (e)mailbox.

On the other hand, anyone who gets some promo's every now and then has the problem they have no proof of getting that music a legit way. It's a tough subject...

Posted by Clovis on Mar-20-2007 10:06:

I dont buy music because I'm afraid of getting caught. I buy music because I want to support the people making it...

Posted by Storyteller on Mar-20-2007 10:13:

I noticed that when I buy music I appreciate it more and also have more fun using it .

Music is def worth the money And I expect people to buy my music too, would be hypocrit if I didn't buy the music I played.

Posted by Stu Cox on Mar-20-2007 10:26:

Juno have territory restrictions as well, so most of the time something that's territory restricted on Beatport will be on Juno too, however they might have it on vinyl or CD, so yeah that's your other option - look into buying things on other formats if you're desperate for a certain track.

DJ Download currently don't have territory restrictions so there you could well find a lot of the tracks that you're finding are restricted, although that will be changing soon due to pressure from the labels.