Where Do DJs Get Their Music?

This week’s post is aimed at you new, aspiring DJs looking to get your feet wet. You have your DJ heroes. You know the sound you want. You might even have a shiny new SB3, but what good is a gun without bullets? Where do DJs get their music?

Online Distributors

By and large, much of the music you’ll play will likely come from one of the big online music distributors:

Beatport

Love it or loathe it, Beatport is the Walmart of dance music. There, you can find all of the big releases from all of the major labels as well as a great selection of very good (and not so good) much smaller releases in a wide variety of genres. At $1.49 for dated tracks, it’s a little pricier than iTunes, but it gets much deeper than iTunes could ever hope to get. You could also find great deals on compilations stuffed with up to 70 tracks for $12 – $20. Still, beware of smaller releases; their total price is often just the sum total of each track in the release – you’d be better off picking the ones you like than springing for the bundle.

Your best bet is to wait for a sale, which they hold every month or so. These sales knock up to 50% off your cart, which is helpful.

Traxsource

It’s very similar to Beatport, but it’s a little pricier as well. Traxsource tracks tend to be $1.99, though their compilations and albums often do yield significant discounts. You will also find underground gems here that you will not find on Beatport, so it’s worth perusing.

Also like Beatport, Traxsource holds frequent sales. They aren’t as extreme as Beatport’s half-off offerings, but they’re something. Tracks aren’t cheap – and you’re going to need a lot of them. Wait for the sales!

Juno Download

Same idea as Beatport and Traxsource, but in my opinion, the layout and search functions are inferior. While there’s quite a lot of overlap, Juno again offers some music not available on Beatport or Traxsource.

Crates.co

No, that’s not a typo. Although it doesn’t sell music, Crates.co deserves a mention because it is an invaluable tool for crate digging – as its name implies. Crates.co connects to your Beatport account and imports your followed artists, labels and carts. The power of Crates lies in its layout, which immediately displays music in which you are interested and differentiates real new music and re-releases. Another major boon is the “Dig Deeper” function, which tells crates to find similar music to a specific track. This is more specific than searching within a single genre, and often yields terrific results.

I use Crates.co instead of browsing directly on Beatport when I’m looking there.

iTunes

It’s geared toward consumers, so you won’t find much quality underground stuff here. It’s worth mentioning because at $0.99 it’s relatively inexpensive, and the files you get are 256 kbps .AAC files – which is the bitrate quality you are looking for in usable tracks.

Record Pools

Online record pools are paid subscription services that allow you to download new music as part of your membership. Each pool works slightly differently, but generally, you can download up to X number of tracks over a period of time. Some allow unlimited downloads. Each pool also tends to specialize in a particular genre or set of genres, so it’s important to do your research before throwing down for a subscription.

A few popular online record pools include: DJ City, BPM Supreme, Zip DJ, and Promo Only.

Streaming Services

This is a relatively new service I’ve noticed popping up. It allows a DJ to stream music directly from their site on-the-fly at a gig. Essentially, it provides access to the hundreds of thousands of tracks at any given time. While that sounds amazing on paper, I’ll tell you why to avoid this type of service:

You need to know your tracks. Start mixing tracks you’re unfamiliar with, and you’re asking for a trainwreck. Especially if you’re a noob.

It’s one more place where things can go wrong. What if your WiFi goes out? There goes the gig! What if your connection is spotty? There goes the gig! What if the service is for some reason unavailable? There goes the gig!

It’s like wiring a stage in pro audio – the fewer places things can go wrong, the better for you. Buy your music. Put it on two thumb drives. Thank me later.

Artist/Label Direct

There are also ways to bypass the distributors and go directly to the source. Often, artists and labels have their own pages where they offer their music – sometimes even for free.

SoundCloud

Ah, Soundcloud, how I love and hate you. The barrier for entry here is nonexistent, so literally anybody with an internet connection can upload anything they want. There is quite a lot of garbage available on here, but there is also a lot of cool, usable stuff.

With some patience and a little luck, you can actually find some pretty decent music here. Oftentimes, bigger artist and label pages will direct you to Beatport for purchase, but smaller labels and artist will sometimes offer freebies here.

It’s also a useful tool for finding new artists and labels, so don’t write it off completely. Just be aware of the low-effort amateurs – fortunately, they’re often easy to spot.

BandCamp

Bandcamp is similar to Soundcloud in some ways, but it generally has higher quality music. This is because rather than just a streaming platform with a download option, Bandcamp is actually an online storefront. The fact that you can buy music directly from the artists and labels on this site make it more appealing to professionals – not to mention that they can also sell all their merchandise from this storefront as well. There is also a social media aspect to the site that makes for a great way to find new artists and labels.

The upshot is that you are much more likely to find good, usable tracks here than on Soundcloud. I found one of my favorite underground deep house labels here – Chikyu-U Records from Japan/Switzerland. It’s worth noting that artists and labels get most of the money from the sale here. It’s also worth noting that artists and labels set their prices and sometimes offer “Name Your Price” and straight-up free offerings.

Physical CDs

While CDs are largely going the way of the dodo, they are still a great place to get your music. CDs contain a collection of .WAV files – a lossless audio format that is ripe for picking. All you need to do is make sure you rip your CDs at an acceptable bitrate – that is 320 kbps for .MP3, 256 kbps for .AAC.

This means that brick-and-mortar record stores aren’t only for vinyl junkies. They will often sell CD’s as well. And if you dive into the second-hand bins, you can often find a few gems to rip into your digital library.

And Finally… Make It Yourself!

I won’t lie; this will take a lot work. And money. And time – a tremendous amount of time. Still, to play your own track in your own set at an event and watch it work your crowd is immeasurably satisfying. Work at it, and you can generate your own tracks, which will further solidify your sound and set you apart from other DJs in your wheelhouse.

And apart from the gear you buy to make it, which you can use over and over again, you don’t pay a dime for these gems!

-Chris
AudioMunk