dj exams degree
mark Settle·
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If DJing is a career, should we sit exams?

dj exams degree

It’s clear that DJing is not just a popular casual pastime, but is increasingly becoming an actual career path. But it is one that has little in the way of formal qualifications — you just turn your love of music into something more, with perhaps some Youtube tutorials or paid courses as your training. But as shown previously, the UK examination boards are beginning to take such things seriously, as is a local non-profit social enterprise called DJ School UK.

They’ve engaged with the exam boards to help move them in the direction of formal qualifications. And in their research, they’ve uncovered a diverse range of feelings about if professional DJs should have formal training, or if it’s more of a self-taught passion. But as a small local outfit, their reach is small — I didn’t even know about them and they’re just 18 miles away.

A VERY SHORT SURVEY

So I’m asking for the DJWORX community, no matter where you are in the world, to help them get a better idea of feeling about formal DJ education. Please fill in this survey — it’s just 4 very short pages with no personal info necessary, and in particular fill in the final box expanding on your feelings. Or you could add something in the comments below this story for them to read.

BUT SHOULD DJS SIT EXAMS?

Much of this depends on how you view what you do. Do you view DJing as a creative performance like a pianist or guitarist? Do you feel that the only way to prove that you can DJ is to actually DJ? Or would a qualification with grades at least give your clients and (in the case of a residency) employers a really solid starting point when looking to give out work?

For me, devoting time to a qualification shows dedication, and speaks more about their character than watching a few Youtube clips and perfecting the fist pump. My worry is the qualification itself, and the validity of what is being taught. Having started and left a couple of formal creative training courses, it was clear that I knew more than the lecturer and refused to use software that wasn’t used by anyone in the commercial world. So there’s a clear danger that what is being taught could have no relevance whatsoever, especially as gear is evolving so quickly. Schools in particular are notorious for having borderline antique tech and ancient computers with out of date software.

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And it’s all well and good talking about this in a school context, but what about further education? Should you be able to take a degree in DJing and Production and immediately walk into a Ministry of Sound residency? Or will a DJ qualification be strictly limited to school?

GET INVOLVED

Even if you feel that DJing as a career shouldn’t depend on bits of paper, have your say now. Take the survey anyway or leave comments below, and help DJ School UK put the right case forward.

Ultimately the question is this — do you think that having a formal qualification in DJing would be a good thing, a bad idea, or just unnecessary and why?

25 Comments

  1. This is just the new ‘media studies’ that kids did in the 1990’s only to come out of school/colleges woefully equipped to deal with the real world. DJ’ing isn’t a trade that can be taught in my opinion, there are too many intangibles involved.

    Besides….if we want a generation of kids being employed as disc jockeys surely the correct course would be one in how to produce a track and get it marketed on Beatport, since nobody books anybody on actual DJing talent alone anymore. You have to have a name = tracks out.

      1. Regarding the media studies / music tech courses thing.

        My day job is in Commercial radio. I see loads of kids turn up for work experience or to start a job with us who’ve done their media studies courses, which normally include a few modules about radio / commercial production etc.

        …the problem is, these modules are normally taught by people who left the ever changing world of radio several years ago, & most of the knowledge they aquire is already out of date. These fresh faced students then get a “real” job in radio, & discover that the stuff they did at college has no connection with the commercial reality.

        Unless DJ qualifications are based on courses run by people still at the cutting edge of the industry, exactly the same will happen.

  2. Unnecessary, Djing is an art. You may have plenty of skills and not be able to read the crowd in front of you. Most dj gigs come from recommendations. Maybe it would be worth it for a scratch competition, but that is about it.

  3. I think the answer is yes and no.

    No, in that DJing is an art similar to an audio or visual artist, so an individual can hone their particular skill set for either commercial gain or self expression.

    Yes, in that a club or a media station could require a certificate in order for a DJ to be employed as a opener DJ or a radio show or podcast. They could also judge on merit and skill too.

    What would be in an exam/qualification? From basic blending and hardware knowledge to advance mixing/producing/tuntabalist/controllerist techniques.

    The two concepts can coexist based on the need.

    RD

  4. So we don’t have “exams” in the US. I’m assuming this is kind of comparable to getting any sort of certification, but not as intense as a college degree? Maybe equivalent to an associates, or a two year degree or something.

    Regardless, the answer is no. There are very VERY few DJ “jobs” and even doing a radio show is less about mixing and more about personality. How many jobs can you get as a DJ that provide benefits? I mean, maybe you can get work through a larger provider of wedding services, like Scratch Weddings, but I believe you’re still just a contractor.

    And if a club requires a certification, how is it defined? Do you get certified in House music? Or is it just that you know how to plug a pair cables into holes? Do you never red line? Do we get a general trade union like the Actors Guild, and then clubs can only hire from certified DJs who pay dues?

    We also all need to get off our high horses about this whole “watching a few Youtube clips and perfecting the fist pump” thing. If some kid goes on to youtube, watches some videos, and perfects their technique and people like what they do then they deserve everything they get. The idea of providing certifications for DJing is absurd to me. I see it more as a group of people trying to create demand for something no one needs so they can make money on impressionable kids who think something like this will make any semblance of a difference in their DJ career, when the reality is gigs come for those who hustle. There’s no certification proving you can hustle.

    1. I agree. Its like with bernie madoff, he was able to pretend and convince people that his machinations were legitimate, so he deserved to keep that money.
      Or like taco bell, i mean if people camt tell the diffeence between sawdust and beef, whats the problem. We should congratulate them on a savvy business move, and stop trying to get people to think about what they put in their bodies.
      I mean, its like smoking, if someone wants to put that crap in their body, why should i care, its not like all of them go on ssi disability when their 43, and use tax dollars to buy more smokes for the next 20 years.
      Yea J, you are totally correct.

      1. And how are any of these things in any way related to DJing? If I hire a DJ for a gig and they suck I don’t hire them again. Plain and simple. Hustle gets you gigs, it doesn’t let you keep them.
        And how, in any way, is that related to any of your arguments, at all?

  5. Just because something is an art or a creative pursuit doesn’t mean you can’t do a degree in it. People take degrees, and indeed doctorates, in all sorts of creative arenas (classical art, music, dance, drama are just a few that spring to mind). Further education is essentially about spending a large amount of time immersed in a subject and then proving you know your shit at the end of it, I don’t see why you cant do that with DJing.

    Simply having a qualification certainly isnt enough to just walk into a job, but surely there would be benefits beyond that. Making contacts with fellow students and perhaps industry mentors (if a course were constructed properly) would be two that I can think of.

    If there were qualifications perhaps clubs would start asking for them, but I’m fairly confident the only qualifications most will always look for are the number of people youre bringing and if you’ll do it for free… ;)

  6. the majority of ppl isnt really interested in DJs prob over 99%..when god was a DJ is when the DJ was more popular prob also cause it wasnt so easy for everybody to start as it is now.

    What im interested is in artists who created original and real music with actual bass guitars and drums etc. or the ones who created original songs with drummachines and synths…If it wasnt for those i wouldnt even have turntables.

    So basically since DJing isnt an art (unless youre a turntablist) there is no need at all to have some or qualification to do it, but to have a cleaning job it often requires some sort of qualification and those are the jobs 100 times as important as DJs (John Does) playing pop tunes at weddings .

  7. I think it should be possible at university to get a degree in DJing. Most universities do have provisions for interdisciplinary studies where students can create their own curriculum if they can find departments or faculty to teach and direct their studies. As far as exams, I am not sure how that might look. In the US we don’t have compulsory exams for very many professions.

    This does bring up another topic for me (somewhat related)… DJ unions.

    I think some sort of certification and labor union for Club/Bar DJs is an interesting concept. Some cities have a musicians union or bartenders union. Film industry has Screen Actors Guild, writers guild, cinematography, etc. Has anyone ever tried to create one for DJs?

    A well qualified DJ knows how to use music to massage the vibe of a crowd such that there is less likely to be fights – if there is too much negative tension in the room, a good DJ can feel it and will take the foot off the gas without killing the vibe completely and put people back into a loving mood. A good DJ also knows how to cycle the room and send people back to the bar at least once an hour without completely clearing the floor or quashing the vibe. (There are some songs that everybody loves but not everybody wants to dance to and if half or a third of the floor moves to the bar but are still bobbing their heads to or singing with the music they are still having a good time and buying more drinks than if they had stayed out on the floor the whole night.) This way, the venue makes more money at the bar. Clubs, promoters and venues could lower their liability by using certified union DJs and improve profits at the same time.

    DJs would be guaranteed a certain rate of pay per hour, with overtime rate for longer sets if there is no chance for a break. This would cut down on DJs losing gigs by getting undercut (I heard from a friend that he got undercut by a DJ that took 50 $USD for a 5 hour gig at a bar). In the USA, we don’t have national health care, so there could be union health benefits for DJs too if they work a certain number of hours per week. there could also be classes and services to improve business savvy, branding/marketing, tech support, etc. Perhaps even discount equipment rental if a DJ is in need of a PA speaker system. For out of town and/or guest DJs, if they are from an DJ union in another city, they would be granted a waiver to play and for non-union DJs, a waiver (plus a fee) would be possible, but minimum pay would still have to be honored.

    1. If not a North American union, at least a standardized rate of pay from the ministry/department of labour. We have the same problem up here in Canada.

  9. In Hungary u have to do this 10+years ago.
    Pretty strange u have to prove your skills to a group of guy and they decide if u pass or not. wtf, where is the line that one have to jump?
    they educate sound engineering, elecrtical things and so on what is really important, but the first one is wierd?
    mainly because most of the judges ar some well connected guys and they are capable to mix songs once in every 5 minutes, and if you juggling and scratching they looks like nevere ever seen anything like that before and well… they can say: it is good but…. you failed.

  10. Regarding the media studies thing.

    My day job is in Commercial radio. I see loads of kids turn up for work experience or to start a job with us who’ve done their media studies courses, which normally include a few modules about radio / commercial production etc.

    …the problem is, these modules are normally taught by people who left the ever changing world of radio several years ago, & most of the knowledge they aquire is already out of date. These fresh faced students then get a “real” job in radio, & discover that the stuff they did at college has no connection with the commercial reality.

    Unless DJ qualifications are based on courses run by people still at the cutting edge of the industry, exactly the same will happen.

  11. I don’t think there will ever be qualifications to be a DJ. Because the very definition of being a DJ is unclear. At the core a DJ is somebody who plays pre-recorded music for others. So there are so many types of DJs out there. Who would this course be geared towards? The club DJ, the radio DJ, the wedding DJ? Maybe an all-encompassing course? But then why would a club DJ want to learn how to teach people how to wobble like a wedding DJ would?

    One thing that people need training in is the technical aspecs of DJing. Really that is all that can be taught. At some point, creativity has to take over. Just like a graphic designer can be taught photoshop, its up to the person to be creative

    I think as somebody else pointed out, there should be unions or associations that will credential DJs based on experience and technical knowledge. Maybe an association for wedding DJs so that when brides get a DJ that is accredited by that association, they know they will get a minimum standard and thus will pay a minimum fee.

    With club DJs, this would have to be more of a Union of DJs saying that if you want us to spin for your club the minimum rate is this and the minimum benefits are these. The problem with that is that there will always be undercutters and people that will do it for cheaper. The only way it would work is not if there is a DJ union but a service industry union that encompasses all bar and nightclub workers from the bartenders to waiters, DJs and security. There just aren’t enough DJs to make a nightclub capitulate to our demands, but if the entire staff is pushing then…you have power.

    On

    1. one thing is certain a dj dont work for free, underbid the competition to a maximum, knife eachother in the back. steal contracts, undermine and backtalk collegues and get paied under the table!. thats what on now and has been for at least 15 years. really common in Scandinavia and UK and it stinks to high heaven!. With a real supportive union the owners of clubs and venues had to pay at least minimum wage for a newcommer, not beer and chips and a promise to get laid that has ´been a accouring event.

      Then the “freebees” would minimize alot more, and the “Professional” seal of approval would be a reality. not hire for a night and hope for the best!, just thought! or Pray and play!

    2. 100% agree with your second paragraph there. You can’t teach creativity or musical taste. But there should maybe be some level of technical training required. I’ve heard many many creatively gifted DJ’s who have absolutely no idea how to correctly work a sound system, and of course vice versa lol.

  13. I find that most of the formally trained musicians that I know are arrogant arseholes who play their instruments so technically correct that it has no soul. I find an intermediate level of music theory, plus a whole lot of jumping in the deep end, yealds the best results.

  14. Better we must use coloured belts.

    Ironic mode: off.

    School nowadays is more a “business” than a “universe of knowledge”. Few schools scape from this description and still are “elitist” (so put on top djing and make it weird) not affordable for the majority and most important, usually unnecessary.

    We live in 3rd industrial revolution and one of the “legs” is self-learning.

    Teachers? Maybe a good “instructor” will be better, leaving the learning process to the student.
    Exams? Well… What will be the true situation for the student? Gigs? Producing at home? Deadlines?

    As someone pointed out “swims matters at water”. Other than that is selfish ego searching for “title” or belt. Understanding this and accepting it as a unamovible “gospel truth” is being part of the matrix so… Why lie to newbies? For money? For fear of embrace the truth?

    Even Grand Master Flash could have a bad day… Make it worse dj? Or better?

    Human being. That’s all.

  15. There’s no harm but incredibly pointless. Imagine putting it on your CV, sadly it doesn’t really serve any real purpose. Fun though :)

    1. Well its the thing i do and know best. ive worked in the industry for 25 years, im a metal constructor, carm-mechanic and woodsman, thats what my “real” professions has been incl consultat on different areas. but when they asked me what ive done most, i say djn, cause thats true. and in many eyes thats not a real job, even if i earned more on a evening djn than on a whole week regular work. and with real certification, the busniess would have looked different. not the grey, boring, slave contracts we seen the last ten years. especially club and venueowners!

  17. Start certifying the big names that dont know a shit about djn, but still stand infront of pioneer players and mixers. its gone over the top and plummet real hard.

    There should be a real union for djs and musichosts, and certification, just like any other business. there are to much nontaxed money in the business. guys work for pittence, and the venueowners rake the big bux!

    Time to get something back!