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I've been thinking recently about the new culture of DJing, the possibilities now available with new technology, and the products available to music-buyers.

Nowadays, particularly with the rise of Ableton DJs and the cue & loop functionality of Traktor & Serato, creative DJs are looking beyond the simple mixing of one track into the next into the next (the 'traditional' way of DJing) and perhaps making mixes more creative - using loops, using intros & atmospherics over other tunes, sometimes almost remixing on the fly. The culture I grew up with which is/was buying vinyl, mixing on Technics etc. has been superceded by digital alternatives - a lot of kids grow up learning to mix on CDJs or PC + MIDI Controller instead of dodgy belt-drives!!

My question is this - Is there a potential market for digital DJs out there who would be interested in buying a tune as a 'pack' as opposed to just a single file? Perhaps a zip comprising full length parts like the drum track, bassline, pads/atmospherics, leads/hooks?? This would obviously open up tunes massively for the creative DJ, offering way more options to approach mixing in an imaginative way.

Naturally there are pitfalls, particularly in how the artist/label would feel about copyright, for example opening yourself up to thousands of unauthorized/unwanted mixes, theft of samples etc, but perhaps this could be overlooked due to potential benefits of new markets and encouraging creativity amongst a customer base? 99% of tunes are pirated within 24hrs of them being released nowadays anyway, would the tune being sold in parts matter that much more?


There are a thousand variables, from how you would package up, distribute and sell in a standardised format that would be attractive to both the wholesaler/retailer and the consumer, how you price it fairly, and so on. I believe this has been attempted by some labels/shops before, but not on a grand scale, and I think the market nowadays is much more open to this kind of thing than ever before.

So what do you think? Would you buy a product like this? How much would you pay? Do you see potential in your DJ set for this kind of thing?

thanks for posting - interesting product but obviously coming more from the Sample CD background as opposed to the record label background, which I think is necessarily far more limited. What I'm thinking of is simply adapting a single mp3/wav release to include the constituent stems, as opposed to having producers create bespoke stems specifically for DJs.

cool. it would be such a useful learning tool also.

as a DJ who has been using ableton for a while i think it would be amazing. and as you stated in the OP every song is pirated and sampled to death within a week of its release any way, this way the bootlegs/unofficial remix's would at least start with good sound quality.

interesting idea..

i'd think a large amount of fans/DJs/remix artists would appreciate the availability of stems

i'd think the artist community would be pretty divided on the issue..

my 2 cents

yea i dont think artists would be too keen on it.

abstractsound wrote:


i'd think the artist community would be pretty divided on the issue..

this

abstractsound wrote:i'd think the artist community would be pretty divided on the issue.

naturally, I wouldn't argue that this model would be suitable for all artist/labels of course, but it's an option that I'm sure many would consider - particularly those looking for as broad a customer base as possible i.e. newcomers.

That would be awesome for some tunes. I like doing mash-ups and when I need a particular beat now,
I have to make it or cue juggle it live (which isn't always easy ). Wouldn't want it for all tracks though.

I would definitely be interested in checking it out, seeing how I could use it to live up the mix.

I play with Serato and I set cue points in all of my tracks so I can do 50+ tracks in an hour, so I'm not sure if it would benefit me or not but I'd be up for trying it out.

we've actually been talking about doing this, though don't have plans on this upcoming release--- but the demand is definitely there.

and since no one actually really makes any $ from sales of underground music anyway, why not give the people what they want? might help to at least break even.

FWIW i can't see doing this w/ every song on a release-- maybe just 2 or 3, under creative commons.

or just, you know-- giving away the stems of 1 song on a release.

What?

The concept is interesting... It would certanly bring some new creativity in the digi-dj world... On the other hand (based on what I saw in this era of countless remixes of pop tunes) I can imagine loads of "producers" making "their own" tunes just from chopping loops from that kind of releases... So it could make an impact on the overall production creativity... who knows...

As a DJ (and producer/remixer) - I love the idea of getting stems. Makes for more interesting DJ'ing, plus I can make my own remixes.

But on the other hand - like Dave Sharma said - as an artist, I wouldn't agree to it for every track on a release. I already started dipping my toes in this a bit myself with my last 12". It was a hiphop EP with vocals, and for one track we gave away the acapella on several message boards (including DSF). Beyond that - we even included one of the remixes we received for the digital release.

I like the idea of going down this road, but the labels and the artists just need to be open and on the same page about it.

it's interesting...but i bet most of the artists wouldn't agree on giving away the stems. Some people do give away the stems for free organizing a remix competition. I think that's great, but imagine if a burial tune's stems would be sold...so many shit remixes would appear.

Even from my point of view, i wouldn't give out the stems, cuz i'm afraid of those shit remixes that would appear afterwards.

Edit: Expecially think about how those really original sounding artists, with their own sound, would feel hearing the sound that made 'em big in other people's tunes.

I really like the idea and the possibilities that it offers for dj'ing ... I think artists can release the stems after a certain period after the release date of the track (in terms of months or years .. it depends on the artist)... For example Apparat gave away Jet and another track as a whole Ableton live set so people can play with it. Also Eleven Tiger (a whole live set) and the collab by Eskmo and Amon Tobin ... So the conecpt is already spread among some artists. Why not take it further ... the idea is quite good I think, but it must not be put in practice in a way that weakens the value of the original track ...

I think it's a great idea, and I'd be interested for sure.

i think there is just a handfull djs who could handle this...
there are loads of djs who cant even do a halfway decent mix of 2 tunes..

but.. i would love to get more loops.. like unarranged raw 1-2 minute stuff.
i think a lot of producers have material which will never turn into a 5 minute tune .. but still can be used as dj tools...
+ helps to clean up the producers harddrive

some years back seiji did two 12" with this kinda stuff...

i always loved 12" with short extra tracks , intros whatever... was always inspiring
its even more usefull in the digital age ..
but you can rarely find those tools nowadays

simonoff wrote:i think there is just a handfull djs who could handle this...
there are loads of djs who cant even do a halfway decent mix of 2 tunes..

but.. i would love to get more loops.. like unarranged raw 1-2 minute stuff.
i think a lot of producers have material which will never turn into a 5 minute tune .. but still can be used as dj tools...
+ helps to clean up the producers harddrive

some years back seiji did two 12" with this kinda stuff...

i always loved 12" with short extra tracks , intros whatever... was always inspiring
its even more usefull in the digital age ..
but you can rarely find those tools nowadays

the samiyam rap beats series comes to mind