Are DJs Musicians?

[JaseOfBase]

I don't suppose you threw anything in the bucket did you? I've been up against it lately.

Always change because it can be musical and become part of what the musician is creating, haha.

 

[Mosfed]

I'm gonna check out cause the collective TB has spoken.

But all I'd say is if you guys are equating DJ to a wedding DJ then you're gonna have a bad time.

Go listen to Andy C, Mixmaster Mike, DJ Shadow etc. and tell me those mofos aren't skilled af.

people are dumb and completely confined to their own definitions.

go listen to Paul Kalkbrenner and tell me he isn’t a musician.

 

[Raoul_Duke]

Some of them are.

Is every person that plays bass a musician? Is a producer a musician? Is a rapper a musician? Is a tattoo artist the same as a painter?

What about that elephant that paints? Is he/she an artist?

 

[Lagado]

Always change because it can be musical and become part of what the musician is creating, haha.

I can tell how much it is by the individual tones of those coins. It's music to my ears.

 

[bassliner50]

DJ's continue to compete with musicians but it is a very very different skill set. Frankly I wish this competion (and effects of covid 19) would go away. Frankly neither is likely to happen.

 

[bcbassman]

A person who can organize music into mixes and performances is not a musician. He may have a unique set of skills that are not common but that does not make that person a musician. He may be a great engineer or producer and performer but I would not call that musicianship. Its just my opinion but don't confuse the definition of a musician as someone who has mastered a musical intrument(s).

 

[Mosfed]

I love the idea of a bunch of hack bedroom players who haven’t managed better than a bad cover of mustang sally in their “careers” yet own as much gear as the finest studios in the world deciding that electronic music isn’t actually music.

Thanks boys. Absolutely made my day.

 

[drumvsbass]

Mix Master Mike and Kid Koala. Though I would classify them as turntablists, not Dj's. I've seen some interesting things done with a sampler too but that list would be short.
People who call themselves DJ's are the same types of people who call themselves 'Producers'. It's possible that they are 'musical', but unlikely that they are 'musicians', highly probable that they are looking for fame and fortune, almost certainly a douchebag. (this opinion was manifested working in a music store selling DJ equipment)
Someone who presses play on an Ipod, waves their hand in the air, and takes credit for the music coming out of the speakers, those people should be killed without mercy by a horde of raging baboons.
At best a DJ is a musical curator for a social event.

 

[drumvsbass]

I love the idea of a bunch of hack bedroom players who haven’t managed better than a bad cover of mustang sally in their “careers” yet own as much gear as the finest studios in the world deciding that electronic music isn’t actually music.

Thanks boys. Absolutely made my day.

There is a chasm between what someone like Dj Khaled does, and what Aphex Twin does. One is advertising the other is art. Pretty simple to define.
Lumping artists like Amon Tobin into the DJ department is foolish.
But calling pressing play on an Ipod a skill is also just as foolish.

 

[DukeCC]

If the DJ considers him/herself a musician, then they are.

If a person sitting on a box and banging on the box can be a musician, then a DJ can be a musician.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

I don't think so.

But there will of course be many "enlightened" members on here that will say if you're in a cover band you're not a musician either. To which I'd also say "no."

 

[HG1180]

Maybe back when Reel to Reel Tape decks and 8 tracks were a thing, but now? Hell no, the vast majority of DJs just take other peoples music and change it just slightly enough to not get a copyright strike, at least with analog audio formats you had to have atleast a simple understanding of timing in order to pinpoint when and where to take a sample, and how to use audio equipment (and make it sound good too!). But now we have computers for all of that.

 

[bass4u]

If a DJ can pickup a MUSICAL INSTRUMENT and play it, I would consider them a Musician.....
If a DJ can only assemble SOUNDS of musical instruments into a musical piece, I would consider them a producer.

 

[cnltb]

Maybe back when Reel to Reel Tape decks and 8 tracks were a thing, but now? Hell no, the vast majority of DJs just take other peoples music and change it just slightly enough to not get a copyright strike(...).

What about the others?

 

[ThudThudThud]

Yes. In the same way that waiters are chefs.

 

[Polish Thunder]

people are dumb and completely confined to their own definitions.

go listen to Paul Kalkbrenner and tell me he isn’t a musician.

I had no idea who Paul is so I googled him. This video came up and I thought I was re-watching the SNL video from post #225.

 

[swink]

can bus drivers build buses?

 

[devnulljp]

Betteridge's law of headlines is an adage that states: "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no".

 

[Mosfed]

I had no idea who Paul is so I googled him. This video came up and I thought I was re-watching the SNL video from post #225.

One the masters of Berlin.

 

[40Hz]

Do not confuse musician and instrumentalist. Composers, arrangers, producers and conductors are musicians but not instrumentalists. So why not the DJs?

They are also instrumentalists. The better ones are even multi instrumentalists more often than not. Especially composers. They all know how to create music from scratch.

A DJ basically does a cut & paste. Maybe with a little enhancement. But that’s no different than a guy manipulating an image in Photoshop with a bunch of filters he purchased. It may well be craft. But it lacks art. And being a musician (to me) involves both.