Tag Archives: DJ sites

The Life of a Typical DJ

Posted on by
Reply

“I found out networking was a big key to any success” – Laidback luke

“I spent a lot of time in my early years in the music industry dicking about with my website and stuff like that, because I felt it was important, whereas I would have been better served by just focusing on making music, and soon I could have afforded someone else to handle the website for me. It took me about 10 years to work that one out.”

These quotes clearly illustrates that there is “Something” missing. Something which could be very beneficial for the DJs who are currently in the industry and those who wish to become successful DJs in future. They clearly desire an online platform where they could create their own network of followers with their talents, rather than investing tones of money into producing and releasing an album.

Platforms such as miXXerS would definitely provide the DJs  the boost they are looking for and help them gain enough fans which will follows them and help them continue their carrier in future. DJs are always learning and mixing new vibes, trying to bring and mix music from different cultures together and also keep up with new music and trends. miXXerS is a platform which will not only help them gain a fan base  also help them get business and musical and moral supports from their peers. At the start majority of the DJ do gigs for free and loose a lot of money in that process as they are trying to create a fan base and they have to undertake these tasks in order to make connection to the community which will help them spark their carrier, so in order to avoid that dj’s can simply use networX7 in order to create fan base and do gigs and gain funds.

“As a full time DJ I had to suffer and sacrifice a lot of things… I had to quite my job in order to do the gigs because I wasn’t getting enough time. “DJ Gareth Emery

This clearly shows that there is definitely potential in this field and once you have create a large enough network of people or followers you are going to reach success in shorter time.

Taylor.K.2014. The Life Cycle of a Career DJ: From 1 to 25 years. Available from: https://blog.soton.ac.uk/networx7/wp-admin/post.php?post=233&action=edit&message=6 [Accessed on 22nd of april 2015]

Come on DJ Keep Playing That Song… What is it is like to be a DJ?

Posted on by
Reply

Before I joined to this group project, my idea of DJs were pretty vague. People standing before turntables with headsets, moving on rhythm, continuously nodding to the beat while closing their eyes and stopping the vinyl record occasionally with their fingers, rewinding and playing music to get people to dance… that’s all. Although something tells me it is not that easy, so I did some research on what is it like to be a DJ, how you can create the career path to be a DJ, how much money the DJ can earn and so on.

You can also check out this Documentary about the DJ and Producer Lifestyle

https://www.careersinmusic.com/dj_nightclub-dj/

Here are some points people not familiar with DJ culture may find them interesting.

  • There are two different kind of DJ careers: those who just play the music and those who create music and play them as a performance.
  • The DJ needs skill of networking and social skill to build a fan base.
  • The DJ cannot pursue money as his/her priory goal. Sometimes they must play unpaid. After becoming famous, they earn money from performing and from the royalty of their own tracks. “On average, a reasonably successful DJ can expect to make a few hundred dollars per show.”
  • Many DJs work few hours at weekend nights, from Thursday to Saturday.
  • DJs must work with promoters, bookers, night club managers. At first you become friends with them to let them book you.
  • To be a DJ, you will be offered to perform gigs for free, so people will know you, and you can build fan base. Then your DJ career may on a right track though it is pretty competitive.
  • There is no working union for DJs though as a tracks owner they belong to a music royalty organization.

My conclusion is, it is for your weekend jobs. The interesting thing is as part of their necessary tasks, building a fan base by using social media is recommended. I believe our site will help many DJs who doesn’t have enough time or skill to do that. Even if they have, it is always nice to have extra sites to collaborate with their works and ways to have deeper engagement with fans. In a DJ’s world, social media is powerful and it is going to be more powerful as the era of Web 3.0 arrives.

What other Music, DJ, Party sites are out there? (Part 3)

Posted on by
Reply
spotify-comes-to-facebook-pics--f6b33680cc

Source: Mashable

In this third post I continue my research on related or similar sites that exist. One site that is used to promote lesser known musicians is the site bandcamp. Not only can you discover new music but you can also pay the musicians too. The site noted that in 30 days $3.4 million was paid to artists on the site. However, we should look at how other social media sites dedicated to music have come and gone and learn from it. One these is mySpace, while it is still in use, it is not as popular as it was when it first emerged in 2005, helping to launch the career of some artists.

“Mismanagement, a flawed merger, and countless strategic blunders have accelerated Myspace’s fall from being one of the most popular websites on earth—one that promised to redefine music, politics, dating, and pop culture—to an afterthought. But Myspace’s fate may not be an anomaly. It turns out that fast-moving technology, fickle user behavior, and swirling public perception are an extremely volatile mix. Add in the sense of arrogance that comes when hundreds of millions of people around the world are living on your platform, and social networks appear to be a very peculiar business—one in which companies might serially rise, fall, and disappear.”

Felix Gillette, Bloomberg Business

In addition one social media site that more recently went bust in 2014 is Jelli an interactive radio broadcasting service that was launched in 2009 and ended in 2014, when it changed its business platform towards its cloud based sales products for radio stations. Listeners selected songs for a radio station and could vote on songs to determine the playlists of their online streaming stations and participating radio stations. Winning songs were played on the radio, while songs that “Sucked”, were pulled off the air immediately. In a ‘Jelli chat room’ listeners could socialize, request their favorite songs, and organize a community-controlled playlist. The User of the Week award along with an accompanying badge for their profile page could be earned by helping to shape the playlist, and voting. they can request a “sigtone“, or short, 5 second sound clip that is played before one of the most favored tracks is played on the air. Lessons can be learnt from the experience of Jelli in the development of miXXerS.

Party/Concert websites tend to promote their websites independent of music websites. Many also tend to promote not just music events but entertainment more broadly for example Eventim, or Timeout. It also becomes difficult to find lesser known parties in your area that you may want to attend. Furthermore there is not usually a rating system for parties and concerts, reviews usually come web 1.0 sites.

In addition it may be the case that even though you do not usually attend parties and concerts you may want someone to play music at your party but have no idea where to find one that fits your taste or know if they will be good since reviews are not available online. You therefore have to depend on word of mouth.

However, while all of these sites exist they do not integrate DJs and small independent musicians with users particular those who attend concerts and parties. Given live music is still important there is an opportunity to facilitate connections in a very unique way which gives market share to independent artists but not to DJs and enhance the experience of those attending concerts and going to parties. Many of these sites also do not enable deeper social connections with these artists or meaningful rewards and so this is an area than be further explored through miXXerS.

What other Music, DJ, Party sites are out there? (Part 2)

Posted on by
Reply

I did quite a bit more research on what other similar sites exists and so here is follow up review. New-comers to streaming services online include SoundCloud (Musicians) and MixCloud (DJs) which focus on playlists and are popular with users which include DJs. Many of these services have been invested in before they actually started making money. Soundcloud started out with brands like Squarespace, independent artists and others like Maker studios.

SoundCloud also enables non music related brands to help them generate income by sponsoring musicians who can then get more exposure.  Through their On Soundcloud – creator programme. Music is categorised by genre and you can get suggestions of popular music, upload a file and start a new recording. Selections prompt suggestions on who you should follow and you can also follow music that is trending. You can also create groups and become a member of groups of people who enjoy/listen to similar music as well as like new playlists, tracks.

MixCloud lets users login through Facebook. They also enable DJs to participate in DJ competitions online and DJs can promote their content to increase their visibility across Mixcloud and easily reach new audiences. This costs 6.99 pounds per day. They provide a basic free service for all users a premium services for listeners and a pro service for uploaders who are primarily DJs. Similar to the LinkedIn model Mixcloud provides the service for free but is able to generate income through having DJs provide for premium services, targeted campaigns, Custom Digital Solutions (Bespoke apps, web-pages). Like SoundCloud, MixCloud also works with a variety of brands to support branded content.

One example of a DJ social media site is Topdeejays. Topdeejays uses an algorithm that measures overall social media influence by combining Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, SoundCloud, MySpace, Last.fm and YouTube fans, subscribers and followers. It uses a unique measurement – TDJ points to rank artists by popularity.

One site that attempted to turn music lovers into DJs was the site Turntable.com. They existed for only 2 years and closed in 2014. Following the rules of the traditional music industry that went with licensing music was one of the reasons they cited for failure and inability to truly innovate. They also failed to migrate their service to mobile platforms at the key moment that music was increasingly being listened to on mobile rather than desktop. Turntable was best experienced on a desktop computer at a time when the rest of the world was going mobile.  In what they called a virtual club, users could select avatars, listeners could highlight their favorite songs and DJs could upload original tracks to test out on listeners. Casual listeners could explore new genres in a very interactive environment through a chat window. They could also DJ and their fans could reward them with points for buying new avatars.

Plug.dj is trying however to pick up where Turntable left. It  is a real-time social media experience combining music and video discovery in a fun and interactive online environment. Users can choose from an array of avatars including dancing avatars and can create parties with friends and peers around the globe. They can join and create virtual rooms to discover and share music and videos, and communicate with international party-goers using real-time chat translation. Musicians and DJs alike can engage with and attract fans in real-time.

DJ List is another site that exists and says it is the ‘largest directory of DJs of around the world’ though the site is not very interactive. DJs but also labels, clubs/venues and agents can create profiles, specifically for electronic/dance music. Fans, and DJs follow DJs through a music and social media feed of the latest content being generated by DJs online. Information on DJs, promoters, agents, publicists and their events are also made available online and they also all login via Facebook.

Other sites like AliveNetwork allows users to hire DJs but don’t have the social media or music streaming element. Tastebuds.fm lets you connect with new people via music and even find others who would go to a party or concert with you. However, you are unable to chat with musicians or DJs or follow them on the site. It is however integrated with Facebook.

On the other hand  Live Nation Entertainment, revealed that concert attendees use their mobiles heavily for tweeting, texting, Facebook and Twitter, photos while there. More than in previous years. Eventbrite found that electronic dance music, has risen in popularity in part due to the social media savvy of its fanbase. It follows that combining social media in the DJ context can prove very useful.

What other Music, DJ, Party/Concert sites are out there? (Part 1)

Posted on by
Reply

Social networks can create a Supportive Community for musicians as well as for DJs by linking them to music lovers that love to attend concerts as well as parties. While there are an increasing number of sites that provide music streaming services, in a way that connects listeners, sites that provide information on DJs and others that provide information on parties and concerts there is no one site that combines elements of each of these in a socially networked way that can enhance the people and musical connections for each group.

There are an increasing number of social network sites for music fans online. These include streaming services such as Spotify and Deezer and LastFM. According to Nielsen, music streaming increased by 24% from 2012 to 2013, while sales from downloads decreased by 4.6%. While downloads have been steadily decreasing. Streaming lets you listen to hundreds of your favourite songs instantly and legally and you don’t have to download the content. If users do not pay for the service the music is interrupted every now and then with an advert you cannot skip as this is one way in which they generate income. Some incorporate free trials to introduce users to the service. They also provide a personalised “radio station” service and enable the creation of a unique playlist when you search for a song. While there are others these are the most popular ones and music lovers use them to listen to new music discover new music and share their playlists with others. Graphs which make use of the concept of graph theory  are also important to music social media sites. For example, Spotify has introduced the Music Graph which is also integrated with Facebook’s graph too and this is a feature that miXXerS can also explore.

Another is Pandora once popular in the UK but now available in the US, Australia and New Zealand audiences only due to licensing constraints.  Earbits Radio, provides Independent Music with no commercials. Like Pandora it offers handpicked independent music, curated by a team of music experts, and caters particularly to music that is not mainstream. It also enables listeners to connect with bands and introduces elements of game theory with the ability to earn ‘Groovies’.