Connections Between Artists and Club/Mobile DJs

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On the AIMusic list on Yahoo Groups, Kerry Jackson asked the following question:

In a forum of DJ's that I frequent a lot (IE: live in LOL), one of the biggest complaints is the theft of music.. DJ's who DO support the musicians (by buying CD's or paying online) having to compete against the DJ's that steal everything. The music industry doesn't care. Why? Because DJ's have lost their connection. I am NOT talking about the Radio DJ's, I'm talking about the club and Mobile DJ's. We only play charted music, because its easy to get and we know our playing customers like it (no risk involved). Because the "charts" are controlled by "big radio" and "big corporation", the simple DJ just continues being a mindless subset of "big business".

WHAT WE NEED IS REVOLUTION.. DJ's NEED to start promoting the INDIE artists, and the indie artists NEED to start using DJ's as a way of promoting their music. The question is... How do you connect the two together? That would be free to both and easy to do?

My answer is there are several aspects to the question; 1) economic (how does one compete in an era of free or stolen music, 2) competitive (how does one differentiate oneself in an era of limited commercial outlets and audience preferences, and 3) network (how do indie djs and musicians exchange value.

Re: #1- A long time ago when I did promotion and sales for CBS Records, important club DJs were on the local branch mailing list to receive new demo records. So my DJs got all the new albums and 12" singles. I know in NYC, club DJs like Jelly Bean Benitez had direct relationships with producers and A&R folks and would often get test pressings or tape copies of hot off the presses new tracks to try out in a club environment.

Club DJs that didn't rate a direct label connection had relationships with the One Stops (distributers) and would get their demos from them (the labels give demos to the One Stops). If not there, then at the record store level. If not there, then a friend who worked in the business along that chain.

Everyone else bought their music to play.

So, if you want to be legal and relevant, establish a relationship within the music making value chain to get access to free music (of all types), or else buy it, or find Creative Commons released music that gives you rights to use the music for your business.

Otherwise, you are of no value to the industry. Harsh but true.

Re #2- This is the art and talent side of the question. Practice, practice, practice. Slowly expand your audiences horizons. Be subtle. Balance what they know with a little of the new and make sure they fit together well.

Re #3- Musicians and especially indie musicians are always looking for venues for their music to be heard. But we don't like to give our music away for free unless their is some value exchanged; a web or press review, a published playlist listing, a CD or download sale we can tie to the freebie, strong word-of-mouth exposure, a mention in a blog. Something that reaches other fans we couldn't have reached
otherwise (geography, demographics, genre, etc).

I spend a lot of effort to make myself relevant as a recording artist and work hard to document when others note that relevance. Those endorsements (radio play, reviews, press mentions, performance schedules) lend credence to my work.

As a DJ, what is your reputation? Who is your audience? Does your work influence others? Will people know my music and my name from your work? What value to I receive by giving you my music? How does it advance my career or my fanbase?

If you can convey that value to me, and my music can fit into what you are doing, then there's a basis for an exchange.

And how to make the connections: MySpace, FaceBook, going to performances and talking face-to-face, email, get your name into music publications and make it known you are looking for music or to connect, lists like AIMusic, community events, art events...

Ultimately, you have to drive this for yourself. The reality is that DJs of importance do have a connection to the music industry. But the industry no longer needs to make you important, nor to make the connection. That is up to you.