What a stupid question you might think to yourself, but in actual fact, there are a few DJ’s out there that seriously have no idea. Other DJ’s are more interested in one particular genre than others. How they get by in this business I do not know! Research is a vital part of learning how to DJ. There are a variety of ways of knowing what’s hot and what’s not right now:
Online Music Stores
I can guarantee you that local shops in your city or online stores such as Amazon will feature some of the hottest tracks around whenever you decide to look. Why? Because they look at the sales of each track and it would make sense to promote the tracks that are selling like hot cakes. Take a look at your nearest record shop and see what they have on offer. Remember – you don’t have to buy the track there and then, you are just getting inspiration for what is in and what is out. You will be visiting record shops more than your grocery store when learning how to be a DJ!
DJ Chart Shows
For the more poppy songs, I couldn’t recommend more taking a look at the charts. Chart shows are often played on the radio, and are normally a countdown of the 40 tracks with the most sales in the past 7 days. Don’t even bother looking at the charts for any entries by DJ Tiësto or Oakenfold – the charts are a view of what tracks the nation has been buying most.
Because your Average Joe is into pop music, it makes sense to know that he will probably buy Lady Gaga’s most recent album over a mix by the famous Sasha.
Online DJ Communities
There are thousands of DJ forums and communities out there on the big WWW, so why not post a thread or poll asking members to name their favourite tune at the moment? Also, have a look round music sites such as Last.fm. They normally suggest great artists that you have probably never heard of before that are similar to the sort of music you enjoy listening to.
So there we have it, finding out the good tracks from the bad ones is not as hard as you may think. Many people taking DJ lessons and DJ training often underestimate how important it is to research the songs you are playing. The times are constantly changing, and by keeping on top of your game by researching, you can be sure that the punters will love the tunes you play!
