Should DJs be educators or entertainers?

Should DJs play what the crowd wants to hear or should they play their personal choice regardless of what the crowd is up for?

For me, music is like an artform and seeing a dj perform is akin to watching an artist at work. When a DJ plays a set that is their personnel choice, regardless of what the crowd wants, we get to see a part of the person. Watching their set progress through different moods and feelings can be much more fullfilling than hearing that one particular track that you wanted to hear.

Sure crowd pleasers always put on a good show with a good respose, and it can be dissapointing when a dj you are watching are playing songs that you cant quite get into. But there is nothing better than watching (ok watching is a lie - dancing to) a great set by a dj that is playing exactly what he wants. That is like enjoying a true exhibition.

believe a dj has to be entertained him/herself before they can possibly entertain anyone else, hence play/buy stuff that is original to there own taste. slot them in at the right time of night and bingo.....we have education

educate

entertain

blow them away

Peas

d

Great question, Michaela! And very significant...

My personal view is that is that a good DJ is an educator AND an entertainer. that's not to say that all DJs should be both. There's a place for educators and a place for entertainers (I could get really bitchy here, but I won't ;-)

I've thought a lot about this question, and specifically in relation to the impact that it has not just on a particular DJ set but the affect it has on:

- a whole set
- a specific club or party
- a local dance community.

There's scope for a dj to influence how people receive not just their set, but the whole party they're playing at. eg. if a DJ plays a nice house set that includes just one really commercial track, like a madonna or michael jackson track, that will influence how people remember it. But if they include, say a 15 minute section of experimental or harder edged techy tunes, it could have a significantly different, and educational, effect.

another eg. if a techno DJ entertains for most of the set but includes a 15 minute section of experimental electro, you can still entertain, but you've also started to educate by introducing something new to the crowd.

If a club only ever plays 'educational' music, they probably won't survive because people won't be willing to make the effort to be educated (which requires some effort) ever week. You need to throw them a bone and allow them to enjoy themselves while still being educated.

In melbourne, one promoter, Hardware, is often credited with putting Melbourne on the map for its banging techno. Over the course of 10 years at their regular warehouse parties, they continually pushed the boundaries a little further each time. It got harder and harder to the point where sometimes you
d just think... "too hard". But you'd always go back for more because there was enough 'entertainment' in the mix to keep enough people happy that it was sustainable.

Conversely, a city like Sydney, which is notoriously impatient, ends up with a more commercial sound and a strong appreciation of more userfriendly genres like trance, (I know I've just offended lots of people here, so let the insults begin!) Most people don't have the patience to 'learn' an appreciation for different types of music so many promoters just serve up the most easily digestible music on offer.

I've probably done enough damage for the minute so I'll run and hide!

techboy: an interesting point you brought up was the impact of the promoter in educating. I think that their influence can be seen to be even more significant than the DJ's as they select who plays at their events.
If you look at Melbourne two of the established companis are Future and Hardware. thus, Melbourne has a very strong progressive scene thanks to Future and a fantastic techno scene thanks to Hardware.
In Sydney, the promotion company Fuzzy ensured that on New Years Day there were over 10 000 people at Field Day which was esentiall an all-breaks event and due to Fuzzy's hard work breaks is now huge in Sydney!
In Adelaide Odyssey and System 6 has ensured that hard house & NRG are the staple diet but newer promotion companies like Fabric are pushing the progressive sound and it is growing too.
All of these promotion companies used a combination of entertainment and education to reach their positions of strength.

I couldn't agree more, Beekayz.

This stuff doesn't happen over night and in order to stand the test of time, you need to keep people happy (read: entertained) otherwise the club or event series will die before people catch on.

Entertain, Entertain, Entertain...

Entertain, Entertain, Entertain...

But now I think about it.... I have known plenty that can do both!!

Entertain all the way but push boundaries, it comes down to knowing in advance what sort of night it is and then on the night reading the crowd. If Dj's aren't playing their personal choice they should pack it in or work for a mobile dj agency that supplies them with CD's. Get a life or get a ropelight!!

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Originally posted by drwahwah
Get a life or get a ropelight!!

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Originally posted by PaulHamon


What do you mean??

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*LOL*

It is definitely a balancing act between the two. The majority of DJs in Adelaide don't seem to have a clue or are too scared to educate and recycle the hits week in week out. This leads to the Adelaide scene getting stale whether you want to believe it or not.

So following on from what Beekayz said, it is so important for Adelaide to get out there and support promoters who are doing something a bit different like Fabric, Red Light District and Third Room, who do believe fiercely in what they are doing and will both educate and entertain you if you just give them the chance instead of playing it safe and going to the same places and parties over and over again.

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Originally posted by goatboy
Third Room

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support promoters who are doing something a bit different like Fabric, Red Light District and Third Room, who do believe fiercely in what they are doing and will both educate and entertain you if you just give them the chance instead of playing it safe and going to the same places and parties over and over again. [/B]

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quote:

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Originally posted by techboy

I def think they should do both, not always during the same set though, it depends on too many things.


Conversely, a city like Sydney, which is notoriously impatient, ends up with a more commercial sound and a strong appreciation of more userfriendly genres like trance

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Oddy, this ain't a slinging match between promoters. I've always had the utmost respect for what you've achieved in this industry. True, I don't like hh/nrg/rave/etc. but I respect what you and the rest of the rave crew have achieved. Maybe I should have been a little more specific, but look at who's paying for the ads on here...