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What's your preferred method of discovering new good music?

Seeing as there are hundreds of new (trance)tracks released every week and let's face it, a lot of them aren't worth listening to, I was wondering how most of you go about selecting new tunes for your sets.

Because browsing/listening through all new releases every few days on the mp3-stores is really time consuming and usually I find that about 2 tracks out of a 100 are worth buying.

So what are your methods? Radio, Social Networks (Twitter/Facebook/Myspace etc.), Weblogs, Promo Pools, Just browsing new releases on mp3 shops, DJ-Charts, Word of mouth, following certain labels/artists or something else?

mixtapes, mostly from soundcloud.

i do various things:

- Search for tracklists from other djs
- Follow labels and artists on discogs
- Random rush on Youtube/Beatport.

Friends
Mixes
About once a month, a long, painful, unfiltered hunt through samples.

billboard charts. 10 million assholes with bad taste can't be wrong. That is how I discovered the magic of BassHunter. His bass hunting really does make his tracks have this incredible phat analog sidechain big room huge vengeance sound. Like if you were to describe his bass in terms of money, you would be like shit, I need a purse because I just have too many bills here. And there you are, listening to bass-hunter sporting a purse looking like some assholes douchiest friend. Like a queer Charie Sheen.

Follow people on Beatport and Soundcloud. Every couple of weeks, zip through the Beatport top 100 and get one or two good tracks. Keep an eye on the forums.

quote:

Originally posted by Mad for Brad billboard charts. 10 million assholes with bad taste can't be wrong. That is how I discovered the magic of BassHunter. His bass hunting really does make his tracks have this incredible phat analog sidechain big room huge vengeance sound. Like if you were to describe his bass in terms of money, you would be like shit, I need a purse because I just have too many bills here. And there you are, listening to bass-hunter sporting a purse looking like some assholes douchiest friend. Like a queer Charie Sheen.

You have to admit though, it's impossible to not love that much cheese. It's like watching b-movies.

I just wait until mark anthony posts then buy whatever he reveals.

sets

op-shops

Cool! Thanks for sharing your ways guys.

I've discovered that on Beatport you can add artists and labels to your favorites and show all the latest releases by them!

What exactly are op-Shops?

youtube, but not really for new

When I hear a track from a "new" (to me) artist, I usually look them up on YouTube, surf around to check out their tracks and remixes.

I check beatport as often as I can. Occasionally the top 10 lists, but I mostly just dig through new releases once every couple of weeks.

And of course, radio shows.

Every week I download many trance radio shows and listen to them on my laptop at work or on my mp3 player while at the gym. The tracklists for these shows are online.

My favorites:
A State Of Trance (Armin van Buuren)
Global DJ Broadcast (Markus Schulz)
Corsten's Countdown (Ferry Corsten's)
Trance Around the World (Above & Beyond)
International Departures (Myon & Shane 54)
Air Up There (Tritonal) - comes out once a month

Occasionally I will listen to:
Fire It Up (Eddie Halliwell)
Club Life (Tiesto)
Magic Island (Roger Shah)
Vonyc Sessions (Paul van Dyk)


Typically I find 1-2 songs that I like for every 10 new songs that I listen to.

quote:

Originally posted by Apeattack Typically I find 1-2 songs that I like for every 10 new songs that I listen to.

That's a much better ratio than my 2 tracks per 100 listens!

I've got to listen to some more radio shows!

my ratio of tracks that i feel i need to burn on a cd must be something like 1/200 i might like 1/20 i listen but finding a real hit is so hard for me nowadays, i can't list more than 10 or so this year.

• Trawling through new releases (I've got an overly anal system for making sure I check out a balance of new stuff from artists & labels I like and random pickings)
  
• Promos (a select handful of labels are kind enough to send me tunes)
  
• Artist/label newsletters (I've signed up to a few so they let me know what's fresh!)
  
• Mixes / radio shows / podcasts (sometimes - if I hear a tune I like in a mix I'll make a note of it, but don't specifically listen to mixes to find new tunes for my own sets)
  

from someone that used to dj , I really do think it is part of your job to stay on top of all the new music. Yes that means going thru all the shit to find the new gems. That is your job. There must be a way to play all the new releases and like clean your house at the same time or do it while you are watching a show that doesn't have music. Taking tracks from sets is what bedroom djs do.

WHen you are a working dj and you are playing events and a certain novelty is expected, Sort of like new reports I suppose, if you start playing last weeks hit, all the cool djs backstage will sneer and call you silly names like banana brains.

I"m not saying only play new stuff. But you have 2 choices, classic or new. Playing a track that is 4 months old is neither and it just makes you look lazy. As far as what time frame makes a track classic. I would say at least 1 year.

I just go through hundreds of songs on Beatport to get things to my liking. Probably 1/250 for me...

that is my bating average with the ladies.

i have been djing for some time and i can tell you how things work now, is quite different now because you have endless records.

I agree with the idea of removing the shit to find gems, this really makes a difference, a guy who listen to music 4 hours (and it's important to become effective with this, if you need more than 30 seconds to judge a track check your method) it's more likely to pick better tracks and hence be a better dj.

I was a narrow mind before i went to see Armin van Buuren. Why this go is so successful without any impressive djing and productions skills? The way he builds his set isn't top notch either but he manages to have all the room dancing to his vibe.

He plays very very well known tracks, you'll rarely see him dropping exclusives , he make mash ups with other songs when he feels that some tunes are overplayed to add some slight difference (although his mashups are usually melodic track + acapella but people get nuts) ASOT is his set promotion tool he makes fashionable the tracks he wants to play.

I have realized recently that for people New = Worst, back in May i saw that Swedish House Mafia - One could be a hook track and started incorporating it in my sets, possibly i was the first guy in my city that played it and most people didn't care about it. Now you can hear it twice in the same club as all the djs play it and people over react...

So i was thinking... how i could make my sets more catchy for a broader audience? After trying many things i have made it stand under some pillars:

- Never play a track that is more than 3 months old (the count start when the track has massive plays) unless more than a year has passed. Some times i play at 12 o'clock sometimes at 4 am, this late i often have freedom to do whatever i want but at 12 o clock you've to be mainstream.

For example at 12 o clock playing David Guetta - Sexy Bitch or Memories is failing, this tracks are way too overplayed but Swedish House Mafia - Miami 2 ibiza is quite new (please don't ever think that i like this) so is the moment to play it, people know it but aren't tyred of it yet. Whereas playing David Guetta tunes like the world is mine or Love is gone is right, because EVERYBODY knows the track but they haven't heard it for years. Playing this kind of tracks is key, better than whatever shit is breaking the charts at the moment.

So in conclussion follow the trend but don't let it absorbs you. If you only do this you're just being another crap dj.

- Make edits, mashups , play other remixes than the original everybody is playing. This adds your personal touch to the mix, make you stand away from the other dj's also which is very very important, to get bookings you don't have to be like the dj who actually plays at the venue, you have to be different and attractive for the people, fresh is the word, even if your mixing skills aren't that good you'll get more bookings with this. Promise.

- Classics, i don't consider David Guetta or SHM tracks classics, it's canned crap but playing real classics is really handy for the same reason and foremost there are techno classics, trance classics and house classics that could be dropped in a set at the same time, ideally a 3 hour [Insert style set] should become boring at some point if you don't make some turn and twists, adding other style tracks will make the set more entertaining, doing it with recent releases is more dangerous because people may disconnect from the set thinking (Oh no, weird style incoming i wanted house!) but if you play something well known and that has the public approval you'll add again your touch and keep people entertained.

- And some random realizations:

- Vocals > Instrumental
- Groovy > Melodic
- Cheesy > Underground

As i said this applyes for a random audience, if you are playing late and in a decent club you should know what to play and yes, i'd laugh in the backstage if at 4 am someone play this.

Good music is often found by accident that Fatboy Slim remix you recently posted is now on a cd i'm sure we're going to have a lot of fun with it

If i had to choose new or classic i'd choose classic but generally people at late hours in clubs have some love for EDM and possibly follow new releases or could appreciate when a track or a set is good or bad.

Wow so long post i must have lost the thread twice at least.

quote:

Originally posted by Mad for Brad I"m not saying only play new stuff. But you have 2 choices, classic or new. Playing a track that is 4 months old is neither and it just makes you look lazy. As far as what time frame makes a track classic. I would say at least 1 year.

I'd agree with that when it comes to well-known anthems, but as Rodri says there's SO much music out there, you can easily play an entire set of 4 month-old music in which a die-hard fan of the genre wouldn't recognise a single track.

For me the sort of pattern you've described happens anyway because I buy a track, listen to it a lot, get bored of it, then rediscover it a year or so later - which could well sound familiar to a lot of DJs!

Yeah trawling through the shit is painfully time consuming, but IMO if you really want to be different you've got 4 options (which aren't mutually exclusive):

1. Trawl hard to find the tunes which identify you
2. Combine things from genres which people don't expect to see
3. Do something special on a technical level
4. Make your own edits / versions or entirely own tracks in your own style

There's actually a 5th, but if I new what that was I'd be a superstar by now.

You don't necessarily have to be different to be a good DJ, but if you think you're different but you don't tick any of those off and can't explain what your "number 5" is, you probably aren't.

As long as you know what your sound is, trawling is actually the easiest of those.


I actually love trawling, as much shit as there is... the buzz of finding a wicked tune is still as big for me today as it was when I started DJing 12+ years ago.

Beatport new releases section

quote:

Originally posted by timbesamusca That's a much better ratio than my 2 tracks per 100 listens! I've got to listen to some more radio shows!

Maybe I have lower standards

I don't download every song that I like either. My download average is ~1-2 songs a week.

quote:

Originally posted by Mad for Brad that is my bating average with the ladies.

But that's ok because you're gay, right.

I like Brad Pitt movies. I find his average acting and bone structure soothing. That doesn't make me gay.

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