Friday Five: How To Survive The Ups & Downs Of A DJ Career

In this week’s Friday Five, we’re leading with a piece from Mixmag that takes a look at what happens when the hype and adulation behind DJs die, and how some fought hard to get that elusive second wind in their careers. We’ve also got pieces from Pitchfork, the TuneCore blog, and Inverse Science. Have a great weekend!

1. How To Survive The Ups & Downs Of A DJ Career – Success doesn’t last forever, so is there life after DJ stardom? This in-depth piece by Mixmag peers into the lives of a handful of DJ/producers who attained success in the past but found themselves in a slump after. Some were blessed with a second career, some continue to fight to remain relevant, while others chose to leave it altogether Read more
2. How Tokimonsta Learned To Produce Again – LA-based DJ/producer Tokimonsta underwent brain surgery two years ago, and while the operation was successful, she lost the ability to understand language and music. It was an uphill climb, but eventually she regained her music-making faculties and even played Coachella. Here’s how she did it. Pitchfork has the story Read more
3. How To Bring In A Crowd – We’ve all played shows to empty dancefloors at some point in our DJing. This post from the TuneCore blog gives some practical advice on how to lower the chances of that happening again Read more
4. Making Music Just By Thinking Is Coming – Always wanted to make a tune that you’ve got in your head, but could never play it on an instrument? Australian researchers have created a device that allows you to create melodies just by thinking about them. It’s over at Inverse Science Read more
5. History Of The Disco Edit – Decades before mashups and bootlegs on SoundCloud became a thing, DJs were making edits of disco vinyl using cassette tapes, picking out song sections they liked and splicing them together. Find out how this all started, and why DJs still do them to this day. Mixmag has it Read more

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