Some of the DJs in New York City (not pointing any fingers and naming names, you can use your imagination on this one,) who are chosen to play at parties don't hold up to my standards of what I would consider "talented." The room they're playing in may be packed to the brim, but that usually is the extent of it all. The vibe isn't all the way there, their mixing is sub par, if not sloppy, and their track choices are the same Beatport Top 100 that I've heard over time and time again.
Why is lackluster talent a reality in NYC? Yes, NYC of all places, a city that is chock full of 100s of talented local hopefuls. Well, let me break it down for you.
Who do you think throws these parties? Clubs and other sorts of venues, obviously. How do these places make their money? Entrance/ ticket fees and drinks. Usually, venue owners are too busy with their own business to worry about how to entice people to come in for parties. This is where promoters come in. Promoters, as we all know, are dudes and gals who are hired by venues so they can pack them out, fill them up with people. That's a promoter's job. The more people promoters get to come in, the more money they make.
How do DJs for these events get chosen? Is the hiring mostly talent-based? That would generally make sense, am I right? Not exactly. As of late, some promoters have gotten lazy. And on top of that, have become taken with the green-eyed monster: greed. They want to make the most amount of money they can with the least amount of effort. How can they do this? Well, it's simple. Promoters usually leave it up to the DJ and/ or his team and manager do some work for the promoter. By putting in the DJ that guarantees to bring the most amount of people, the promoters will be able to make the most money possible by doing the least amount of work possbile. It doesn't matter if the DJ is talented, mediocre, or just plain sucks. The more people a DJ is able to bring, the more eligible they are to play.
This way of doing things poses a big problem. Why? I'll tell you why. It's beyond the fact that it's unfair to talented, hardworking DJs who deserve a time slot. It's way more than that. It's the fact that this way of doing things is going to impact the scene for the worse. This business practice just doesn't affect the DJs, it affects the party-goers, promoters, club owners, and the entire music industry. It's dangerous, and I'm going to tell you why.
"DJ Popular" may be able to draw a crowd, but the clientele within the crowd is only so limited each week. The crowd that a "popular" DJ is going to be able to draw is going to comprised of the same people, namingly their friends and acquaintances. This is going to drive away new party-goers who have come to hear some quality music on the decks. New patrons who don't know the DJ won't care about how "chill" the DJ's personality may be… they just care about enjoying the music. If the music is average, they ain't coming back for more. A DJ's popularity may be able to draw people in, but it's going to be the same old 50-200 people each week. Mediocracy will drive away newcomers. It's that simple. New patrons won't care about how much of a cool dude the DJ is, or how good looking they are. If their music sucks, new business will not be coming in. They will steer clear, rolling their eyes in disgust. No mercy.
If popularity is placed before talent, the bar is going to be set a lot lower for DJs in New York. This is dangerous, because "friendly competition" is necessary in the the scene. Why? Without friendly competition, DJs won't work as hard. Instead of concentrating on their music (which should come first) they're going to be sending out Facebook invites to all their peeps, and partying all weekend for networking purposes. If they're guaranteed a spot already, why do they have to try to play any better in the first place? They will be concentrating more on the networking/ promoting side of things rather than on perfecting their talent. Improving their skills and preparing long and hard for a set isn't necessary if acquiring their set time isn't based on "friendly competition." No fair playing field will exist, and thus, DJs are going to stop trying hard. They're going to settle for their second best. They're going to focus on the less important things, like getting the most followers on Facebook or Sound Cloud, they will lose sight of what's important. They won't be on their A-Game.
Finally, and most importantly, it's this kind of thinking that is going to cause the death of musical creativity here in New York. Creativity absolutely necessary when it comes to the arts, especially when it comes to music. You need creativity to play and appreciate music. The more plentiful talent and new, fresh ideas that are out there, the more DJs will be able get inspired, and the higher the bar will be able to be set. Setting the creativity bar high will inspires these DJs to play better and think outside the box, thus performing to the best of their ability. If DJs are not being hired based on talent, and talent is placed second to popularity, this creativity that once existed here in NYC will surely stagnate. If mediocrity is the standard that DJs are held to, they're not going to aspire to play better and grow to their full potential. If we allow this subpar standard continues to stay in place for so long, it shall soon become the norm. Do we really want this to happen?
If this mediocrity continues to remain acceptable, everyone will lose out, not just the talented DJs who are pushed to the side because they couldn't bring in 50 of their friends. What the man behind the curtain doesn't know (aka club owners, promoters, etc.) is that they're going to ultimately hurt themeselves as well. The heart of the NYC Underground that we all have always loved so much is the music. As corny as it sounds, it's the heart and soul of the party. Turning away from this reality in favor of greed will destroy the true meaning of the scene as we know it. It will be cheapened. The magic will cease to exist. Everyone will lose in the end, but no one realizes it… yet.
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