Once upon a time, some wise old dj sage (can't recall who now, faaaaaaar to long ago) said to me - a dj should NEVER play three female artists back to back i.e. Madonna then Whitney Houston then say Atomic Kitten.

Now this has stuck with me through the years and believe it or not I continue to use it, I never play three female artists in a row.

Is it right or wrong? Is it a complete load of old tosh? Does it make sense?

I think we could have a right old discussion with this little gem


P.S. I must apologise if, after reading this, it sticks in your brain and you end up with it stuck on the back burner.

Never heard of that one ! I am a firm believer of breaking down barriers , so i think its important that new ways of putting music together to create an aptmosphere is important .sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt but its always fun to try.

I got a terrific roasting from my Roadie for playing 2 Shakira tracks one after the other last week .... hips dont lie followed by .... errrrrr her other one cannot remember title, have to be honest at the time I didnt think and just thought hmmm that will follow well..... and it did ........ but he thought it was a definite no no...... but he couldnt tell me why

To be honest i cannot remember doing it before, and have never given the 3 females in a row any thought.

What works for some may not work for others and that's the way I look at it.

I must admit that I've never given it a thought when it comes to rules about playing songs, except which one will work best, next. The only 'rule' I have is not to play the same song twice in the same night.

Interesting.

DJ's Unwritten Law #2971
Women don't have to be drunk to dance. Therefore, they tend to dance before the men do. Typically, women respond well to female artists. Ergo...early in the night DJ's concentrate on keeping the women dancing by playing tracks they are more likely to dance to. There is the chance that you could play three or more songs on trot all by female artists.

DJ's Unwritten Law #3452.1a
With only 15-20 songs per hour, it is important that the DJ mixes up lots of artists and genre's in order to keep as many people's attention and interest as possible. Therefore, playing the same artist more than once could potentially reduce some peoples enjoyment if they are not a fan of said artist.

Go with the flow I guess!

dj's unwritten law no.1
there is no law,what works tonight may not work tomorrow,what dont work tonight will work tomorrow,every night is different go with what you feel and enjoy the night with no set rules.

well i've never heard of that rule, for me I play a song, then think about the next one, sometimes changing my mind 2-3 times (even seconds before the track playing finishes)

and I will play a song twice in a night, If I think it wil enhance the dancefloor