Lots of people–models, hotel empire heiresses, reality TV show contestants–are famous for no good reason. I’d also number DJs among these. In the past ten or fifteen years, they appear to have achieved a celebrity status on par with musicians.
And yet, as far as I can figure, they’re just archivists with nice head phones. I’ve put this argument to several pro-DJ people, and they always offer some dubious rejoinder about the DJ’s amorphous skill set. Apparently DJs use their Jedi powers to gauge, affect and respond to the ‘audience’s’ groove. What a remarkable achievement. Musicians can do that, and play an instrument at the same time!
There’s also the questionable description of the DJ as an artist. Yes, the good ones mix and synthesize different source material to construct a new performance piece. However, they add no original material to this mix, and are rarely using their ‘art’ to comment on anything.
In short, I think DJs get more credit than they deserve. I was reminded of this line of thinking by Alex, who thinks a lot less of DJs than I do:
The point is, while I enjoy good music in the background when I’m out revelling, I think we can all agree to cut out the lame DJ worship. I mean, think of how many people you know who claim to be DJ’s. Everyone’s a fucking DJ. I’m DJing right now here in my cubicle. I just segued from Bloc Party’s “Banquet” into Kings of Leon’s “The Bucket” – isn’t that amazing?
DarrenBarefoot.com 
I guess you need to define “DJ”. If you use the term to mean someone who stands at the front of the club and puts on the next song, then yes, they’re overrated.
If you’re talking about anyone who claims the turntable as their primary instrument, then I’d have to disagree with you. Watch a group like the Beastie Boys or the Roots play live, and you’ll see that the turntablist is doing a lot of work. Have you ever tried mixing records? It’s not quite as easy as it looks.
As for DJs who construct new performance pieces, I’m sure there good ones and bad ones. Would you consider DJ Danger Mouse (creator of The Grey Album) talented? I certainly would, and though he added no new material to the mix, he most definitely used his art to comment on it.
I don’t know that much about DJ’ing, as I don’t really listen to any music that would work well with the DJ atmosphere. However, I’ve seen a few talented DJs that make me hesitant to declare all DJs overrated.
Ishkur makes some pretty good points on this topic in his post The #1 DJ in the World. I tend to (mostly) agree with him.
For a laugh, check out Alex’s quasi retraction 🙂
Darren,
any DJ worth his salt in todays underground scene also composes their own music that they mix with others during their sets. If you’d like to see DJing earn its kudos, I’d recommend picking up Sasha’s “Involver” and giving it an examination — ie: how did he get to this point? It’s a lot more complex than you might think..
further, arranging a set requires talent from start to finish. you can do a hasty job with no thought given to things like percussion, melody, key, overall energy flow, and more factors.. many dj’s ignore this and think DJing is about hitting play, crossfading, oh — and their greatest accomplishment, beatmatching. these are not great DJ accomplishments. so yeah, if a DJ is adding nothing new to the mix, then I’m not sure what they’re worth other than the time they spent searching for what is, in their opinion, good music.
gotta run!
I had a friend ask me if I’d heard anything about a set he played at an event I was at recently. It sort of surprised me. People talk about how good the guy playing the CD was? Huh. I barely paid attention to the music at all, I was way too busy doing other stuff. Music is… background noise to me. Good background noise — don’t get me wrong, I love music. But background noise all the same.
Who goes to a club just to hear what the DJ’s gonna play next? I don’t get it. Of course, I’m not really a club go-er under normal circumstances.
I can’t stop thinking about “DJ’s Girl” by Katalina. “Excuse me, Mr Bouncer. I’m with the DJ.” Right, this makes you special, how?
Hee. Next time I go to one of the clubs the boy I’ve been seeing works at, I’m going to play up the “I’m with the bus boy.” Whatever, they’re both employees, that should get me in, right? Hello? Anybody? Mr Bouncer?
Mostly rubbish Darren. The only DJ’s that are what you would call popular are ones who output Techo, House, Trance, R&B, Drumm/Bass sorts of music. And they aren’t really that well known outside their own circles. They play to massive clubs in certain parts of the world and deserve the recognition they get within those circles for doing what they do. Outside of these circles they are not popular.
I don’t thing I agree! I attended a show last night by Armin van Buuren (read about it at http://blog.mastermaq.ca/archive/2005/05/20/4229.aspx) and I must say, I was rather impressed!
I think it’s more than just standing on stage with some headphones and equipment. To me, it really felt like he was judging the audience, changing the music appropriately up or down, fast or slow, loud or quiet. It wasn’t just mixing music together to get a unique sound, it was more like creating the overall experience. Maybe you had to be there?
I fully agree. Give me real instruments with real musicians any day. I’d personally rather hear record scratching stuff than some dude rapping, but that’s for another day.
I know this is an old post, but as a dj it’s something I’ve thought about at least a few times. I guess I just don’t know where the line is drawn between artist and non-artist. I put my own beats and sounds into my mixes. Getting everything so it stays in sync while you are looping it isn’t exactly easy. And between scratching, effects with adjustable parameters which totally reconstruct the sound, spin backs, wind downs, and all that, I feel I am at least being creative. Most people don’t realize how much effort it takes to make two tracks not sound like garbage played together, there’s a lot of CONSTANT adjustment going on with the equalizer as well as the speed of the records. I promise you, no one can just get behind a couple of decks and play a good set. I don’t care if you call it an art or not, I have fun playing and others have fun dancing.
Let me put it this way, I have been playing guitar for over 30 years now, so you might say I am quite an accomplished guitar player and I don’t think I have to be particularly modest about it. However, I do feel that anybody can learn to play an instrument or learn to sing for that matter. And the same goes for Dj-ing I suppose (whatever that is). There is nothing God like or admirable about DJs yet they are revered like super stars. I can tell you for a fact that it is a lot easier to spin records and twist some knobs and move some faders on electronic and Digital gear than it is to learn how to play an actual musical instrument.
Having said al that, I would classify DJs more as audio engineers or audio manipulators rather. The more popular ones seem to create their own music (even if they use only two fingers to play a keyboard or synth, it still counts I guess)
Mind you it is a lot easier to record Digital instruments like synths and such in combination with MIDI than it is to record analog instruments.
With analog instruments you need microphones.
And knowing how to place a microphone or even which type of microphone to use is crucial with analog instruments (including voices). Digital instruments do not require microphones.
Interesting…. and No I did not take the time to read everyone’s comments. I am sure that would have only driven me to a bitter response.
I guess I am most surprised by the ignorance in the statements. First of all, yes too many people say they are DJ’s just because the purchased some equipment and turn some knobs. But this does not make a DJ any more than hitting some strings makes a guitar player, or answering the phone from a cubicle makes you whatever Alex is.
I would think that a guitar player of 30 years would understand that the skill he has achieved over those years should make him a better performer than some kid who just got his first guitar. And ‘Sparkler Dynamo’ what motivated you 30 years ago to pick up this guitar? Was it the KISS solo albums or perhaps Eric Clapton? What makes the way these guys hit some strings any better than anyone else? Your lack of awareness of the skill involved surprises me.
Not to pick on anyone in particular…. let’s spread this around a little. A DJ is a person who plays music, a record producer creates (arranges beats, vocals, etc) to create a track. To be a DJ, even a Super Star DJ, does not require any skill in record production, although some knowledge may improve your skills. Producing tracks does help with popularity and getting booked in these times.
Why was John Williams, the conductor, sought out to do the music for all 6 Star Wars films? He does not play an instrument. He only brings together “real musicians” into one cohesive unit. Almost like a DJ who knows how to bring music from different sources into one place (and make it sound good). Because of course I could stand in front of an orchestra with a stick, but that does not mean you will like what you hear.
Now let’s go back to the root of the article, people “famous for no good reason”. What exactly is a good reason for being famous? Mass Murder? Being famous for this can actually be a driving force for some, thus even more of a reason NOT to encourage it.
As for “celebrity status on par with musicians” who said they set the par? What made them the benchmark for celebrity status? The Beatles only joined us 50 years ago, long before that we had Shakespeare, and Royalty. Why were any of the famous?
Now if I am a popular actor, musician, DJ, or hairdresser who ENTERTAINS or provides a service which results in an unreproducable experience, I guess popularity could ensue. This might even result in being famous for something if I was good enough. Now at what point should I stop what I am good at “my art” and be expected to comment on the world? Why does being good at one thing make my opinions on the world any more valid than anyone else? They don’t! I just have a bigger audience.
The point is…. if a DJ does something to make you feel good, then there is nothing wrong with that.
If NOT that is ok too, even if it was Tiesto, you might be moved more by the guy in that dark bar with a guitar…. looks like he is going to be the next Clapton anyway.
Some people will always be more famous than others, and people will look up to them. 30 years from now some guy will even consider himself an accomplished guitar player because some famous person motivated him today. And yes, some kid somewhere wants to grow up and work in a cubicle, just like Alex. I just hope Alex is good at what he does and does not give a bad rep to all the other people in cubicles by playing with his ipod all day (just like those so called DJ’s do).
I wrote an entry that roughly overlaps this topic, http://blog.timesunion.com/albany/house-still-homeless-in-albany-ny/3883/
The response? Over 100 comments, many of which came from self-proclaimed, no-name DJs.
Funny.
I imagine you will get a lot of the same.
I speak from experience… I have played guitar for over 6 years, and I would also say I am pretty accomplished I have been in about 4 different bands, and with mostly each one i have recorded songs with mikes and it was not to hard, i agree guitar playing is hard to pick up, but i do think there is a big misunderstanding about Djing. ANy dj that you hear being famous is not only a dj he is a Producer, meaning he writes his own songs and puts them down on the computer. As I have recently have started djing, ye the mixing is not as hard as playing an instrument, but starting to produce, it is a very very complex system, and putting down what is in ur head without having a whole band to just tell what u wanna play and try it together is very hard. Creating synths, and 1,000’s of effects on your own creating build ups it is alot harder than you imagine, if you dnt believe me give it a try, dj’s like Deadmau5 are geniuses in using softwares to create never before herd sounds
Your an idiot do some actual research on something you obviously know nothing about. Seriously you’ll find DJ’s stretch back much farther than you think and have done a lot more with a lot less than most musicians. At least when I see a DJ play live I know he is actually playing music unlike most musicians in this day and age. Between lip syncing and autotune I’ll take a DJ any day of the week.
OK as a DJ i’ll try to be as constructive as possible.
I suspect I will never reach the pay of such DJs like Carl Cox and Ritchie Hawtin. I’ve played only once in a club but 80% of my income comes from DJing at private parties. The mobile DJ is probably the most least respected in this field and whereas in a club environment the management want to hear or know of your work before they let you loose in their booth. For the mobile industry the situation is very much a different story. Darren isn’t alone and most comments here only support the lack of understanding of what a DJ does. Unfortunately the term DJ covers a lot of areas and just as you have pianists, guitarists, singers, etc. The DJ industry is also divided into Mobile, Club, turntabists, controllerists and the real high earners the DJ/Producer who do create their own work using synthesisers; in some cases not much different to those used by likes of Rick Wakeman and Tomita.
I was recently asked by a chef what I charged for an evening. Their reply to my price was, “What just for playing music?”. My response was “And you get paid how much just for cooking?”. Should the same be applied to Tennis players and Golfers? “What, you get paid how much just for hitting a ball?”. You see we understand that to be at the top of your game, you need to practice, and practice and practice some more. You need determination, tenacity and unique natural skill to become better than your competitors. Not anyone can be a Pro golfer and not any pro golfer will get picked for the Ryder cup. Not any musician will be good enough to play in a Philharmonic orchestra. There’ll be the guitarist who have a thump on the strings when they are at home or pissed up round a mates house. You have that the guy doing a small set in a lounge bar. you get the unknown pro making an actual living for their craft and hours of bleeding fingers and broken strings and then you have Ronnie Wood.
I hope you can start to see a pattern here. You have the bedroom DJ who plays a bit of music for his mates, The DJ playing back to back music in a bar, the weekend club DJ. the Unknown pro DJ making a living from private parties, the big club pro DJ and then you have David Guetta.
Some people say they are a DJ when really they are not. Some are DJs but shouldn’t be. Some people are DJs and really put the effort into making sure their clients get the best possible sound and songs, so every guest gets the chance to dance and sing. Making smooth transitions from one genre to the next to make sure virtually every request gets played. they slowly hone in on the Hardcore crowd who will keep the party alive and kicking until the sun rises again. Then you have the DJ who mixes and mashes a 2 or 4 hour set comprising of highs and lows that creates a steady rotation of the dance floor so that the bars get the revenue required to keep the club profitable. Some DJ’s slave for hours a day perfecting scratch patterns and mixing techniques that require just as much dexterity as virtually any instrument musician.
I had a conversation with a piper recently who said why should I get paid more for playing other peoples records, when he practices 4 hours a day and has actually learnt his craft? my answer was this. When asked whether guests had enjoyed their evening the vast majority spoke of the music or more directly the DJ. It amazes me that people can find anywhere from 3,500 Dollars, Euros or Pounds upwards, for food that while good, isn’t going to win any awards. Yet; can’t find 1,000 Dollars, Euros or Pounds for the person who arrives at the venue 2 hours before you do, leaves 2 hours after you and effectively will either make or break your event.
I worked 33 Hours the weekend just gone and on both occasions I put over 13 Hours in without a break. The others hours comprised of driving and setting up. I danced and jumped around to music I don’t even like, I gave the impression I was having just as good time as everyone else even though I was sober and TBH verging on fatigue.
So in actual fact, I think the majority of DJs don’t get the credit they deserve.
To play a musical instrument takes so much time and perseverance. I’ve played guitar for about 20 years and only other musicians can vouch for me on this point. I know a lot of musicians who have changed instruments and genres. Do you know any serious musicians who have reverted to DJing equipment as their “instrument.” I don’t. I will agree that it takes some kind of skill. But it is nothing in comparison with the years of training that is involved when honing your skills as a musician.
I don’t work at McDonald’s right now because I don’t know how to use the register. Howevr people who are mentally retarded can. I guess we all have our talents.
YOU ARE ALL A BUNCH OF IDIOTS!
I don’t like dj’s really…but I don’t like country music either…or dubstep, or avante garde, or fashion, or popular culture, or fish(including any other kind of food that comes out of the water), also American Idol is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. That being said, I’m crazy jealous of how famous many of these people are (especially tuna fish) for doing what they enjoy.