Today’s headline news is all about a David and Goliath moment that saw a slip of a girl stand up to a 100,000 strong army. Yes, for Taylor Swift succinctly put Apple in its place by telling them that they were bang out of order for expecting the little guy to subsidise their new Apple Music streaming venture for three months. And she won, because Apple announced today that while we’ll still get a three-month free trial, artists will get paid. Say what you like about her, Taylor Swift made the colossus that is Apple do a u-turn, and that my friends is real power that few can yield.
ONE YEAR ON
All this chatter about streaming made me think about just how much our music consumption habits have changed, and in particular how it is impacting on the DJ ritual. A year ago, I wrote about this very subject, but that’s a long time in this game, and has seen a lot happen as far as streaming goes. So it’s time to see how things have moved on, not just in the industry, but also in the DJWORX community.
RECAPPING
A large part of what we DJs do is based around finding and buying music. Traditionally we have built quite a collection of physical music, and in more recent times kept the lights on at Western Digital by constantly filling hard drives with music that we downloaded, hopefully after buying first.
But we are approaching a new and scary age, one that potentially sees us having no media whatsoever, with no IKEA Expedit or hard drives necessary in this scary streaming brave new world. We will be playing music without actually ever seeing in physical or digital form.
Spotify has since made its way in algoriddim’s djay, and Mixvibes Cross works with Soundcloud. VirtualDJ has worked with streaming services for a while now. So it’s clear that there is a place for it, and for me it’s just a matter of time before NI and Serato deliver something along these lines as well, via the likes of Beatport or some proprietary service — Serato Whitelabel Cloud anyone?
PLAYING DEVIL’S ADVOCATE
This has led my mind to ponder the immediate future, and especially how new DJs will influence the DJ ritual. Just as CD saw off vinyl, and MP3s killed off CDs, streaming has the potential to introduce the next revolution in DJing. And it’ll be driven by those for whom buying music in any form is old hat.
So when you combine a generation of people not buying music anymore with the ease with which you can stream music from anywhere, there is a potential for DJing to become a profession where we no longer own our music at all. Apple Music’s inevitable ubiquity may well be the catalyst for streaming to become a real part of the DJ scene.
The real success will be if you can get all of those obscure edits and remixes. But nobody said you have to stream exclusively — that’s merely a human reaction when something new comes along. All technologies work quite happily side by side without excluding others, so you can still play vinyl alongside streamed music.
IT’S A MATTER OF TRUST
Given my age, it’s obvious that I lean towards preferring something physical to handle when DJing, if only because I like to have something to show for my money. But it’s tough to put my trust in computers to deliver files from a hard drive, so the very though of trusting telecommunications to deliver music to my laptop fills me with utter dread. Engineers strive to remove moving parts from machines to improve reliability, but we seem hellbent on making the chain weaker with each digital revolution of DJing.
To be clear — I’m not a Luddite who only uses hot stamper vinyl and only on Technics. I’m happy to fire up Spotify and listen to a massively diverse range of music, and if the mood takes me mix streamed music in djay. And if I come across something fresh to my ears that I really like, I’ll fork out cash to buy it. For me, streaming provides cost-effective background noise and is a discovery tool as well. But for me, it’ll never replace the ritual of tracking down and building a physical music collection. Who knows though — if I can suddenly get all the music I need with high quality audio with rock solid streaming for a tenner a month, wouldn’t I be mad to say no?
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
What are your streaming habits? And how do you feel about paying a monthly subscription instead of an actual purchase? Are you a new DJ who only uses streaming for music? Ultimately, do you see streaming for DJs gathering acceptance in the near future?
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
I would definitely like to see Spotify integration into Traktor or Mixcloud. There are a lot of songs that I get sometimes knowing that in 3 months time I’m probably never going to play them again, but they’re currently ‘bangers’ so I jump on the bandwagon nonetheless (Saus by June Miller and Mefjus comes to mind). Streaming would allow me to avoid wasting my money on stuff like that.
“Avoid wasting money”… that’s a point I hadn’t given much thought to. As a Hip Hop and then House DJ, I only bought music I liked, so my DJ collection was my record collection. So it’s fair to say that there’s a definite place for streaming, especially for those that need certain tunes but really don’t want to own them.
Excellent article and points.
I for one, love physical or tangible copies of my music collection. I am not a fan of monthly subscriptions. To me, monthly subscriptions are just an added worry to the end of each month. I like owning my music, my software, my vehicle, etc… Pay for it and be done with it.
My streaming habits are minimal. Due to the fact that I don’t like monthly subscriptions or commercial ads.
If one does the math, the numbers lean towards streaming as the best monetary option in the short run. Example: Average cost of a song is $1.99 (if one is seeking quality sound). Average song is 3 minutes (radio edits). An hour of music could be a minimum of 20 songs. Average gig is 4 hours. Minimum songs needed for gig is about 80 songs. Minimum cost of music for gig = $160 (80 x $2). If subscriptions cost $10 a month than the cost of 80 songs would be equivalent to the cost of a 16-month subscription. At this point, a subscription sounds more lucrative than single song purchases and you would have access to just about any song made popular within the last 50+ years…and of many genres.
It may take streaming about 10 years to reach the guillotine point of tangible music becoming extinct, but the potential threat is real.
Just think of how many times a day or week you read or hear the word “streaming”? It’s ubiquitous.
I don’t ever see me using streaming as the way to dj publicly. Peace of mind requires me to have a physical copy of my dj music.
Now as a tool, yes, I have streaming accounts that I listen to for music discovery and pleasure.
I see streaming services like I see ready meals. They are quick and convenient but also disposable. They are not going to cover all bases/tastes but they are useful in certain situations – but not for DJing and certainly not for my own taste.
I don’t see myself streaming tracks from the Internet but would have no problem using local cached files from something like Spotify.
Already got some playlists on Spotify that I’d love to DJ with .. Got one with every Mowax and ninja tunes track and also one with every track that DJ Premier has produced.
I think the biggest barrier for DJ streaming is that you do not have any control over the music. The streaming service and it’s selection is “subject to change without notice”. So what if some of your seminal tracks for a night’s set suddenly get pulled from the service 5 minutes before your gig?
Remember, with a streaming service, you don’t own anything. Your are just “borrowing” the music on the service providers’ terms, which are “subject to change without notice”.
The only good point is the access to “request songs” that you would never buy in the first place IMO.
This!!!
Well, as already pointed, streaming will be a good choice for DJs who play Billboard music.
If you’re a professional DJ with mainstream gigs only (like college parties & weddings), this service is for you. Instead of burning money in buying tons of music you will never enjoy, but somebody will most definitely request, you make a subscription and have all corners covered.
Normal & novelty DJs have nothing to do with this and will continue buying their music as they did before (vinyls, mp3s, flac etc.)
Unless someone like Beatport rolls out their streaming service to tie into Traktor or something. The main issue is that connectivity is a risk (which can be mitigated by having offline cache, which limits choice), particularly if you’re DJing somewhere rural.
The link that I put with my comment would solve the rural problem. lol
Wow, your timing is really impeccable!
I just built myself a new record shelf/cabinet this weekend.
I’m not the streaming type & to be quite honest, even if the connection was uber reliable, I doubt I ever will be.
I’ll continue to buy a digital copy and back it up on HD. Every time I read about using a streamed service, this article I read in my Network Engineering course pops into my mind.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_over_Avian_Carriers
Youtube will win over all these streaming services. A couple hot cues and one loop, keyboard mappable, and suddenly everybody truly is a dj. movie trailers released as stem files. Whoever is first to integrate youtube into their ware, will be the new apple of entertainment.
That’ll be VDJ then… they’ve had that option as part of the ContentUnlimited service for ages.
Streaming service is just another tool under the Djs belts.
Just last week I DJayed a graduation Party and some of the kids made some off the wall requests which I was able to plug in my iPhone to my system and use spotify to play them .
Two years ago I would have said “Sorry that tune is not on my library”
Times are changing I should know I have been at this since 1982.
And it doesn’t look like I’m slowing down anytime soon.
As an DJ ambassador for Algoriddim I was ecstatic when the added spotify to there software. Streaming is the future …
Doesn’t mean I’m going to delete all my music from my hardrive.
It just means I don’t have to download music I don’t like, to accommodate the public.
No way am I streaming music for DJing. I’ve got no desire to add a networking variable into the whole setup considering how many times networking can fail.
My personal opinion on it is that I don’t an issue with an internal network streaming files. My problem occurs as soon as you rely on TCP/IP and an ISP. My next upgrade is my CDJ900s to the 900NXS. Not so much for the displays but for the ability to use a wireless network to connect Rekordbox from a tablet or smart phone. It would require mounting a router in my coffin case, but it’s manageable.
The guys mentioning Spotify, and even saying they’ve used it at gigs – the Spotify T&Cs state that it’s for personal non-commercial use only.
When you buy a CD it’s for personal non-commercial use as well. No difference. Usually (for example in Sweden) the venue is supposed to pay for rights to play music to the public.
“When you buy a CD it’s for personal non-commercial use as well”
The difference is that CDs, vinyl etc. state that public performance (etc) is not permitted without authorisation. Spotify simply states that it’s not permitted.
Streaming won’t kill mp3s. Yes, there are advantages to having the world’s collection of accessible music at your fingertips, and for mainstream/wedding/top40 DJs it could simplify things, but it still adds a ton of variables. If you are able to download the songs to your computer at home then that’s great, but what if the venue you show up to doesn’t have WiFi? Or the WiFi they have is unreliable? Now you’re either pulling this down on your phone, cutting into data limits (if you have reception) OR you’re in the same situation you’re in now.
Streaming is great for music discovery, it really is. I use Google Play to create radio stations based off of songs I’m currently listening to. but I spend a lot of money on music, almost all digital, through Bandcamp to keep up with things. The real thing we need to keep in mind is how long these streaming services is going to last. They aren’t exactly successful business models, and the major labels are doing everything they can to keep them from succeeding. The end result of that could end up costing more money than just buying things.
What if mobile DJs could buy an out of the box media server that synched at the users convenience to their service. Just some reliable workhorse shuttle thing with a rugged design and some solid wifi. A souped up external HD really.
Hm… that’s an idea. Like, a powered external “hard drive” that is connected to Spotify (or whatever) and can handle all of the tasks related to pulling songs down, which your DJ software has some sort of interface into. I mean, there are still a lot of variables to consider and I doubt the service would ever exist. Wouldn’t you still be better off with an external hard drive?
Yeah – a service that handles all the syncing based on what you tell it. IE; go to the web portal / companion app, log in and tick off genres / Time periods / etc. Funk. Wedding. House Music [only > 2008].
you’re at work and get an email “Can you DJ XYZ tonight?” You log into the portal, create a crate/playlist, and start ticking stuff off if you need. get home and it’s all set for you to grab and go.
Head to the wedding. You set up, connect the drive via wifi or whatever. Maybe there’s an outdoor area with different sound. No problem. Connect the same drive via wifi and run tunes off that.
See, things like this would be great, but would never work in the larger market. I think this would be something great to use Rekordbuddy 2 as a front-end for, right? Go through, create your playlist, export into a Traktor collection and go. Something like that. There are just so many variables to make it worth smoothly.
The idea is awesome, though.
Yeah I agree…just brainstorming :P
Of course. But there has to be a viable solution wrapped up in all of this.
well i love my records and cds… I like to hope that the current vinyl hype never ends (; I just don’t like the idea of streaming shit from a cloud to a audience. Your giving away the guarantee that you know what you play, I mean, if I EVER hear a spotify ad in a club, I will accuse the dj of witchery and burn that fucker in the booth.
There is a reason why you have WiFi, Bluetooth and everything else turned off at gigs.
Any dropout in a set is just not professional!
Using a streaming service, especially with all that electrical equipment around you would just be too much stress.
I couldn’t trust it.
no, ill continue to pay less than £2 a track on websites like Traxsource and be safe in the knowledge my media has less risk of failing