I've started to write content for DJ LIFE Magazine and here is a recent article they published about where you can get music as a DJ.  I wanted to break it down a little here on the blog but if you want to read more, please make sure to head over to DJ LIFE Magazine.  While you're at it, they're a great site to follow and stay up to day with the latest and greatest in the DJ world. 

DIGITAL DJ POOLS - 85% 

This is the most popular and is a necessity as a professional DJ in our current times.  You pay a monthly subscription, but then have access to unlimited downloads with extended intros and outros, unique mashups and remixes and other DJ tools.  The subscription is fairly minimal and ultimately will give you a majority of the music you would need for almost any gig as a DJ. 

Here's a list of some of my favorite pools: 

• DJCity.com (good edits and pretty decent variety for the club and open format DJ)
• BPMSupreme.com (good, general tracks and big latin music selection)
• DirectMu
...

You're just getting started as a DJ and a friend of a friend is throwing a party.  Your friend, Jamie, has told this friend of hers that you are an up and coming DJ and would be a good fit for the party.  John is the friend of the friend and doesn't have any money for a DJ and says "this would be a good look for you".  Do you take the gig?  

There are lots of situations that come up as a DJ in which you are asked to provide your services for free.  Some of those gigs you should say yes to, and others you should run as fast as you can in the opposite direction.  How do you know which gigs you should say yes to? 

In this episode of Coffee with The DJ Coach, we break down this topic and Coach Hapa shares his opinions on this very subject.  

If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the podcast to stay up to date!  

And feel free to send in a question if you have one!

Back on August 11, 1973, Cindy Campbell threw a party to raise some funds for back to school clothes and enlisted the help of her younger brother, Clive Campbell aka Kool DJ Herc to spin records for the kids of the neighborhood in the Bronx.  Herc was trying to keep the kids dancing and came up with an idea to extend the bridge (or break) of the song to extend the instrumental parts of the songs that the kids actually would dance to.  In doing so, he stumbled upon a technique that today is known as looping, and also spawned a culture of dance, spoken word (rap) and DJ techniques that have become such an incredible part of pop culture throughout the past 5 decades. 

Today, we honor this moment and celebrate 50 years of Hip Hop, including where it all started on Sedgwick and Cedar in the Boogie Down Bronx. 

To catch the episode on podcasts, click on one of the links below and make sure to subscribe!