Streaming and the demise of DJ music ownership

DJs don't have to buy music. For a monthly fee, they can be streaming millions of tracks from a huge library. But are you ready to stop owning music?

streaming wifi vinyl

streaming wifi vinyl

I’m sat here putting the finishing touches to my algoriddim djay review, a product that now enjoys a fully symbiotic relationship with music streaming service Spotify. With the right connection, it’s perfectly feasible to play streaming music instantly as if it were stored on your iPad. And with Traktor being plumbed into Mixcloud, and Mixvibes just announcing that Soundcloud is its online music buddy, it would appear that streaming music is this years thing.

Obviously this is nothing new. The idea has been around for years, but was generally looked down upon because of the flakey nature of wifi, a feature that every DJ manufacturer insisted be turned off. It might be alright at home, but imagine trying to maintain a connection strong enough to play out in a club with, especially when it’s potentially shared with a floor full of punters uploading embarrassing shots via SnapChat. Exactly. Things are getting easier though, and a decent connection is easy enough in a properly setup venue with private wifi access.

But for me it leads to a bigger issue, one that hits at the very core of being a DJ, and that’s music ownership. Here’s how the role of the DJ has changed over the years — it used to be our job to find the newest tracks and purvey them to a floor full of music hungry punters. But in this connected world, everyone has the same music, and can get it instantly from just about everywhere in the world — even while on the dance floor. Now, when we had to buy music, there was still a chance that we DJs who laid out large wads of virtual money would still be a step ahead of the masses, but when everything is increasingly streamed via every manner of social media, the DJ’s job is made ever harder.

Why buy when you can rent?

This is where we are with music. DJs no longer have to buy tracks. For a tenner a month, anyone can get Spotify and have 20 million tracks at their disposal. And with the increase in track discovery features like Spotify’s Echonest, you don’t really have to even listen to it before you play it, and better beat gridding and key detection means that tracks can more or less mix themselves. Trust me — with a little prep, djay will play unattended and do a decent job of mixing for hours.

So we are at a point where we don’t have to own music, know music, or even play music. This is of course a gross clickbaitish over-simplification of what being a digital DJ is all about. But it’s a scary dystopian vision for DJs to contend with, especially when such a thing was just a crazy prediction some years ago. Back in the days of skratchworx, I foresaw a time when music would be managed by some sort of central service that clubs and DJs could subscribe to, if only to placate the growing number of music police agencies popping up. I imagined limits on tracks, and it being hardwired. But it seems that you can have it all over your phone now. Bob Dylan was right — the times they are a changing. The question is how are you going to deal with it?

Do you use streaming services? For personal use or for playing out? Can you see a time when you stop buying music completely and just subscribe? Or do you feel that like most things, the new ways can happily co-exist alongside the existing ways?

Mark Settle
Mark Settle

The old Editor of DJWORX - you can now find Mark at WORXLAB

Articles: 1228

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59 Comments

  1. With all the streaming services offered, it’s probable as you say that everyone will listen to the same music (even more so than now, if that’s possible), so DJs could still find a way to stay relevant by playing less well known songs. Ultimately though, the DJs days are numbered, and I don’t think it will be long before the idea of a DJ becomes obsolete. Looking even further into the future it won’t be too long before the very idea of recorded music once again becomes strange to contemplate to us hoomins (although by then Holland will probably have flooded).

    • At one level, the role of the DJ will change. As they’ve become producers to set themselves apart, I think that this principle of messing around with other people’s music will advance. Track stems have yet to take off, but I feel that it’s just a matter of time before this happens. Being able to totally demolish and rebuild a popular track on the fly really will set the DJ’s apart from the dance floor’s iTunes library and keep DJs relevant for many decades to come.

      • I’ve had a similar thought for a while now. We could see a future where producers of popular music don’t only sell the song as a whole, they sell the parts of the song as well (kicks, riffs, breakdowns etc). That will probably lead to even more acapella-over-crap-beat type stuff, but also has the potential to radically change the way DJs play music.

        • NI already sell remix packs for Traktor – the problem is, they’re all obscure tracks by nobodies. Perhaps if well known tracks were offered in the format, there may be some mileage in it.

          OTOH punters generally want to hear music they know, and also hear it un-messed-about-with.

        • it’s been happening for a while. there are some decent remix sets for traktor out there and a few production stem packs. check places like beatport in dj tools for the production stems. you can also find production stems in remix contests as well, you just have to keep an eye out for them. traktor also allows you to capture loops and load them into the remix deck for mash ups too.

  3. I’d never be confident enough in WiFi to not have a significant number of locally stored files to be able to play the night even if the service was completely down. So for people that already have an existing library it would be a good add on. But I can imagine some people’s gigs grinding to a halt because the network dropped out.
    If I had access to 20 million tracks, I would still just have a core list of known tracks, with the streaming just filling in any must have requests at weddings and such.
    Even with the amount of music I get now through record pools I feel like I have trouble finding the time to listen to it all. If I haven’t already listened to it, I’m not going to throw it into a set.
    At one point when I first went digital I was keeping almost everything from pools because I figured why not, it’s just hard drive space.
    In the end I deleted thousands of files because they were just making my job harder by having to filter through more tracks to find the right one for the time.

  4. I fully agree with Mark’s comments below, about DJ remixing and mashups being the next frontier. In a way its funny, turntabalists who cry out about controllerists and sync killing real DJing, will get their wish – a return to exclusivity for high end DJ performers – but only if you can remix or do mashups.

    Additionally, there is no doubt that software will mix songs one into the other measure energy level of tracks, measure crowd response through sound, movement and even heart rate. The thing is, a really good DJ can make adjustments to a specific crowd situation that A.I. just can’t. It’s what makes the good DJ’s who mix by crowd feel, better than those who only work the sync and a top 40 playlist. You’ve got to feel the crowd, analyse its composition, make decisions on the fly about where, when and how to mix into the next track.

    Its about people saying “I was entertained.”

  5. Nope, no way would I trust an internet connection to stay up while actually playing out. I do use streaming services to find songs, but everything gets stored on local media.

  6. Taste. No mater where it comes from or how you play it…your taste for music shows your personality, your soul…your mind and if you aren’t a clone …or a clown :) this is unique.

  7. I haven’t used these streaming services yet but it really is the inevitable future. At any rate, with the software that will exist in the next 5 years, the DJ will literally have nothing to do, so we might as well spend our entire set going through 20 million songs to choose from lol

    I don’t see DJ’s picking individual tracks and mixing them for much longer either. I think it will just become a matter of setting the mood and energy and the software doing the rest.

    It’s a scary future for DJs though, almost all the technical skills have been removed at this point. It looks pretty bleak to me.

  8. Only when the online technology acknowledges, interactively connects, and engages the individuals in the crowd via their phone, will any of this make an impact. Give the crowd info about request-when they’re coming into the mix-and you’ll have something. And boy is boy is @Google dropping the ball on this one, haha..they seem clueless. Just think about g+ and youtube being connected bi-directionally on the dance floor. And hangouts?.. omg… that’s some future club stuff.
    Want to peer into the dj crystal ball, do a little research into how popular recording yourself playing video games, and watching videos of others playing games is. A “classic club nigh” video on a projector could prove very cost efficient for a club, and with live remix “on-top” still have a live dj feel.

    • I think it’s bad enough all the people in a club just standing around staring at their phones, might as well have stayed home.
      But if it’s actually serving a purpose, it’d be alright.

      • Their are individuals who deserve a special place in Hell (or maybe Norfolk, it’s pretty boring there), and anti social bastards who are constantly on their phone even when they’re out in town or clubbing form part of that group. I really hope phone requests don’t kick off just for that reason.

  9. This new, streaming, future will most definitely be the demise of pop DJs. They streamlined their ‘performance art’ so much during the past few years, that now it backfires to them. Their choice, their problem.

    The rest of us will continue to do what we like to do, the same way we did it in the past. Either be it vinyl, cds or laptops, I don’t think anybody from the underground/small fanbase/local club should feel nervous at all. The reason is simple: nobody from our audience cares about how we play music, they like us for our selection of songs. So, there is no need for us to change the way we play these songs.

    • I, personally, have gotten a lot of criticism for dj performances over the years, and each of them was directed at the gear I used. Nobody ever criticized the music I played. Also, many people who know what I do frequently recount their clubbing experiences to me, and they always tell me about the gear they saw, never describing the music. Alas, on some level, how we play it, DOES matter.

      • Where did this happened? I must move over there asap, lol!

        I have never encountered any such dude/dudette asking me questions about my gear. I actually wish they did, but nah…The only comment I have ever received was about the immense amount of colored buttons around me.

        BTW, I play mixtape-style golden era hiphop, i.e. huge amounts of scratching/juggling involved. Still, they don’t give a shit about what equipment I use, as long as they see turntables on the booth.

  10. too many variables for me. with software companies recommending that we kill wifi as a first step to reduce chances of audio clipping and having to rely other peoples’ routers, as most people are willing to blame your wireless card or their ISP for flaky connections, without realizing that a router has a lifespan… venues such as warehouses and outdoor events not having wifi… nope, not for me.
    over the last 20 years i’ve come to the belief that the sum of a dj’s talent is not their crate, but that crate it is their identity. the music that you choose to collect and play is an expression of you as a dj.

  11. I’m shocked, really, that a DJ site would “overlook” one crucial fact — streaming services do not — cannot — offer DJs the exclusive clean edits, intro edits, remixes and more that a licensed DJ pool can. Have you heard a radio edit lately? Or tried to mix one? Very disappointed to see this kind of irresponsibility on what I’ve always considered to be a fair and balanced site.

    • Well, who would have thunk…
      Same with iTunes, Beatport, Juno Download…
      Then you go directly to a label’s site, say m-nus, who have and online sales as well, ask them if the tracks bought from them can be used for DJing and guess what? No answer. So you ask them on Soundcloud, no answer.
      This is no longer a grey area, it’s a black muck swamp.
      With that sort of attitude and lack of any reliable information it makes you think that if you are going to be in breach of some small print, in for a penny, in for a pound…. You know where I’m heading here, don’t you?

  13. I have to disagree with the notion that you do not have to KNOW music. One of the reasons I hear so many complaints about “DJs” is that they do not know how to PROGRAM music. Much of that is from their lack of music knowledge or inability to know how to build energy or beat-match in the right key. It also stems from not playing the music guests want to hear which leads us right back to having to KNOW music.

  14. Here are my thoughts on DJs streaming music.
    For those DJs who think they will be replaced by a jukebox you probably will.
    I have survived as a DJ for 3 decade’s a DJ has to be innovative in their creative process.
    A DJ is the Entertainer the MC the Life of the party, But it doesn’t stop there…Learn to present products.
    DJs can now be on TV selling stuff,Shows ,Entertaining,tutoring,teaching,
    DJ’s wil always be needed for Carnivals ,Parks Opening Events…ect ect..
    If you limit yourself to one genre of music then you are a dying breed.
    Learn all the Dj tricks follow Dj’s who are working on twitter, Facebook or youtube.
    hell follow me I don’t mind sharing information Like I said I have been a Dj for 3 decades.
    Check out my Facebook channel and stop hating…
    ~Masta Hanksta~

  15. I’m cool with this in addition to owning music – latency/network problems etc… quite the buzz and dancefloor killers when the connection drops yes?

  16. audio streaming is not quite there yet to be used in clubs, but soon or later it will reach the level what is needed. do you remember the time when the CDJs came out? what the CDJ500 was able to do and what can you do with the CDJ2000s, or controllers. as soon as we will have industry standard tools for streaming, it will take over. of cours it’s not for everybody. the best thing what I LOVE about DJing is the diversity. You can play in many many different ways, but the only thing what matters is your set, not the technology you use ;)

    I love the mobility and the possibility of using streamed tracks, and I’m looking forward to see where will we end up with all these.

  17. And this comes in the same week DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist announce they’re diving into Afrika Bambataa’s personal 40K strong vinyl collection for a tour (US only dates right now).

    I know which I’d find more interesting/stimulating/enjoyable (clue: it’s not streaming)

  18. Personally I became a DJ because of my love for music, and there will not be a day where I wouldn’t want to own the music I play. I still buy and play vinyl. I still go go digging, I’m always on the hunt for new music.

    As DJ’s did we not all start because of our love for music?

    Convenience seems to be the main thing that is pushing everything towards downloads/streaming. I still prefer the aspect of owning a physical collection, something tangible, I don’t think that will change.

    Would you really want to be trying to select tracks from a catalogue of 20 million for a set? Don’t you want to hunt and discover stuff that other people may skip past?

    As time goes forward and technology progresses (and I’m not against progression) it seems that DJs are becoming lazy, you see it on forums all the time; “I like Deep House, what should I buy?” Which shows that they did not get into it for the love of the music, at least that’s how I see it.

    Curate a collection of music you love. Whether it be a physical or digital collection, as DJs/music lovers it shouldn’t be hard, nor should it seem like a chore, but an impulse, a desire to discover music.

  19. I don’t fully trust the idea of moving our music to the cloud. We have to hope venues will have a fast and solid internet connection for downloading, as well as the selection we want. Maybe streaming could work out for more mainstream DJs, but I still can’t find half of what I play on Spotify. Plus we have to remember licensing issues, thus SoundCloud isn’t feasible unless it’s an original creation…or a bootleg remix/mashup that hasn’t been flagged/deleted.

    The big change I am starting to see are more DJs liking how Pioneer does their setups. Where a DJ can come in with flash drives or external hard drives and thus go to town. Not to mention how it removes the laptop “barrier” between the DJ and crowd. While I don’t forsee vinyl making a big comeback in DJing, I can’t fathom we’re all going to go cloud unless the selection and speed is there.

    • Let’s try to remember that lossless also takes a lot of bandwidth to move. I also recommend that people listen to their songs all the way through before playing them live, as there can be corrupt bits and “inappropriate” parts. You put a whole bunch of trust in wireless service when you don’t show up with music to play.

  20. I use Spotify Premium to make wedding dinner playists or playlist that I intend on walking way or not steering away from the plan. The key word was “Make”. I don’t just use someone else’s playlist. I’ll take time to pick and choose, then make it available offline to run off the iPad when WiFi isn’t available. Then for dance music, cake cutting music, etc. I’ll purchase the songs I need to play. This way I have them for future events and I can manipulate them through Traktor or Virtual DJ better on the controller I use.

    Streaming has made not taking requests harder. They all ask if you can play the “hottest new not-so-clean-content dance song” (I specialize in Christian music) and when I say, “I don’t have that.”, they say,” Well can’t you look it up on Youtube or play it from your phone?” SMH They don’t give up either. “NO! I don’t have it!” lol

    I think streaming can be very helpful if used properly and not just being a lazy DJ that doesn’t want to invest in his own collection. Just sayin’.

  21. I personally loathe the day that everyone in the club realizes that I have access to every song in existence and my typical excuse of “sorry, I don’t have that” falls flat.

  22. I use the streaming thing as we’ll as Dj3W said I special in CHH (Christian hip hop) most of the time spotify doesn’t update that genre fast enough. So I buy those albums. But I use the streaming a lot a whole lot because I also spin regular hip hop, dub step, house, pop or what ever genre it is. I like to go between genres and styles but I buy almost three or more albums a month because what if I can’t stream or my connect is wack we’ll I have all the cuts on my iPad already. But what I do like doing is mixing on the fly. I’m not a lazy dj at all I practice, listen and choose my music wisely. But what separates me from all the people that use only streaming is that with CHH you gotta buy instrumentals and acapellas they aren’t always on spotify so I do i take my time todo just that. Like DJ3W said their are some songs that aren’t so clean and I would rather stream the stuff I don’t want locked on my iPad like if some asks me for the new Jason Darealo I can mix it and play it but won’t have to keep the song. Or like when I spun at my own bday party my grandma requested the electric slide we’ll shoot Thankx to streaming I had it within seconds while they were entertained doing the Cupid shuffle. But the moment when i wanna play some Andy Mineo, Lecrae, Flame, or Bizzle or any other CHH artist I use the music I have bought that’s all ready on my iPad. So I use it effectively because there is a ton of stuff that I have that’s not on spotify but when I’m mixing CHH I use my personal collection but when I’m mixing dubstep, snoop dogg, and Nicki Minaj yeah I’m going to stream that cause it’s not something I would normally listen to so I can collect my dollar for requests and keep it pushin with my set but I feel like it makes me a better dj being able to make something dope with a song I’ve never heard or practiced with before.

  23. I should hope DJs not rent songs. How else are we going to get DJ remixes? How can DJs set and save cue points? How are DJs going to play songs in areas where there is no WiFi? WiFi libraries seem like a step backward.

    Passable DJs can play songs they don’t really know, but great DJs make an event of the music. Even if you have to be part of a recording download club (similar monthly fee), get the music you want to play.

    • Djay with spotify allows you to set and save cue points to streamed tracks with the metadata being stored locally. I do agree with you about re-edits though….

  26. to DJ3W I tell people that when I am actually at the venue my laptop is stand alone to prevent any viruses from contaminating my system and ruining the evening. I do however, have approx 25000 tracks previously purchased that usually covers most requests.

  27. When it gets really interesting is when Google finishes the implementation of webmidi for chromeos and webaudio goes from being a fun toy to having the ability to interact with dj midi hardware controllers. You go to the venue and can log onto a chromebook or chromebox and switch dj’s with a new login. Too bad google music gives artists such a raw deal and lacks an open api, otherwise they might not bomb out but a chromeos app could connect to multiple cloud music apis to enable access to a wide variety of services,

  28. I like going digital. I’m building a collection of lossless (only) music, but streaming tracks to DJ seems a bit much. The only benefit I can think of is being able to DJ tracks you didn’t bring on a hard drive.

    What I’d love to see is a music player with serious organizing and tagging features, combined with camelot key/mixed in key, and a radio music service + music store.

    So, something like MediaMonkey + Mixed In Key + Spotify + Beatport

  29. First of all I had to figure out what the hell lossless (only) music is… Still does not make sense. All DJ have to understand that you are not the minority any more. Even in early 2000 we were still valued. In late 2000 with all these midi controllers blew up DJ’ing is when the Wifi Music game started. Theses companies are praying on the beginner DJ who wants to start out. They thing giving you every single song created to man will give you edge. It wont. As I read in other posts, if you have not idea how to build a set that has highs lows, vocal tracks, dance tracks, rock music, hip- hop, etcc. Then you can have a 3,000 controller/turntables and all the music in the world and be stuck playing the same top 40. Everyone wants the WIFI Music Streaming to do everything. ….. That is garbage to me. Dj is #*# work. and Its the best Job on the planet. This comes down to the YOU TUBE generation wanting everything. Well I am hear to tell you… If you really love the music. You will make a stronger effort to focus on the music you already have. Making Edits, Remixes, blending,. Everytime people ask me for music and they say “Can you just play if off of YOutube” I cringe. Because if the half way through the song it stops playing….. I will look like BOFO the clown.
    Just be smart about your streaming because you don’t want to rock the crowd and your song stops because of connection purposes. Streaming takes the fun out of DJing!!!!

  30. Disaster. I’m already annoyed with iTunes Match when in a bad service area. Can’t imagine a DJ set issue due to service drop outs. Technology gets ahead of practicality too often in music gear.

  31. I will use streaming exclusively when the infrastructure is there to ensure no latency/drop outs/stuff ups when playing live…….see you never then.

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