Just following on from a previous topic, for example an person looking into becoming a DJ and he/she has two ways of obtaining music:

Firstly go down the buying route of CD's or downloads or vinyl

Secondly they could illegally download it by the thousand, virtually no comeback and can save a fortune


Which do they choose?

Just one of the reasons that anyone can now become a "DJ"

Depends whether they want to be a filthy, disrespected, low-life, scummy, music muppet...

...or whether they'd prefer to be a DJ.

Strong words Gary, but will it bother them?

If you were thinking about becoming a bricklayer and you could get your bricks for free or pay for them what would you do.

Is downloading any different to me borrowing a cd from a friend?

Theres mortar life than that...

Each to their own really. Some will take the opportunist route of offering "DJ Larry Laptop" a few beers to copy his hard drive and playlists etc. or downloading rough, and in some cases almost unplayable low quality MP3s from dodgy internet sites, or cheap (and appalling quality) DVDs of album collections etc.

Others will want to do the job properly.

I prefer owning something physical. The MP3 format isn't perfect, but having the option to re-rip to OGG/Wav is good. I also create mixes offline, so need WAV files.

I'd say the quality issue is separate - not all downloads are terrible quality.

Using illegal downloads can't easily be stopped. Changing peoples attitudes will help to some degree, but most people see the Music industry as big & rich with deep pockets. Unfortunately, ripping off the record companies will hurt the artists (for the time being, ignore the Oasis, Kylie, Robbies, - think smaller)

Compare this to Tescos/Sainsburys - I'd never consider shoplifting from these "big, rich with deep pockets" companies, yet admit to having less of a problem with ripping off music for personal use.


I will put my hands up to downloading an Oasis album a few years ago, this was a 64Kbps MP3, so poor quality - but good enough to listen to. When it was launched, I was gagging to get the CD so I could finally hear it in good quality.

For professional use, I have all original CD's. (need to look into storage now!) I doubt many DJ's would admit to using illegal downloads.

For personal use, I've a few MP3s from local bands (Cd's brought from their gigs or downloads off their sites), my drive to work is 20mins, so I've either got Radio 4 Today Show on, or Radio 1 (or Kiss 100 etc).


Many of my friends wonder why I still buy DVD's, when they can get them for £2 (or free). I have to explain that you can't fit a full length film onto a CD and still get high quality (DIVX does a fair job though)- and I'm a fussy bugger when it comes to films!
I then explain that if it became socially acceptable to pirate films/cd's then lots of people will lose their jobs. U2/Kylie/Brad Pitt etc would be still be cosy, but camera operators, engineers, session musicians would be out of work, probably signing on the dole (and spending my tax!).

Asking if they would be happy nicking from a market trader. None would, as they know the trader needs the money.

Jason

Erm or Hector HDC

i like to see somthing physical as well, infact i love looking at all my cd's and mixmash dvd's. At least i can say i do the job properly

I prefer the cd, however if your going down the larry or hector route I would say the first task is ripping your original cd, then going to i tunes for the remainder of your libary. Your libary will never be complete, there is always some one who will ask for something you havn`t got... .

I've just received a playlist for a gig in may. It's 80 tracks on it with 29 of them as "Must Play", there are 6 of the must plays that I haven't got and expect I wouldn't play them again either.
I'll be phoning them up about them.

Jim

Folks

As a new dj i went along the lines of downloadin from itunes as well as using my own cd's

As jim says u will never have every track people want !!!!

I wouldnt download them illegailly either

The main attraction of Napster etc is the ability to cherry-pick.

Now, own up, how many times in the past have you bought a cd album for that 1 track, maybe a first dance? You knew you would never use the rest but that track was needed.

Now, onto the fav site, find the track and bingo, all sorted. If you buy 20 racks they will all be wanted, not padding.

Since i moved to Greece, and the word has got round ido karaoke and DJ'ing ive been approached by many many people trying to sell me music and karaoke etc. Here, its a big market, when the season starts, i can expect around 30 - 40 dvd/cd sellers a night coming into the bar.

I have once purchased a few dvd's of him and in all fairness they were very good, but not something i would consider again.

Best check the local laws there, Matt.

I'd hate for your next post to be from the local clink.

9) Do not substitute letters within vulgar/obscene/forbidden words with punctuation marks or other symbols. Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) parental software controls and School or Company networks still recognize many of the disguised words and may restrict use / access of the forum to their subscribers.

What the EDIT do those two statements have in common???

And why does having 'somthing physical' make you somehow better than a d/load setup DJ?


To all you others......I can carry 40/50,000 tracks (if I want) in my pocket. Please note (as stated by robbiedj), these are cherry picked tracks...not 2,000 plus CDs with 18 totally unusable, unsuitable tracks - apart from the 1/2 that people will request.

So. if I had say 40,000 tracks available to me, and all cherry picked. Using a similar calculation to above (2 tracks per CD), I have 20,000 CDs.......in my pocket!

This isn't strictly true though Rev. You're excluding music lovers who have a huge collection that they have legitimately amassed over the years (more than enough for the average night's work) and see a way to make money out of their passion.

I understand Robbie, But in Zante there are laws and then laws

and they dont listen to either of them lol

Its illegal to gamble in Zante, except on new years day, However you can often come across many a card game going on or the like,

Anyways Back on topic..............

Surely its worth 6 x 0.79p = £4.74, to keep the client happy?

To be honest I'd be more worried about the 29 or 2 hours of must plays lol

I'm doing a party a week on Saturday and I had the usual "must plays" which included about 20 totally unsuitable tracks that I wouldn't even play as pipe music lol.

When I get a punter who insists on a list that must be played I tend to pass them on as I know that at some point during the night they're going to be a nuisance....

It isn't the 6 it's the 20 odd.
Also not too bothered about playing them, but more concerned about when (which has been attached to the list and I never agree to when I play a track, that's what iPods are for).



Quite a selection there.

Jim

Jim, personally I wouldn't have touched it with a bargepole lol

Some of the must play stuff just isnt danceable and the end of night must play "classics"

Foo Fighters
Razorlight
Gavin Who?
Incubus
The Verve - Brilliant song but impossible to dance to

I take it that it is an 18th or 21st?

It's an 18th, so James will be doing most of it.
None of the end of the night stuff is "essential" though.

The thing with playlists (normally only accept upto 20) is if you dont think the songs work you can put them on early, it then leaves you with your experience to work the crowd.

To me the list seems to be what he thinks are great songs to listen too, rather than dance too.

Has anybody else got any experience of how any of the songs go down?
On the whole I wouldn't normally play most of them.

Jim

Hi Jim, looks like the usual "play my fave songs they are brilliant, everyone will love it".

Like you say a load of them aren't danceable, I've listed what Ive played out of them and you can usually get people up to:

Sexyback
Take me out
Hot Love
The way I are
Hot in here
Firestarter
Please dont stop the music
Be faithful
Dirty
Come on girl

I have played some of the others but the be honest the Klaxons, Bloc Party, Kooks, Chemical Brothers etc etc will kill it.

Hence I usually say give me 12 songs max and I'll work around them.

I did a 21st recently and got asked for obscure Guns and Roses tracks that were 8 mins long and dull.

I'm glad I'm in a position to choose the work I do lol

Hope it goes well!

I've been getting a lot of requests for Bad Touch by The BloodHound Gang lately, seems to work once they are all drunk and having fun.

Not if they're an Indie crowd it won't. Just have to see how it goes, drop in some of the more popular indie tracks and see what the reaction is like.

I'd see a night like that as a definate challenge! I've still lots to learn about music, and I can't keep tabs with every genre that's around. I've chosen to get what is popular and work with special requests if they come in.

A fair %age of that list would be special requests to me, but i would endevour to do the night, dropping in a few indie classics around that list. Fratelis, Killers, Kaisers, Blur. White Stripes, Hives.

Also as said before a fair %age of those tracks are listening tracks. I'd swap it round a bit and get the uptempo stuff in later. He'll thank you for it i'm sure.

With that playlist you could have a packed dancefloor most of the night, if you have the right crowd. I've done nights like that and they've gone well. But, the big concern is whether it's a playlist to entertain all the guests or just one person.

That many songs is excessive, I'd definitely negotiate some wiggle room to work around it.