Expanding your DJ library for a newbie

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Expanding your DJ library for a newbie
Posted on: 24.05.2013 by Diedra Kosmal
Im new to djing and just got myself a s2,amp and speakers I have a ok collection of music but have realised that I need a lot more music from many different genres and need to expand my collection.So im just looking for some advice on whats best.I have mostly been buying from amazon but am wondering if there is better ways than just buying albums or individual songs.Ive heard rhapsody is good ,they have a monthly subscription but i dont no if you can download music as part of the subscription.
Any advice info?Where do the seasoned pro's get there collections from or is it just a process and part of becoming a dj to build your own collection?
Sonja Roybal
24.05.2013
Originally Posted by William Gibson
The industry is in such a horrible mess because we listen to complete albums before we buy them? Get over yourself. I have a massive vinyl collection, cd collection and digital collection that I have paid for plus I go to atleast 3 shows a month. How am I hurting the industry by previewing what I purchase? You never try clothes on before you buy them? Might as well bounce out of this thread...
I don't steal the clothes and return the ones I don't want.
Sonja Roybal
24.05.2013
Originally Posted by SirReal
...And the above is why the music industry is in the horrible state that it's in.
Yeah, man. It's blowing my mind that people openly admit to stealing tunes on this website.

Another thing to believe about if you're a dj that doesn't produce. A lot of producers hate dj'ing. They dj because they need to pay the bills and producing dance music doesn't do it. Every time they take a booking, they're taking a slot from a dedicated DJ.

Spor/Feed Me

http://http://www.dancingastronaut.c...ed-to-be-doing
Doreen Schurle
24.05.2013
Originally Posted by William Gibson
I steal a shit ton of tunes to find out what I like, Then Buy what I do. I work 7 days a week and my drive is an hour in the morning and usually like 90 minutes on the way home. I DL a ton of music and put it on my ipod and just listen to it every day in the car. Then when I find stuff I like or artists I like I come home and buy them.
Same. I've probably pulled down about a terabyte of mp3s in the past year, mostly from user-made compilations like "Top 400 trance tracks of all time" etc, then bought the ones that were any good and deleted the rest. It's all very well to say you can preview tracks on Amazon/iTunes/Beatport, but it's much more efficient to download entire compilations and preview the tracks yourself then delete them afterwards. Plus, typically the previews are only 30s snippets which may not include the parts of the track you actually like/want.
Sonja Roybal
24.05.2013
Originally Posted by William Gibson
I steal a shit ton of tunes to find out what I like, Then Buy what I do. I work 7 days a week and my drive is an hour in the morning and usually like 90 minutes on the way home. I DL a ton of music and put it on my ipod and just listen to it every day in the car. Then when I find stuff I like or artists I like I come home and buy them.
Wow. They do allow you to preview tunes before you buy.

Personally, I wouldn't buy more than 20 tunes a week unless you have a ton of time to practice and listen to them. You need to know your tunes really well when you're first starting out. You need to learn to phrase them. Once song structure becomes second nature, then you can start buying more tunes and incorporating them into a set without knowing them well.

Don't steal tunes. You wouldn't believe how many producers are just making a living wage from producing music. Outside of the stadium EDM shit, dance music producers aren't making much money. Some still have real jobs. Labels struggle to stay afloat. It's not like when you steal the latest boy band album and you're just taking from millionaires and corporations.
Tesha Freudenstein
24.05.2013
Originally Posted by Patch
Bottom Line: It doesn't matter where you buy, all that matters is WHAT you buy.
very important. there is nothing worse than buying loads of stuff only to realize that half of it is crap. careful selection is key.
Diedra Kosmal
24.05.2013		Im new to djing and just got myself a s2,amp and speakers I have a ok collection of music but have realised that I need a lot more music from many different genres and need to expand my collection.So im just looking for some advice on whats best.I have mostly been buying from amazon but am wondering if there is better ways than just buying albums or individual songs.Ive heard rhapsody is good ,they have a monthly subscription but i dont no if you can download music as part of the subscription.
Any advice info?Where do the seasoned pro's get there collections from or is it just a process and part of becoming a dj to build your own collection?
Julissa Serrone
24.05.2013		I call bullshit on going back and actually buying the ones you like.

My advice to the OP, depending on what you play --- if you want a "broad" library join a good record pool. That will give you a base to start with, normally songs that are considered hits, or top songs. From there you'll have an idea of artists, labels, etc. then you can dig based on what you like.

Soundcloud is the new digging ---- tons of artist post great tracks on the for free as well, many with links to their Facebook requesting you like their fan page. No need to download 1000's of crappy tracks to then find out with handful you like, and pretend you are then going to find where to buy them.
Brunilda Kora
24.05.2013		You're an idiot.
Sonja Roybal
24.05.2013
Originally Posted by William Gibson
The industry is in such a horrible mess because we listen to complete albums before we buy them? Get over yourself. I have a massive vinyl collection, cd collection and digital collection that I have paid for plus I go to atleast 3 shows a month. How am I hurting the industry by previewing what I purchase? You never try clothes on before you buy them? Might as well bounce out of this thread...
I don't steal the clothes and return the ones I don't want.
Klara Kinnebrew
24.05.2013		The industry is in such a horrible mess because we listen to complete albums before we buy them? Get over yourself. I have a massive vinyl collection, cd collection and digital collection that I have paid for plus I go to atleast 3 shows a month. How am I hurting the industry by previewing what I purchase? You never try clothes on before you buy them? Might as well bounce out of this thread...
Sonja Roybal
24.05.2013
Originally Posted by SirReal
...And the above is why the music industry is in the horrible state that it's in.
Yeah, man. It's blowing my mind that people openly admit to stealing tunes on this website.

Another thing to believe about if you're a dj that doesn't produce. A lot of producers hate dj'ing. They dj because they need to pay the bills and producing dance music doesn't do it. Every time they take a booking, they're taking a slot from a dedicated DJ.

Spor/Feed Me

http://http://www.dancingastronaut.c...ed-to-be-doing
Antonetta Wikel
24.05.2013		...And the above is why the music industry is in the horrible state that it's in.
Alyse Chiong
24.05.2013		All of the above

Also follow folks on soundcloud, tons of free music, And, though it may already have been said listen to mixes to find tracks you like
Doreen Schurle
24.05.2013
Originally Posted by William Gibson
I steal a shit ton of tunes to find out what I like, Then Buy what I do. I work 7 days a week and my drive is an hour in the morning and usually like 90 minutes on the way home. I DL a ton of music and put it on my ipod and just listen to it every day in the car. Then when I find stuff I like or artists I like I come home and buy them.
Same. I've probably pulled down about a terabyte of mp3s in the past year, mostly from user-made compilations like "Top 400 trance tracks of all time" etc, then bought the ones that were any good and deleted the rest. It's all very well to say you can preview tracks on Amazon/iTunes/Beatport, but it's much more efficient to download entire compilations and preview the tracks yourself then delete them afterwards. Plus, typically the previews are only 30s snippets which may not include the parts of the track you actually like/want.
Sonja Roybal
24.05.2013
Originally Posted by William Gibson
I steal a shit ton of tunes to find out what I like, Then Buy what I do. I work 7 days a week and my drive is an hour in the morning and usually like 90 minutes on the way home. I DL a ton of music and put it on my ipod and just listen to it every day in the car. Then when I find stuff I like or artists I like I come home and buy them.
Wow. They do allow you to preview tunes before you buy.

Personally, I wouldn't buy more than 20 tunes a week unless you have a ton of time to practice and listen to them. You need to know your tunes really well when you're first starting out. You need to learn to phrase them. Once song structure becomes second nature, then you can start buying more tunes and incorporating them into a set without knowing them well.

Don't steal tunes. You wouldn't believe how many producers are just making a living wage from producing music. Outside of the stadium EDM shit, dance music producers aren't making much money. Some still have real jobs. Labels struggle to stay afloat. It's not like when you steal the latest boy band album and you're just taking from millionaires and corporations.
Klara Kinnebrew
24.05.2013		I steal a shit ton of tunes to find out what I like, Then Buy what I do. I work 7 days a week and my drive is an hour in the morning and usually like 90 minutes on the way home. I DL a ton of music and put it on my ipod and just listen to it every day in the car. Then when I find stuff I like or artists I like I come home and buy them.
cala mar
24.05.2013		couldn't find the original djranking s article that basically said....

buy some tracks you like on beatport, follow the artists/remixers/labels. browse their back catalogs and follow any other labels/remixers/producers if you like what you hear. branch out in this fashion, and so on and so forth.

soon you'll log in to view latest tracks and see a bunch of stuff from names you previously trusted.
maybe its good stuff maybe its bad, lots of gems that click to you will pop up.

I used to steal tunes, when you don't pay for it you aren't as critical about how good it is and you end up with way too much crap and no sound range to call your own.
Margaretta Hebenstreit
24.05.2013		When i started out i bought some compilations from beatport, i checked lables of artist i already knew and looked through their releases to find stuff like aniversary compilations etc. By that time it was lables like clr, drumcode, cocoon and techno-stuff like that. I did this to have a stock to start playing around with. You will then automatically drift in some direction and find songs you enjoy more than others, then start following their releases and their lables and so it begins.

Key thing is to have your music organized well. I do this by creating playlist in itunes for genres and subgenres. I have 2 folders for every genre, one contains all the tunes and the other contains the tracks i dj with at the moment. That playlist then contains subgenres. I regularly go through the "non dj" playlist to find forgotten gems and stuff and also delete tunes from the "dj" playlist that i never play. But dont delete anything for good since some tunes you dont play at the moment might be the ones you will enjoy a lot in 6 months.

Problem with buying compilations is that you might buy some songs you never play, but it's an easy and pretty good way to build a small collection to start with.

Check out the compilations put out by the big ibiza clubs like ushuaia, amnesia, space etc for a good start in house music and also look for dj charts of djs you already know and like to find the tunes they play out at the moment.

As soon as you got a SMALL collection you are more or less happy with start digging for individual tracks, because that is where the fun lies at. Nothing better than finding an awesome tune by a small label from the other end of the world that no one in your area has heard and when you play it they will be like woooot
Tesha Freudenstein
24.05.2013
Originally Posted by Patch
Bottom Line: It doesn't matter where you buy, all that matters is WHAT you buy.
very important. there is nothing worse than buying loads of stuff only to realize that half of it is crap. careful selection is key.
Brunilda Kora
24.05.2013		You MUST build your own, and it takes time. Like anything, if you rush to build it, it'll be shit.

And you don't want a shit music collection.

Check out the DJTT Blog and you'll find LOADS of info on this kind of thing.

Bottom Line: It doesn't matter where you buy, all that matters is WHAT you buy.

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