How DJs Always Know What Song To Play Next (Without Ever Panicking)

Bonus material: Free “Perfect Next Song” Checklist & Worksheet

Today I’m going to tell you exactly how to always know what song to play next in your DJ sets – even when you feel things aren’t going right, and even when you really aren’t sure at all what the best next song should be!

Once you start to approach your DJing in the way I’m about to share with you, you’ll know you’re on the right road to making better song choices, more often – and you’ll also finally stop wondering how other DJs do it.

This article is based on training we give here at the Digital DJ Tips school, and was originally inspired by a discussion in our StudentHub Group, a place where our students and tutors hang out together.

Here’s what a couple of our students had to say about the info I’m about to share with you:

So how am I qualified to teach you this? In brief, in my working life as a DJ, I’ve played thousands of club gigs, recorded hundreds of mixtapes, hosted hundreds of DJ livestreams, and spun on the radio, for podcasts, mobile gigs, festivals, charity events and countless private parties. Additionally, I’ve met, interviewed, worked with, and DJed with many top DJs. Plus, as the founder of Digital DJ Tips, I’ve taught thousands of students just like you.

Learn to DJ with Digital DJ Tips: The Complete DJ Course

The info I’m sharing with you here draws upon all the experiences I’ve had, and the tips I’ve picked up along the way from the best in the game.

Here’s what’s included here:

• How to prepare
• How to choose what to play next
• How to do it technically
• Tips for improving

ii. Prepare your music

Preparing music files can be boring, but it’s essential if you want to appear to always know what song to play next, effortlessly. Not only should you prepare each individual music file, but also work on playlists. Let’s look at the tasks:

• Prepare your beatgrids and add cue points to your tracks – Both of these things will make it quicker and easier to transition into tracks
• Do key analysis and learn how to choose tracks by key – All DJ software will analyse your tracks to tell you the musical key nowadays, but you also need to understand how to quickly find songs in the same or a compatible key, as mixing in key is one of the tricks of making the next song appear as if it was meant to go with the current one (you may want to look at our Fuzzy Keymixing article for a great new way to do this)
• Prepare “mini playlists” – These are small selections of two or three tracks typically that you know mix well together. When you play one, you’re very likely to also play one or more of the others. You can see how this takes the heat out of knowing what to play next, right? Whole sets can be built on transitioning between “mini lists” rather than individual tracks

iii. Prepare for each gig

DJs who look natural, at home, and effortless behind the decks are able to appear that way because they have done their homework on the gig they’re playing. Don’t think you can skip this: the very best DJs in the world are careful to do it.

In fact, I was speaking to no less than DJ Jazzy Jeff recently, and he told me: “There are only two things I need to know about any gigs. Who I’m playing to, and how long I’m playing for.”

So here’s what you should do:

• Know the crowd you’ll be playing to – Find out who will be at the gig. What music are they into? What ages are they? Go to the venue if you can and observe a similar crowd to the one expected on the night you’re playing. Understand what your role is in the night – warm-up, peak-time, second room? – and what that means for the music you’re expected to play
• Prepare a well thought-out playlist of music for your gig – Pack a playlist or crate of about twice the number of tracks you’ll need. So if you’re playing for two hours and you normally play 20 tracks an hour, pack 80 (two hours x 40 tracks). The idea is that you’ll only play from that list at the gig itself, so your choices should cover all eventualities. This avoids you ever having to scroll through thousands of tracks, panicking, as you look for something to play next – because you only have 80 to choose from
• After each gig, learn from what you played – Go through your “history” to see what you actually played, and figure out what worked and what didn’t, think about why, and move any good transitions or “mini-sets” you discovered into your playlists, to use again in the future

Once you’ve done the above (and more importantly, built a system so you are always doing the above, as part of what you do as a DJ), it’s showtime! So in the next section, we’ll look at how to choose what to play next at your gigs.

However, first it’s important to implement the things I’ve just said – or at least, those that make sense to you. To track your progress doing that, click here to download your free “Next Song” Checklist & Worksheet.

How To Choose What To Play Next

So you know your music inside out, you’ve spent time making it easy to search by adding all the right metadata to your files, you’ve made playlists, and you’ve researched the crowd. You’re as prepared as you can be. You’ve stacked the cards in your favour. But now it’s crunch time.

Let’s talk about how to make those all-important choices in the moment about what you should be playing next.

What normally works

We don’t have to over-complicate this, so first, I’m going to list the things that, 80% of the time, will lead to you choosing an awesome song to play next. Afterwards, I’ll list lots of other ideas for those times when you’re still not sure.

• Trust your instinct – Don’t overthink this! You probably already have a great idea of what to play next. So whatever you’re thinking, try that first. It’s probably the right choice
• Play something you know goes well next (because you’ve practised it, or done it before) – Could be from your mini playlists, could be from one of your mix practice recordings, could be a mix you did at the same venue the week before… just go with what you know works
• Play something where elements in each track match – Could be two tracks with a similar rhythm, similar instrument (pianos, saxophone), similar vocals (type, or the lyrics), or a particular sound or sample. Again, your mini-playlists should already contain tracks you’ve already spotted that are like this
• Play something of a similar BPM, genre or key – Or, indeed, all three. Tracks that are similar will keep the vibe going on the dancefloor and move you smoothly to your next transition choice
• Alternate between vocals and instrumentals – If you’re playing an instrumental, play a vocal, or vice versa. Vocals appeal to crowds in different ways than instrumentals, so play both
• Alternate between known and not so well-known tracks – Stay on the same vibe, but play something more well-known, or less famous. Again, crowds often like to hear a mixture of stuff they know and don’t
• Play a track by the same remixer, but by a different artist or vocalist – This can keep the vibe going, but introduce variety, especially when you tie it in with the previous point. Conversely, you could play a different remix of the same artist (or even the same track)

I’ve turned the above into a simple checklist and worksheet that you can print out. You could even tuck it next to your decks to help jog your memory when you’re worrying about what to play next – a great thing to do until these points become instinctive:

Click here to download your free “Next Song” Checklist & Worksheet.

How To Do It Technically

For many beginner DJs, just being able to mix from one track to another is hard enough, and so it becomes the only goal.

But dancefloors don’t care about that.

They want the right record, for right now. More experienced DJs know that that is the first job of a DJ – the mixing comes second.

If you want to become the kind of DJ who always not only knows what to play next but actually has the balls to do it, you need to flip your thinking. Right song first, figure out a way to mix it next.

Learn how to mix anything into anything: Mixing Power Skills

Getting into this mindset can be challenging, so here I’m going to offer you a general set of tips to help you shift your thinking, and then some specific technical tips to help you when transitioning.

How To Improve Your Ability To Always Pick The Right Track Next

So how can we accelerate this process? Now you know how to prepare your music, prepare for your gigs, choose the next song, and transition to it, how can we move you more towards being an expert at this?

That’s what the fourth and final part of this article is all about. I have six tips for you to help you get better at this, fast:

• Have a much smaller music collection – Build your collection slowly, and really know every track. Having 1,000 tracks is no good if you don’t know them like you know your own children! In fact, it’s an active hindrance. So cull. The best DJs work with small collections that they know inside out
• Think about “telling a story” with your DJ sets – Give them a beginning, a middle, and an end. This way of thinking trickles down into your individual song choices, because effectively you can play three “mini-sets” (a beginning, a middle, and an end set). And guess what? Each of those can have a “beginning, middle and end” too. So your transition choices become much less random
• Set yourself transition practice drills – Try and mix, say, 20 tunes at random. You could do this two ways. Pick 20 tracks (tunes you’ve never played, newest tunes, all tunes in one genre, whatever) and figure out a way to weave them together coherently. Or, force yourself to mix them together in the order they come in. The first drill teaches you set programming, the second forces you to practise your transitioning techniques
• Have a “collection swap” evening with a DJ friend – You play from their collection, they play from yours. They’ll usually pull out tracks you don’t typically play, and they’ll make transitions you wouldn’t ordinarily spot. And when it’s your turn to mix with their collection, you’ll do the same favour for them
• Watch other DJs and how crowds react to them – When do they stick with one style and when do they change? How often do they play popular tracks versus less well-known tracks? Why do you think they make the choices they do? What do you like, and what don’t you like about the way they programme their sets?
• Play in public as often as you can – Remember at the start of the “How To Choose What To Play Next” section, I spoke about reading the crowd, and about how this is learned from experience? Playing in public is how you get that experience. Ultimately, DJing is a dance between the DJ and the crowd. That’s one reason why as a beginner, it is important not to be too choosy about your gigs, and just play out as often as you can

Click here to download your free “Next Song” Checklist & Worksheet that contains all of these tips in a printable form.

Finally…

I hope you now see that when a DJ appears to be completely on top of his or her game, tunes flying onto the decks, crowd lapping it all up, it’s really just an illusion. What’s really going on is a combination of preparation, planning and experience, all blending together to give the impression of complete control.

But the DJ isn’t really in complete control. They are, instead, making educated guesses about what will work, based on all the things I’ve written about in this article – the things you can’t spot just by watching them play. And most of the time, it works! But not always, even for the best DJs.

So my final point is: Don’t be afraid of failing. We learn more from our mistakes than our successes. If a DJ drops a tune that half the crowd doesn’t like, none of us judges the DJ there and then – we just wait until they bring it around again in a tune or two. No big deal.

Read this next: The Playlist Pyramid: How To Build A DJ Music Collection To Be Proud Of

Bottom line: Don’t be too hard on yourself. Ultimately, we can all learn the technical skills of DJing, but the job of knowing what to play next is the more important one. Plus, it’s never-ending, and none of us ever gets it right all the time. Instead, treat it as a fascinating part of DJing, accept that you’ll never fully be perfect at it (but that you’ll usually have most of the people on board, most of the time)… and enjoy the journey!