If you are a DJ

[EBR]

Do you play to a crowd or do you do your own thing when it comes to playing music?

What I mean is do you play what you WANT to play? Or do you play what the audience is expecting and is wanting? Im trying to be as objective as possible so the discussion is starting with a neutral position. Its not necessarily bad to play what the crowd wants, have an honest opinion!

Lets discuss.

I play what I want to play.

[EBR]

untill you are a superstar dj you are booked because of your music and mixes not as a brand, play what you want.

Bullshit. Thats what the people being booked want you to believe. There are a shit load of DJs out there much better than the peeps being booked. The peeps being booked get gigs because they are popular. If you can't bring a crowd with $ in thier pocket, it don't matter how 'good' the music is. If you can't get people to pay the cover charge and buy drinks, it doesnt matter if you have the best music and mixes.

[gwa]

i agree with you but i was talking about tiesto and co

[grimesceneinvestigation]

i agree with you but i was talking about tiesto and co

this guy?

[elibomyekip]

i agree with you but i was talking about tiesto and co

this guy?

Jesus titty fucking christ. That was painful to watch.

[biomat]

hmm answer is not that simple
im playing still vinyl only so the "i play what i want" is maxed out ...but....
i can still play my favorite tracks/genres but im selecting records for the gig and im trying to watch the crowd what they like the most..
for example if i pack grime/funky/bassline, and crowd reacts most on bassline, ill kill them with all my BL tunes i got there

[noam]

untill you are a superstar dj you are booked because of your music and mixes not as a brand, play what you want.

Bullshit. Thats what the people being booked want you to believe. There are a shit load of DJs out there much better than the peeps being booked. The peeps being booked get gigs because they are popular. If you can't bring a crowd with $ in thier pocket, it don't matter how 'good' the music is. If you can't get people to pay the cover charge and buy drinks, it doesnt matter if you have the best music and mixes.

all ill say to that is that one of my good mates plays out regular in my city, city next to my city, all over basically, h's only JUST starting producing but through dedication and skill he gets bookings... he doesn't bring tonnes of people to the night, he'll turn up on his own, smash his set, drive home. job done. not saying what you're talking about isn't what happens... just that there is room to manoevre for good dj's. its not all doom n gloom!

[AllNightDayDream]

i agree with you but i was talking about tiesto and co

this guy?

That was fuckin hilarious till I realized it was fake

[esfandyar]

I play whatever the fuck I want and if the crowd don't like it they can fuck off.

me too pretty much. I still get booked pretty frequently as well... my intentions of seeing what you guys think came from a discussion I was having with some friends at a bar last night. i asked some other dj friends of mine this same question, and they responded that they play to the crowd each time (have some fucking balls!!!!)... kinda pissed me off because the music scene here in phoenix blows so badly. pretty much they dont have any variety, they are a one trick pony, this does not generalize for all djs who play to a crowd however.

And it depends on the booking as well, I guess - at one extreme, if you're playing a night you promote yourself, then you can play what you like. If you've been booked to play a wedding and they want The Lady In Red for the first dance then you play it, even if you'd rather bust out some Remarc. Halfway in between, at a normal night the promoter's probably struggling to keep things together as well so just telling the crowd to fuck off because you feel like playing an hour of ambient drones that night is being a bit arsey but pushing what you believe in as much as you can is kind of why you're there...

playing remarc at a wedding hahaha.

[hayze99]

Depends. In some spots I consider myself being there to make it a good time and, mix what I want to play with what others want to hear. I don't want everyone in the venue to be having a shit night just because I want to fortify my sense of artistic integrity. People completely forget that the whole point of being a DJ is sharing music and creating an enjoyable experience on the dance-floor.

If you have people hyped up they're malleable. Some people just need to be brought to the right place before you throw some real music at them.

If you want selfish artistic expression then produce, or listen to your albums. I can do that at home/with friends/on the internet. When I'm having a bad night, or get too drunk/high I usually end up doing my own thing.

That said, if you're playing at a place where you're not controlling a party or where artistic expression is the point, do your own thing 100%. Drone sections and B-Movie samples all the way.

[RubiconMan]

bit of both!

[djake]

I play whatever the fuck I want and if the crowd don't like it they can fuck off.

this.

i play at a local dubstep night, so aslong as its dubstep its all good.

[FSTZ]

most people that I play to know what kind of music I'm going to play

but if I drop a hard tune and the crowd goes bananas.. I'll follow suit with another

but if someone wants top 40 shit...

they can go somewhere else

[DZA]

GRIME 4 LYF
IF U DNT LYK IT DEN FUCK OFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

[honey-d]

I try to do 50/50. I'll cater to what the crowd wants (tear out, almost every time) but I'll still have peaks and valleys, so when it starts to mellow a bit I'll drop some more 2 step stuff or more sub heavy (only if the system in the club does it justice) rootsy stuff. I also try to only play the tear out that my mind is really blown away by, so at least they're getting my take on what they want, you dig?

[test_recordings]

When I get left in charge of my mate's system at parties I just put whatever I think people would like to hear. Generally people don't care as long as it's 'good', I still put stuff on I want them to hear. Dub and reggae are good for that, especially if there's a message in the song or something

[hayze99]

If you have a mindstate of - OH BLUD I PLAY MA CHUNES AND ONLY MA CHUNES IF YOU DONT LIKE IT FUX OFF - then don't be a DJ, you hipsters.

Nobody expects you to play top 40 shit or even play stuff you hate but stop being so fucking self-indulgent. You're completely missing the point.

/summary of previous post

[c_markle_music]

I'm a dj not a jukebox.

I have confidence in my ability to get most dancefloors moving. If they don't like it I don't care, cos I'm still having fun.

this +1

[Phigure]

i agree with you but i was talking about tiesto and co

this guy?

that's it

i just discovered the meaning of life




hearing scatman on a good system

[lil-tee]

I like throwing in tunes that I know the crowd will like. Even if I'm not a fan of the tracks myself it's great to see the crowd going.

I'll predominantly play stuff that I want to include though, it doesn't take long to see whether it's going down well or not.