Where Do I Get My Music?
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)
- DirectMusicService.com (widest variety especially of older tracks)
- HeadlinerMusicClub.com (best edits imo)
- PitchTheTempo.com (best pool for electronic music)
PURCHASE PER TRACK - 10%
Every now and then, I have to go to iTunes or Amazon Music to buy a song that I want or need for a gig. This is a lot more rare and is probably about 10% of my library. Big disadvantage is that the songs are usually at least $1 or more and its not ideal to use this as a method to build up a decent size working library as a DJ.
- iTunes
- Amazon Music
- Beatport
- Traxsource
- Bandcamp
STREAMING SERVICES - 5%
With only several options, I personally love TIDAL as the option to use to bring in tracks with a WiFI connection. This shouldn't be your primary source of music unless you are only practicing in your bedroom with a solid WiFi connection. I use a tool called Soundiiz.com to convert my Spotify playlists to TIDAL playlists and it's awesome!
Best of luck to you and keep in mind that you will need more than one resource to get the music you are looking for. Also, a reminder to all of the DJs that are reading this to continue to invest in your library!
