Ok, so this blog is going to divide the room, its an opinion and this is my blog, my writing place to explore ideas and to stretch the ol' grey matter and some DJs are going to disagree with me. That's absolutely fine! We are all individuals with our own opinions and practices, I for one hate tuna. Its cat food. Welcome to the blog.
I DJ 2 / 3 times per week on Twitch as a livestream DJ, and if you've watch my stream then thankyou so so very much for the support ❤️ if you haven't and you'd like to check me out, I'm at My Twitch Page where I'll DJ either Techno, Trance, Funky House or Hard House - depending on the day or my mood - and there is one practice that is fairly common with livestream audiences, and it is this comment:
"TRACK DEEEETZ PLZ!" OR "TRACK ID???"
or even more abbreviated... "ID?"
And this is where the viewer is inquiring with the DJ they are watching, what the name of the particular track they are listening to at that moment. And some livestream DJs have fancy graphics which feature a lovely little 'Now Playing' box to display such information (even though some livestream viewers will STILL miss this). And that's fine, if they want to do that so people can copy down their tracks and build their own replica sets, that's their business.
However, I for one, am from a particular school of thought that doesn't wish to tell everyone, every single track I play. The neeeed for information is redundant, and it does not stop you from listening and enjoying it.
Now I can already hear people say (the voices in my head) "but you're a DJ, you're meant to tell people what you're playing / advertising the track / so people can build their own playlists on Spotify" and I can argue against all of these points.
You don't always need to know what I'm playing; if you're enjoying it, that's my job done! DJs, for years, have covered the record labels to prevent the prying eyes from discovering that absolutely banger of a track that you previously spent hours digging through a record shop or more recently, Beatport, to find. Finding these gems in the 10,000 or so tracks released weekly on Beatport really is like panning for gold. DJs pride themselves on being different, building a set and to establish their sound, to make them stand out from the next DJ, which in fairness, was always competition. (Its a dog eat dog world!) And if DJs tell everyone what they're playing, whats stopping the eager young DJ from copying your track list and making your hard work redundant and your set about as original as a Fast & Furious movie? We live in a society where every piece of information is in our pockets, or in our hands 24/7. If you don't know what a track is in a DJs set, you're not going to disintegrate without it; give your brain a break from the current information bombardment!
The label isn't paying me to advertise their track. I'll play it, but unless I'm part of the promotion team for a particular track or it's a friends track that I'm proud of, then I'm saying nothing. I'll let you know what it is but this will always be my choice if I do or not.
I want people to come back to watch my sets again. If I tell people what I'm playing on a track by track basis, they'll build their own playlists and not come back, alternatively, they would've been listening to the track all week and then when you come to play it again, they will be bored of it! I want people to come back to watch my sets because they like what I play, not because it copies the 100,000,000 other DJs out there playing the Beatport top 10 techno tracks of the moment.
Trust me, ask enough old school DJs about this and they will say the same. Grandmaster Flash used to cover his record labels when he was battling so that rival DJs didn't know what he was spinning, and he was one of the founding fathers of the NYC block party scene, so I'll take his words of advice any day. I've seen people taking photos of turntables in gigs, one time someone dropped their digital camera on the vinyl and took the needle off the platter...
In my eyes, its rude. It's an etiquette that livestream viewers need to understand and respect. Let the DJ... DJ! We are not Spotify nor are we a radio station. We are mixing and taking you on a journey, working hard to create a seamless experience of magical moments and incredible tracks. If you LOVE a track, then please, tell the DJ but don't demand details every other song.
Yes this blog could come across grumpy, but I care about DJing, its a journey for me as much as the livestream viewer and I enjoy moments when I can just escape into the music instead of having to type and break that hypnotic spell music has over me.
Please let me know if you feel the same, or disagree with me (keep it civil, we're all adults here), but this is how I feel and this is my blog so here are my thoughts.
Take care,
James x
