Without discs, are we still disk jockeys?

I cannot help but think that Pioneer's new XDJ name is a possible play on words. Some feel that without disks or discs, we aren't disk jockeys at all. In this context XDJ could mean ex DJ couldn't it? Are you a DJ if you don't use a circular medium? Of course you are, and read on to find out why. DJ is more than an acronym.

what jockey disk jockey DJ

what jockey disk jockey DJ

Oxymoron |ˌɒksɪˈmɔːrɒn| noun: a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction.

Such is the case with the new Pioneer XDJ-1000. A disk jockey or DJ as we have come to be known takes the name from the manipulation of circular musical media — well that’s my prosaic technical description anyway. But does Pioneer’s new product nomenclature really mean what it says? Are we now in the strictest sense of the name ex-disk jockeys? Is Pioneer trolling us with their whimsical acronym?

This isn’t a new topic, but I don’t think we’ve covered this angle before. But given the proliferation and preponderance of disk-free digital solutions, is the term “DJ” as valid as it once was? In the whole scheme of things, it’s becoming increasingly rare to find actual music being physically spun anymore. DVS just plays a time code and not actual music. And with CDs being ousted in favour of an entirely digital solution, can we technically call ourselves DJs now?

So if we’re not DJs, what are we? Music curators? Oh wait… MC is a thing. Audio chef? Sound sculptor? Ooooh that sounds incredibly pretentious — a bit like any job title with ninja or jedi in it. What about USBJ? Because that has no other connotations does it?

Of course we’re DJs

People do take things wasy too literally, and often berate controller users for not being DJs because they don’t use disks, or specifically vinyl. But the name DJ transcends the media that we use. If you play tracks one after another to a crowd and they dance, then to me that makes you a DJ. I don’t care if you slam, fade, beatmatch, or sonically craft samples and loops into a coherent sound sculpture —  you’re a DJ in my book. Don’t be defined by the hardware or the medium.

So just because Pioneer may have put a nail in the Compact Disc coffin (even the disk/disc thing is messed up), you’re all still disk jockeys. And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You are more than the technology. You are a DJ.

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Mark Settle
Mark Settle

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

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  3. As DJing is becoming more software-based and getting closer to producing (Serato Flip, Remix Decks etc.) and DAWs start having live-elements (well Ableton at least for now) I think soon we just have “electronic music artists”or “mix artists”. Maybe the term Disc Jockey starts to get out dated.

      • I’m still trying to rationalise this in my head. I see everyone as a DJ because I come from a time when there were only “DJs” — no turntablists, controllerists, remix artists etc. But I get that people need to identify with a tribe and have a name attached to it.

        • Like the househeadz, that need 1 gazillion types on genres, instead of just one or three at tops.

          The funny part is that most of these people have no clue what they produce, so trance sound like house and vice versa

          • To be fair, I play a few different genres. From Hip hop, DnB, Ragga and breakbeat hardcore to Minimal, deep/dark Techno, Deep house, Tech house, Electro house and from time to time (for nostalgia) Terrorcore and Rotterdam.
            The more things change, the more they stay the same… even in the 90’s main stream media tried to group most electronic music together as dance club music and these days EDM. A lot of this ignorance trickles down to the head nodders on the floor.

    • Music are like a coin, its either good or bad, and people especially on later dates loves to put labels on stuff and people.

      Why not just MUSICLOVER!

      We all know that most of the guys dont ad up and have a hard time filling the clothes of a real dj, as they lack so much that many of us had to fight for, Money, Time to practice, getting the right stuff for the crowds, practice again, tons of hours in building the cases of recordings and so forth!

      Im a musiclover, before that a DJ, djs are outdated as much as everything else goes, traditions, religions, sexual orientation and overall behaviour!

      I vote for Musiclover!

  7. Music Provider, not DJ anymore

    Anyone in the world can call themselves a DJ no matter talent or no talent, skills or no skills, even if you have no clue about music you can be a DJ, look at Paris Hilton, she coul;dnt mix 2 records together by James Brown (omg omg omg out of sync omg omg omg!!!!!!)

    Only a small percentage of the population can call themselves a pilot, you actually need to be able to fly a plane to do that and have proper training skills to qualify.

    If pilots were like Djs then everybody in the world can be a pilot and then you hear: Hey whats up, ima pilot yes a true pilot but i only flew a plane on my nintendo, its called “DISNEY PLANES” but I AM A REAL PILOT!!!!!!! it doesnt matter if its only virtual, i am a pilot!!!!!! i hate you vinyl purists, you dont know anything :(, im so 2014, youre so 1923

    lol

    • Your analogy with a pilot is really off. Only people who are legally qualified and licensed with many years of training and insurance can call themselves a pilot. It is a legal requirement. Flying people who trust you with their lives in planes costing millions across the world is not the same as playing music to people.

      A happy crowd decides if someone is a DJ, not other DJs.

      • Thats what i mean, anyone can be a DJ but most of us cannot be pilots, rocking a crowd can be done with an automated playlist or pre-recorded mix.

        An average crowd is clueless about DJing, as long as they hear familiar and popular songs they happy, can be done without any DJ.

        Few are interested in skills, for those Djs are needed.

      • The same goes for a doctor, lawyer or carpenter.

        It takes years of learning and practice, before you call yourself a Professional

        As a DJ or Producer you dont even need to have a track released to call yourself a producer, and for a dj the only thing you need is a facebookgroud, a twitteraccount, a harddrive will 1000 000 tracks and a 50$ controller.

        And then you can “Spin” for free!

        The so called djeducations or schools, dont help one bit as most of the guys are really bad and have no clue what a dj really does!

        No its no redlining the mixer or fllod the crowd with effects, smoke or Co2

        It takes alot of effort and time to build a decent to really good case of music, and preferably you *BUY* that music also!

    • I would say “Spreader” of music, as we were in the 80s and 90s, when the pirates used airmail to spread their copies around the world, and when only a selective group got it to play ion the clubs!

      Just the same with the recordlabels.

      GOOD TIMES!

  11. While the tools may change or evolve the original art still exists. The title of “DJ” is as relevant now as it has ever been. Especially since the cost of entry has become so much lower. You have to fight harder to show why what you do is special.

  13. Just a question.

    If using the XDJ-1000 is no longer DJing since there’s no CD, but you’re still using a circular object to manipulate the music… then is using DVS not DJing since it’s the same thing?

    • Hey Jared,
      A bit of déjà vu here, it seems we were ahead of our time with one of our previous joust’s.

      Also DVS has organized sound on it, it is man made and recorded. Is it really any different from a pure tone, a sign wave or German noise music or drone music?

      Have you ever scratched timecode, it sounds like chirp scratching. It’s music then. If you move a jog wheel back and forth it produces no sound, no music.

      Stick=poke

  14. For all the moaners and whingers on here, how many actually WORK as a DJ, (claiming to be the greatest vinyl DJ since time began but doing it from your basement/attic/bedroom isn’t working)?

    And once you do step into a real club, how many take CD’s with them ? I have never used CD’s, only real vinyl and DVS/MP3 for me …so using the CDJ2000nexus with a USB stick is all that most of us do anyway. This makes sense, less parts to break and a cheaper price point for all the clubs that haven’t upgraded yet.

    There is also a name already coined for the CD less system is called controllerism and the users are controllerists …it’s been this way for around 4 years.

  15. I think the term DJ was created for vinyl discs. After that, the CDs were created and so they needed to be played by the vinyl DJs with something, right? Then we got the CDJs which “spinned” the CDs with the help of the jogs, right? We adopted this kind of DJing for a long time now and so the jogs define Djing today (even if vinyl djing is becoming more mainstream by the day). And now when we look at the jogs, it doesn’t really matter if there’s a CD inside the CDJ, it matters that you’re spinning the jog, it’s not like you have to touch the CD, like it’s a vinyl disc, you just touch the jog. So why does it matter if i have a hard disk with me, or memory sticks, if i don’t really need the CD? I get it, i`m not gonna carry my DJ troller with CDs and vinyls and i`m gonna look like a regular person entering a club. I am a regular person, but bodyguards won’t know i’m the one playing that night :)) Of course i’m gonna have my troller, i must carry a few vinyl discs, right? Anyway, i`m not a fan of digital controllers or digital consoles, but i think a CDJ without CDs, in this case a XDJ is not a bad thing, you can have your music on memory sticks too. And then there’s the price…

  16. If you get into it you can’t be a “Disk jockey” without “Disks”, a band plays music that doesn’t make them a DJ. That’s not to say “controllerism” or playing any form of media is any less or more than traditional DJing, just different. It’s not Djing, it’s live production, remixing, live mashups or something. How many people use controllers to play anything like a traditional DJ anyway?

    • Words actually have meanings. There’s nothing wrong with being a Live Remixer if that’s what you do. But your not a Disc Jockey literally.

      Vinyl is a spinning disc, CD’s are a spinning disc even a traditional hard drive can be classed as a spinning disc.

      But no jog wheels and SSD’s. No more spinning disc’s at all. You are still an Artist, or a Live Remixer, or a Selector and there is nothing wrong with that. But you are not a Disc Jockey.

  21. Let me try this another way – if someone asks, do you call yourself a DJ? It seems that a lot of people want to differentiate vinyl users from CD users from USB users and give them each a different name, but each still refers to themselves as DJs

  22. Wow, so many bitter comments! Once again confirms my stereotypes about DJs hatin on each other. If you dont diss whatever the other guy is doing, you’re not a real DJ.

  23. I totally disagree with the “Now anyone can be a dj”. What we have now that we didn’t have 15-20+ years ago is convenient and affordable gear for people that want to learn/try dj’n. I started back in the late 80’s, most 12″ vinyl singles started at $4,went up to $12-$15,If you wanted to practice you had to know someone with decks willing to let you use them or for a “good” usable new setup spend $700-$800, minimum wage was $3.75/hr so for a 16-20yr old not an easy goal. Today so much “good” usable gear can be had for 1/4 the cost of gear 20 years ago,most dj software has a free trial, music is cheap and before I order all the gear online I can post a question on a forum about gear “X” and in 15 minutes get 30 opinions from people all over the planet. It’s just awesome now!! .

    What we as a group should be saying is, “Now anyone can AFFORD to be a dj” , which is completely true. If you still think anyone can do what you do,as good as you do it, with as much knowledge and skills in programming a set (I’m coming from a club/rave dj background so stay with me on this) then get 10 friends that love music all of whom can afford reasonable dj gear, tell them you will make them each a personal beatmatched set with 15 tracks they’ve selected from your stash of music (or their own) and that you will use them live at your next show AND in the order they want them played. 1 out of 10 might pick 4 out of 15 tracks in an order that mixes well together but the vast majority will pick just 15 of their “jams” regardless of tempo,genre,harmony or venue, it will not flow, it will make no sense and your crowd will give you the politest yet most insulting complement a “pro” dj can get “That was interesting”.Everyone can afford the gear to be a dj but the gear in an of itself does not grant the title of “dj” .

    Are we still dj’s if we don’t play disc’s? Yes,yes we are! Sure the term dj has lost alot of its meaning but if say “I’m going Rollerblading” you instantly associate that word with the visual act of someone on Inline Skates. Inline skates were around for years before the brand “Rollerblade” came along but everyone associates that word with Inline skate gear regardless of brand or style of skate. Dj’n is the same way,first thing that comes to a persons mind is not you sitting in a small room, giving traffic reports behind a wall of 45’s and a stack of 8-tracks, they simply picture music playing after which they may ask for more details.The meaning of the term dj has changed into a generic term the listener associates with music and not so much how the music is being conveyed ,it’s not going to change anytime soon,get over it, our fragile ego’s will survive.

    The core of our craft no matter if you dj clubs,radio or weddings is a perfect sense of timing. A dj is part percussionist,part storyteller it’s that simple. We do our best to manipulate the listeners perception of time with distractions to that sense of time via rhythm and tempos,vocally,musiclly and alot of times both . The ways or means we choose do not matter as long as we control how and when the timing is interrupted. We have evolved WAY past the literal meaning of the word “Disc Jockey” as a group but i’m ok with that,I embrace the roots and still use that term to identify what I do, but my fragile little ego knows I’m making every listener forget everything for a few hours.

    Ok kids and thats why your mother left me! sleep well..

  24. so if we have to label people with regards to the equipment they use would controllerists be called Knob Jockeys????

    seriously though i think anyone who can manipulate a platter to mix music (regardless off the way the media got there) should be considered a Disk Jockey as the platter is in fact Disk shaped and you are essentially Jockeying it. those that can’t do that part should be called something else (although I’m not sure what)

    • By that logic someone using an iPod classic is a DJ because it has a circular control, or turning up the car radio is DJing because it’s got a volume knob. I’m not against digital or controllers at all, it’s no more or less than using vinyl. But it’s not “DJing” it’s something else.

      • Let me ask you this: if someone turns up with say a Pioneer WeGO running djay from an iPhone and does exactly the same set as a DJ using vinyl, with scratches, effects, mixes etc, the iPhone user isn’t a DJ but the vinyl DJ is even though the end result of a full dance floor would be the same?

        • That would be the point. Two people travel 100 meters, one on a horse the other on a bike, they go at the same speed, take the same time, resulting in exactly the same outcome. But ones a jockey ones a cyclist. Two different skill sets, two different ways to achieve the same outcome. Neither’s right or wrong, both work but they are different.

          • I see what you’re getting at, but I feel the analogy is off. Jockeys and cyclists are doing two entirely different things. In this instance, the emphasis is on the process. The crowd wants to see a horse race or a cycle race. In DJing, the crowd (with some notable exceptions) doesn’t care about whether the person playing the music is using CDs, controllers, or vinyl. They only care that there is music being played, and that person is a DJ.

            • I do see what your saying, but I don’t think DJing is defined by a crowd, if you “DJ” in a empty room on the radio or just to yourself. You’re still Djing.
              These are two entirely different things, entirely different processes and skills. That both get you from A to B. I think the moment a “vinyl DJ” could have a controller put in front of them and not know what to do with it and a “controllerist” could have a deck put in front of them and not know what to do with it you have two different things.

              A crowd doesn’t make a DJ, a DJ makes a crowd. That also goes for controllers, CDs, magicians anything.

              • Perhaps it’s because I’m old school, and come from a time before genres of dance music and gear, when the DJ wasn’t as important as the music. I just see a DJ – I don’t care what gear they use or music they play. I guess that’s my mindset of the music being more important than the DJ.

                I don’t care who is performing – if the music choice is off, no amount of gear or skill is going to matter. Likewise, a killer DJ can slam mix, but as long as the music choice is right, I’m happy. :)

                • I think that’s the real point it’s a completely trivial discussion. But one we all have subjective opinions on, because we all get a different feeling from using different gear. It’s purely subjective, if I was 5 years younger would I have ever even played a record? In truth, probably not.

                  But at the end of the day the gear doesn’t matter, it’s the enjoyment of doing it. And if other people like to listen, even better.

                • for some reason is nicer to see a DJ mixing on turntables than on a controller, i grew up with KISS, if the then drummer Peter Cris started using a Maschine on stage (if the technonology was there) rather than a drumset set then it would take the magic away from the group.

                  a DJs tool should be a turntable, if a DJ never used one then i think he’s not entitled to be a DJ.

                  Imagine if there was no new technology since the 80s, then DJs would still use Technics and a GLI mixer and records,
                  Maybe then we would still have good music in the clubs?

      • slightly poor analogy because i said manipulating a platter to mix music, you are comparing turning a volume knob up. 2 completely separate tasks that performing different functions. also again your not mixing music on an iPod classic, because its not a platter, not sure what you would describe as a platter but an iPod function button and a car stereo volume knob are not.

        i was never slating the people that can’t mix using a platter i just think its maybe time the term ‘DJ’ wasnt used for these people anymore. perhaps the term used in the comments below should be the way forward, calling them selectors.

  26. Nowadays blogs and the other media are opinion-makers. They see themselves as the 4th force. In the DJ-ing scene they work with brands together, like in the real world journalists work with politicians. There’s nothing bad about this, that’s the way humans do business. But when it comes to what is dj-ing and what not, I tend to make up my own mind (not rely on this or the that other blog) about what dj-ing is or what brand of gear I want to buy. And if I want to jump on the sheeple-bandwagon, then I would rather listen to A-Trak or Craze (guys that actually release music and can dj/battle) instead of Gizmo or Ean.

  33. BJ’s is more like it. Button Jockies.
    If no disc’s are involved then the term is not relavant. Stop kidding yourselves that your DJ’s… you press buttons not spin or changes disc’s/records.

    So BJ it is fools.
    Its not all bad… us lads love a good BJ ;-)

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