Artistic Integrity vs. Pleasing the Crowd.
By Maragret Noble

There is no substitute for playing your favorite records on a quality system to a crowd of hundreds. But, if you are the opening DJ in this position, the pressure to get the dance floor moving is pretty high. Dropping your set on the still not-drunk-enough-to-dance crowd, sometimes you get only the three girls who just need to shake it while the rest circle the edges staring. Then, in the last fifteen minutes of your set, the floor is finally filled and you wonder if it was the free shots of Jaeger given to the crowd. Often what happens is that you finish out with a warmed up dance floor just in time for the next guy to come in and profit from your hard work. This happened to me and if that was not bad enough, upon leaving the club the promoter told me that next time I should throw down some famous songs. So, what to do? Well, I ran out and bought a stack of Britney Spears remixes, not.

So do you please the crowd or do you please yourself? Many DJs and promoters will tell you that your duties are to the crowd, if they want Trance give them Trance, if they want Booty house then give it them. But, what does this add up to? DJs carrying 16 crates filled with records of every genre just in case the crowd's mood changes? Surely, that can not be right. When one sees a DJ they love they go to see them because of exactly what is unique to that particular DJ's style. It is not as if DJ Sneak worries that the crowd isn't feeling him and then quickly slips in some Jungle. Perhaps though, there are different standards for unknown DJs.

So, say you are an unknown DJ and it is your demo which got you the job. You know, that one disc which you painstakingly worked on for hours to distinguish your particular sound. Should not that be the marker of how you are expected to play? In most cases this should be true but sometimes it seems that promoters book on image rather than listening to the artists' demos. Of course this can result in a total surprise to the promoter and DJ because the music just doesn't fit into the venue. Also, many DJs complain of being pigeon holed into playing only the style represented on their demo when they are more musically diverse. So, again we wonder what's the best route is for a DJ to take?

If you think that your number one job is crowd response then you better fill your crates with every genre and start taking requests. However, if you have been working on your own style then you must find your people. At first, many DJs will take any and all gigs handed to them because they just need the experience to play out. But, after building one's confidence in playing out, it is a good idea to become more selective. If you only want to play a deep house set then do not shove your music down the throats of a top 40's crowd. If you can not find a club night that has the right atmosphere for your musical style then start your own night. The key is to share your music with those who are appreciative. This is not to say that you won't get a few converts coming around to your sound because this surely can happen. However, if you are insistent on you own artist integrity then finding a supportive venue is the best way to go.

Article by Margaret Noble.

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