After an email and some tweets, I have noticed a slight backlash on my statement about me saying that DJing is dead. Well, it didn’t take Paris Hilton for me to say that statement. My theory has been around for the last couple of years. I have spent years practicing the art of being a DJ when I was younger, because that’s what I was passionate about. It was the ability to mix records flawlessly and take people on a journey through music. I didn’t do it because I can push buttons and wanted to be a superstar. You see the difference there? I would say that statement can hold true and justify how I feel. I thought I would share some examples on how the art is dead, just in case you don’t believe me :
- How easy is it to call yourself a DJ? Just create a DJ name, make a Twitter and or Facebook and that’s it. You can post pictures and write about being a DJ all day. Don’t forget to include a picture of yourself modeling a headphone. You don’t even need your own laptop. Will people believe you? Yes they will because you talk about it. Nobody will care if it’s true or not. It’s just the perception of the material you post. I always talk about “fake hype’, and this is a prime example of that.
- The “fake hype” theory is based on what you read or see online, and not actually about what you hear for yourself in person. DJs make a flashy website, a well produced youtube promo video and have their friends tweet that they are “killing it”. So to the average person, they are led to believe that DJ so and so must be really good. I have heard DJs booked on their hype and they were horrible (especially in Vegas). Twitter and Facebook are the perfect tools to create a “fake hype”. You can see it every day. I am always the one to never believe the hype and wanna check it out for myself. How many “DJs” would actually let you set up a video camera in the DJ booth so you can see what they are doing and how they actually sound live? I would say a small percentage
- The whole “keep it real” statement is no longer relevant. Does the average club goer care if you can masterfully mix 2 tracks together? Do they care that you created some cool word play and got creative? Do they care that you had an exclusive acapella that you rode over a beat? No. They wanna hear LMFAO and Carly Rae Jepsen all night. You could play an iPod with all the hits (which most “DJs” do) and it gets the job done. No skill required. Any art form in that? Zero
- This leads to the ease of equipment used to call yourself a “DJ”. Today you can be a DJ after a visit at Target or Walmart. You got some mp3′s? You got an iPad? That’s all you need. Here’s an interesting fact. There are 2 people that come to Vegas regularly and use an iPad for their “DJ” set. Good thing there’s an app for that right? You can push a button and get gigs. Any art form in that? Zero
- Celebrity DJs have become more and more the discussion amongst the DJ world. Let’s face it, people love celebrities. They love watching them and talking about them. Clubs love $$$. Celebrities bring in crowds. Crowds bring the club $$$. The idiots on Jersey Shore and the Kardashians probably make $1 for every brain cell that you destroy watching them. This leads me to discuss the perfect example and say something about Pauly D. He is a celebrity. People go to see him because he is a celebrity. I have gone to listen to him play his pre recorded mix and the crowd is mostly woman that wanna take a picture with him. People don’t go cause he’s a great DJ, they go cause he’s a celebrity. I barely saw people actually dancing. I have heard DJ Lupe Fiasco and Taboo (Black Eyed Peas) attempt their “DJ” facade. I have seen video of other celebrity DJs, and it’s all the same story. They see DJing as something cool and something they can try to do the stay relevant in the public eye. I see advertisements all the time with a celebrity name and underneath it says “live DJ set”. There is a growing list of celebrity DJs that even include Alicia Keys and Kanye West. Do they do it cause they respect the art? No. They do it cause it’s cool. Any art form with that? Zero
Those are just some examples that prove my theory that DJing is dead. I’m sure there could be more, but you should get the idea. Please feel free to contact me if you feel that I am wrong about this. I can discuss this topic and defend my statement all day. My email is info@beezo.net.
Enrie
Yeah I definitely see what you mean but I think it is a just a vicious circle in all forms of artistic expression, once it becomes the cool thing to do, the more the idiot masses will try to cheapen it. I think it is just a sad reality of music and art.
truth, Just seen a flyer w/ a UFC fighter doing a DJ set here in the OC.
I strongly agree..many now just want to jump on the next trendy thing and sadly it’s being a DJ …..like DJHero…..which I tried myself a couple a times and didn’t feel like it gave a true reflection of being a DJ!!!! And now you got all these stupid celebrities and corporate media using this art as another stupid marketing scheme. (Man….I do miss going to FatBeats in Melrose and really diggin’ thru the crates)
why you worried about all those fags? just do your thing and quit giving a fuck about the celebs. great, DJing is dead. now what? we all gonna cry yall!
Did you not see Madeon’s new minimix set…where he combined 90+ tracks in 5 min? DJ is not dead…its only dead if you follow the DJ’s that can’t DJ. In which case they aren’t DJ’s to begin with.
why you all mad? you are like a grumby old man trapped in that little body of yours………
I agree 100% I love technology as much as skip but SERATO = SKYNET.
I have been a DJ in the netherlands back at the start of 2000 where we still played with vinyl turntables. The decks itself sorted out the crop itself. Cause it would take at least 1-2 years to be able to beatmix a track properly and keep it in sync 1- 2 minutes.
And that is something the DJ’s nowadays cant do. The aim when mixxing is to have 2 tracks as much as possible creating a new number. This is the essential of mixxing.
Not putting the end of a track to the beginning of a track. Tracks are build up, in the beginning it’s minimal and builds up. The reverse happens when a track ends. Putting these together requires no skill whatsoever.
You can make mixxing as difficult as you want. Problem is with the technology is that every idiot can mix bad and like you said only his or hers fame is important to get ppl in the club.
This is mainly due to commercialisme. House used to be underground over here. People would actually hear if a DJ fucked up and he would be severally punished by the crowd. Nowadays every idiot comes to these parties and if a DJ made an error no one would hear. On the other side, they would be very gratefull if you did a very good job. And i really miss those times.
To speak of this in imagery to maybe an more understandable subject.
Let’s say you have a 100.000 euro bottle of wine. Most people in the country would prefer the sweet white whine from the wholesale and would never recognize this piece of art. Where experts would die for just a drop as they know much effort is put in to create such a wonderfull piece of existence.
Thats the main problem among the crowd, and party ogranisers just wanting to get ppl in so just book whose name is the biggest at the moment, is the other.
And this fucked up our world. Basically the same as pop music.
Where we used to have bands who looked like shit but created the most beautifull music ever are now reduced to created boy bands with the proper looks and in the studio we will sort the rest.
Or even worse turn a regular girl who isnt fabulous but has a good voice into a freakshow just to get attention. Like lady gaga…..
Any person that says to her I;m glad you stayed yourself is really completly oblivious how the worlds works.
Any product is full of lies to get you to buy it. Or products are made through selffullingprophecy like stated above. Put someone in the news enough and they will be famous eventually. Compagnies know this and release news about their stars on a timed basis. Don’t forget around these celebritaties an entire company has been formed, investments etc etc. So it completly analyzed,fabricated etc to death. But of they dont want you to know….
While I am NOT a DJ, I have worked in the nightclub scene on and off for almost 20/yrs mostly as a VIP Bottle Service Waitress and also a Bartender.. And over the years, I have heard some of the BEST, and NOT So Best DJ’s spin.. While some have used strictly turntables ONLY, some have used cd’s only and some have used BOTH TOGETHER.. THEN, you have the DJ’s that NOW only use IPODS!! And to me, that’s just cheating!! It’s almost like pressing PLAY on a Podcast and leaving the DJ Booth to go have dinner somewhere and come back in 2/hrs and put on a new one and when that’s over, so is your set!! Now look how easy it was to get paid the THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS YOU WERE OFFERED FOR THE GIG!!!
WE SHOULD ONLY BE SO LUCKY TO PRESS PLAY ON A MP3 PLAYER/CD PLSYER/WHATEVER AND MAKE A QUICK $25,000+ (AND I’M JUST USING A VERY LOW BALL FIGURE BC THAT’S WHAT I KNEW SOME DJ’S MADE BACK THEN!!!) LOL!!!
What about the companies that make software and hardware? I’m curious as to what people’s opinions are about how these sources of technology are influencing “the art.”
There is truth to your article, but as an whole I can’t agree with it, especially the tone. It also depends on what your definition of a DJ is. Do you just mean the art of using turntables or CDJs? Do you consider anyone that uses a controller a DJ? Even if they can put on an amazing show like Daft Punk?
DJing has certainly evolved with the advent of different technologies and yes, it has allowed for more people to become “DJs”. But there’s a flip side to that technological coin in that it raises the bar of creativity in live DJ sets. That’s a good thing. To complain about it is pointless and not only that, that kind of negative attitude is extremely counter-productive to the new generation of DJs that want to learn how to be successful in this game. All these “veteran” DJs that continue to complain about how all these wannabe DJs and newbies are fucking up the game will just be left in the dust. These are people that look up to you. You should be sending a better message.
The art of DJing is not dead as you say, but the commerce of being a DJ has changed through it’s popularity. Just like in any other profession that is in the Artist category like being a singer, dancer, actor, painter, being a working DJ means that you are a product and to be a successful product you need good branding, promotion and most importantly you need to deliver what you claim to do as a product. You think Apple starts complaining about the nature of the market when another company creates a tablet or smartphone with new features that Apple doesn’t have? No, they make a product that’s better and then invest time to tell you why it’s better. Do they get their panties in a bunch when someone makes a product that’s cheaper? No, they let you know why that cheaper product is shit, and also show you why you’re getting a better value with their product.
You don’t need a large audience to create art of any kind. You can just do it in your bedroom. But if you want to get your artform in front of as many people as possible and turn it into a business, then you need to be a little more savvy and stop complaining about why other people are getting gigs and you aren’t. There are a lot of successful DJs out there that make great money performing their craft without compromising the type of artist they are and they absolutely deserve it. Just because there are a few shams out there doesn’t mean the art is dead.
I think about 90% of those who commented on this missed the point entirely. As you read this you’re probably like (OMG STFU I did not), well if you aren’t and haven’t been frustrated after practicing for 5+ hours a day and then going to see T-Pain play in the club then yes, you missed the point.
I completely see what Enrie is talking about. In a giant nut shell, DJing needs to get back to the “less glam” and more talent pespective. There are literally hundreds of douche bag DJs out there (and I’ve personally met tons myself in person at various club gigs) that are only concerned about how they look on a flyer, how they can fist pump, how their press kit photo looks, how they can become the next DJ superstar, and how they can get a chance to DJ at the biggest and most popular club. They spend all their time trying to market themselves, making a website, facebook page, twitter page, designing a custom logo for their name, etc. As someone earlier stated, DJs too busy trying to “set up a “good branding” and promotions for themselves” .
I think many DJs have lost their focus on the actual art of DJing and are more focused on trying to market and brand themselves. Too many DJs today have that “I wanna be a Rock Star” mentality so they are putting all of their energy into trying to become one through promotion, gimmicks and so called branding and marketing. Instead if they would focus more on their skill level and talent as a DJ, then I think the art of DJing would not be dead as Enrie states. You get schmucks like Paris Hilton trying to say they are a DJ now and yet they cant even beat match or know how to read a crowd or do anything that is original on stage. You get celebrity DJs like her and all the rest of the idiot DJs who only care about the glamorous aspect of DJing and thats what kills the art of DJing. It turns the real art form of DJing into a horse and pony side show and makes it a complete joke.
I hear people everyday say “Everyone is a DJ now”. So for people like me who have been in this game for over 20 years, that is like a slap in the face. We paid our dues and busted our asses to learn this craft we call DJing. We’ve made tons of mistakes learning and perfecting it and to this day we are still learning to become better. So when we see “glam” DJs with their fist pumping celebrity status on stage pretending to be a DJ, its a huge spit in our face insult to all the real DJ vets who have worked hard to master the art of DJing.
If I were to draw a stick figure on a piece of paper, does that make me an artist? I don’t think it would. But lets say my stick figure drawings were selling for millions just because I’m a reality TV star, does that THEN make me an artist?
In the end the people I blame for this “Glam DJ” hype epidemic is one giant group of individuals…our society. Society has put DJs on a pedistal and they think that we are rock stars and treat us like rock stars at times. So naturally anyone who yearns for the respect and attention as a rock star is going to do whatever they can to reach that status, even if it means their hype and “branding” is greater than their actual talent as a DJ.
The passion and desire of wanting to become the next David Guetta, Tiesto rock star DJ has over shadowed the actual passion and desire of wanting to become the baddest and illest DJ on the planet. Most DJs today, especially the younger generation, from what I’ve seen can give a rats ass about how good they are as a DJ. They only seem to care about how they can market themselves better and how they can get their face on the next flyer at a club. Now I’m not saying that ALL new or younger DJs are like this! I’ve met some real honorable and cool younger generation DJs who love DJing purely for what it’s supposed to be…a form of art. These dudes are super cool, humble and can give a rats ass about how they look on a flyer or much less even being on a flyer. They just love the art of DJing, period!
My last thought on this subject, take a real close look at some of the best and most skilled DJs around in your area. I’m not talking about the DJs that are always booked for every club. Just because you’re booked every weekend doesn’t mean you’re the best DJ out there! I’m talking about the illest DJs who have the most skill and talent as a DJ in your area. Are they spending more time trying to market themselves and taking new press kits photos? I highly doubt it. Heck, I bet most of them don’t even have press kits. Thats because they don’t fall for the hype! They bust their asses to master their skills as a DJ and practice, practice, practice! They don’t have the time to spend on trying to market themselves and to make themselves look glamorous as a DJ. They simply don’t care about that stuff. They only care about one thing…the art of DJing! Just my $0.02
Deejaying has NOT progressed! I don’t care if you have ten laptops, ipods and ipads. SO WHAT if ableton lets you megamix 10,000 songs together or some software allows you to remix on the fly. NONE of these so called “CELEBRITY or BIG NAME DJ’s” do any of that. Most of them have ghost poducers who produce the same BORING lame ELECTRO or DUBSTEP remix which only gets noticed if the majors or someone who stands to make $ off of them will get noticed. Otherwise it gets lost with the countless other productions released daily!!!
I agree with ENRIE 100% I am old school and follwed his career from the very BEGINNING. HAVE SOME FREAKING RESPECT people!!!!! You have no idea how hard this guy has worked to achieve and do what he has done. MOst of us did what we did becuase we FELT and LOVED it! Yes, we tried to make some money and be successfull. But where the industry is today IT MAKE US SICK!!!!!
The whole problem is much more than an industry that has embraced IMAGE or quality! It’s the “trust fund” generation who dont know what it is like to work their asses of to get or CREATE something NEW or share what they love!!!!!! That is why they dont care how bad the DJ SUCKS!
For those of you who never actually experienced a resident dj who could take you on a musical journey all the while playing all styles , different energy, and breaking NEW music (not playing the top 15 songs all night)…..I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU!
We are all getting older and I for one respect ENRIE for all he has accomplished and shared. Most of all his LOVE for this lost art!!!
You have touched more lives than just your vegas club goers…
THANKS!!!!
Im a local Dj / producer in northern California, there’s not much words can describe to how the scene is not only huge now but slowly dieing at the same time.
I witness artists built on hype land gigs where hard working musicians wish they could attain. And even now, more and more people that have a backstory in the scene are just getting out. The ones who knew that you need to take care of each other, it’s simply just a act now.
But. I plan on changing it though idk about you guys
I’m not just going to complain that art is gone.
I’ll just let those who appreciate it enjoi
What a great, honest piece! Loved it. And I agree. Keep on speaking your truth!