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What do you think about DJ's?

baba

baba

Jan 22, 2002
7,443
133
3rd stone from the sun
#1
I've heard some pretty harsh words from musicians regarding DJ's. Some feel that they take gigs from musicians, drive down gig pay, cause cancer, etc. Some seem to really resent them.

Is this just misguided frustration/snobbery or a legitimate gripe against against a "service" that takes gigs away from musicians? Do you welcome them in your neck of the woods or see them as the enemy?
 
#5
The DJ is just a guy tryin to make a buck. Same as a band. The DJ is blameless in the Live VS DJ music wars. Club owners hire them to bring people to clubs, same as bands. They work cheaper because they are usually a one man operation. I've seen clubs with DJs with packed dance floors and selling cocktails like crazy. That's what clubs like to do. Pack the place and sell lots of drinks.


I'm glad there are plenty of places to play for my band, but I don't begrudge clubs that are making money off of a DJ.
 
#8
I just think that it is so hard to find a good DJ. Most are posers with little or no music talent that dare to call themselves DJs. Not to mention club DJs. . . bring a laptop or an iPop, pretend all night that you are doing something, and voila, you have DJ Poser making $500 a night.

But of course, there are brilliant guys out there, it's just the exception to the rule.
It's is so hard to find innovative guys to work within a band context, because they need to be musicians first, or have a high degree of musicality, to then become DJs.
 
#9
Depends on the individual and the situation.

Most fit into this definition, IMO:

Mind Eroded said:
in the words of Henry Rollins, i think DJs are "record player-players"
Click to expand...

However, some fit into THIS definition:

MakiSupaStar said:
I play with a DJ. He's an integral part of our rhythm section.
Click to expand...

If you are actually doing something musical, either as part of an ensemble, or by mixing tunes in an artful way, or at the minimum, paying attention to the crowd and feeding their energy, as opposed to being the guy with the big stereo and good record collection, then you're not going to draw my ire.

However, there are times that I've gotten very close to causing physical harm to some jack@$$ that fits the "guy with stereo & record collection" finding out I'm a musician and talking to me about his last or next GIG...these guys don't have gigs, they steal them.
 
#15
Gard said:
If you are actually doing something musical, either as part of an ensemble, or by mixing tunes in an artful way...
Click to expand...
dj disk is a good example.

...some jack@$$ that fits the "guy with stereo & record collection"...
Click to expand...
I would be more tolerant of the guy with a record collection (over a couple of iPods/laptop/playlists)...at least he's shlepping something. ;)
 
#16
Caution: Long post that will make a lot of people mad....

There are some DJ's (performance, club, wedding etc) that are very good, but most are just passable (if not outright bad). But there are just as many bands that are equally "just passable" and many that actually stink .... and stink bad.

The professional music scene (at least here in my regional area) is inundated with bad bands. Guys playing out of tune, making mistakes, getting wasted, gratuitiously loud, poor images, no groupies, no mailing lists, no drawing power .... come to any of the local Jersey Shore joints on a weekend and I guarantee you that more bands will fit this description than will fit the professional description.

If I'm hiring entertainment for the sole purpose of attracting people to my establishment and getting them to stay, even a poor DJ will be better than a crappy band. And a good DJ will blow a lousy band right out of the water.

Too many of us b*tch about the DJ world when we should all be looking in the mirror and asking ourselves why live entertainment is not as active as it used to be. Personally, I find a lot of fault with the new, inexperienced and frankly unprofessional bands that will work for no pay .... these guys are taking money from me. And their low-pay or no-pay status makes our band rates look extremely high.

So the venue, now used to paying little or no money, has to decide between a $1000 band or a $250 DJ .... what do you think he's going to do? Are the venues penny-pinching cheap b*stards? Yes. But they have a history: first, paying for live bands that suck, then not paying for live bands that also suck, so now when the DJ walks in for cheap money and all night music the deal is done.

My band is lucky .... we have a following, we have very loyal venues, we make a decent taste at each gig. And we act like professionals (incidently, just fired our most recent drummer for NOT being professional and making us look and sound bad). There are a few places we share the time with a DJ, and we're actually very close to packaging ourselves as a band and DJ entertainment combination.

DJ's are here to stay, and unfortunately our live music industry opened the door for them to come into our playground. We can either learn to somehow co-exist with them or else get out of the live music business. But just crying about DJ's isn't going to cut it anymore .....

Unpopular opinion over ..... :cool:
 
#17
baba said:
Just went to a party with a "DJ". Dude came in with a home stereo amp, laptop, 2 beatup JBL 12's, and some speaker wire. Started a playlist on his laptop and that was pretty much it. He got paid for this.
Click to expand...

This got me thinking...there are probably a lot of DJ's out there that actually interact with their media, be it vinyl or otherwise, who are equally annoyed by the ipod/laptop playlist "DJ". I bet they are getting severely undercut by these bottom feeders.

In the capitalist world of innovation and paradigm shifts through technology, I'm sure some say, "Oh well, adapt to survive," but I don't think it's that simple when you're dealing with something almost intangible like art/music. Unfortunately, as Ed pointed out, it often comes down to economics and reliability to a bar owner, but it is a sad road I see us going down.:atoz:
 
#19
A good DJ, like a good band, should be appreciated. They're holding it down on all fronts, and that's not an easy job.

But on the flipside, a bad DJ, like a bad band, can be ragged on all day for how much of an insult they may or may not be to the rest of the music world. Doesn't change the fact that they aren't going anywhere, just like the bad bands.
 
#20
If you have a problem with DJs getting "your" gigs, go get some turntables and learn to do it yourself.

It's not that easy... all the club DJs around here are pretty legit. You have to beatmatch EVERYTHING, make playlists that get different groups of people on and off of the dance floor so there is always a fresh group of people buying and consuming drinks.

And frankly, bands aren't playing/can't play a lot of what's popular right now. Rock only appeals to so many people. There's such a huge market in dance and hip hop music. You get a DJ with a good vinyl or electronic collection and he can span a huge gap of music. A good DJ can remix in between songs and make pretty legitimate original creations.

Don't just sit around and bitch about the new trend. If you want that money, recognize the trend, learn the trade, and go make some of the money for yourself. I'm getting some turntables sometime in the next year and picking up the game. The more talents you have as a musician, the more marketable you are, and the more ways you can bring in money.
 

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