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How do you guys keep up with the music?
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| Deam |
| I was just curious how Dj's keep up with music. There are so many releases, how do they sort through them and decide which tracks to play? I find trying to keep up to date is nearly impossible. |
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| Wraith |
| quote: | Originally posted by Deam
I was just curious how Dj's keep up with music. There are so many releases, how do they sort through them and decide which tracks to play? I find trying to keep up to date is nearly impossible. |
Well, my wallet keeps me in check as far as deciding what to buy, but when I do have the funds for some vinyl purchases I usually sift through the new release sections of online stores and hit up the New Releases forum for release dates on stuff that I'm looking for. There's really no form to follow when you do it and depending on how much money you have to devote to it you can be pretty limited in how much new and hot music you can buy. I assume you know what you like to mix and if so just put your nose to the grind stone and start searching for stuff that fits in with your kind of style. |
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| LinX |
| my friends work in a record shop and they always email me the latest records w/ samples.. so i go through them at the end of every week and pick out what i like.. |
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| Deam |
| I don't even really mix. I was just curious as to how dj's figure out which songs are going to be popular. As it stands, I usually only here songs that big name DJ's spin, and I was wondering where they find these tunes and what makes them decided to spin them, given that there are so many new releases in a given week. Also, AVB seems to have pre-release tracks on ASOT months before...I wonder where he gets those. |
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| iammesol |
big djs get promos, and since their job is djing, they sort through them because they have little else to do :p
i'm on the computer quite a lot, so i usually listen to livesets and search my favorite djs' tracklists. It's actually quite simple if you put some effort into it :) |
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| dj_lane |
| Listen to other DJs |
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| 3xx3r7 |
| New releases are overrated. Most of it is a trite garbage anyway. When I have cash, I usually purchase older tunes, like pre-2002. Sometimes I would go through new releases if something worth spinning is out. |
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| [Chriz] |
| ermm live sets? i don't stick to the top name djs only..i listen to the lesser known ones as well..so you get some gems from there? plus i visit websites of record labels to see what's gonna be released and sometimes they do have a short sample...eg. corderoy's homepage.... |
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| Deam |
I guess that is what I do now, i.e. listen to livesets and hunt for tracklisting. But I someone hit the nail on the head, I am no pro dj and don't have the kind of time I guess one needs to keep up to date on the latest tracks. It seems impossible to do otherwise, as there must be an overwhelming number of releases coming out at a given time.
Thanks for the insight though, everyone. I was finding it difficult to keep up with all the latest live-sets, ASOT's, etc., and wanted to know if there was an easier way. Time is key, I guess. |
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| Stu Cox |
One thing I want to stress is that you shouldn't rely on tracklists from other DJs... I've always noticed that a lot of DJs on this board spend their entire lives sifting through Armin tracklists and getting every tune on there, so not only do they not end up with their own style, but they don't get hold of anything until Armin's already played it and someone's already known what it is to ID it!
Obviously finding out about some tunes this way is good, but make sure you're looking in a wide range of places. I personally have 4 or 5 online record shops I go through the new release listings for, with places like Juno if you just search for '12" promo' you can often see promos they don't put in the new releases for some reason, etc. Plus if someone recommends a tune on a forum, I hear it in a set, etc I'll make a note of it... It's also a good idea to keep in contact with the guys in the Amateur Producers Promotion section of the forum, plus equivalents on other message boards because there's a lot of excellent talent which hasn't been signed yet simply because they're quite new to the scene - there's nothing more upfront and original to your sets than a track which isn't even on a label yet, let alone released and you'll find some signed artists will still put their new tracks online in these places as soon as they finish them before they're signed.
But again, don't get caught up on thinking every track has to be upfront and as soon as something's released you can't play it, there are enough small labels around the place putting tunes out that hardly anyone will have heard of for you to get original tracks that way too.
Add all of this to the big tunes you hear about around the place and hear in sets/see on tracklists, and you've got yourself an original set of tunes with a few bigger, better known tracks to build your set around. |
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| FirstBorn |
I'm lucky because I have to travel regularly for my real-life job and visit most cities in the UK frequently. Wherever I go, I make sure I check out the local record shops so I've built up a network of about 10 major stores who I visit regularly, as well as checking the online shops often as well. The result of this is I spend wa-a-a-y too much money on records & downloads. ;)
Other ways I keep up to date with new releases is to read the dance music press (I tear out & keep the trance music reviews from Mixmag/M8/DJ/IDJ etc), spend a ridiculous amount of time online and keep an extensive wants list. Most of my friends are either trance producers or DJs as well so I also hear of good stuff from them. :) |
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| chesco |
Favourite dj tracklists
constantly checking new releases @ various stores on-line stores
E-mail's from record labels
Local record stores, picking out records and listening to them |
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