Rewind: This Month 5 Years Ago On Digital DJ Tips

Continuing our monthly series where we rewind half a decade to check out what we were talking about right here on Digital DJ Tips all that time ago, it turns out we were chatting about some common themes (marketing yourself, iPad DJing) and some stuff very specific to that time (the Icelandic volcano and how it was disrupting guest DJ bookings). Read on…

Five years ago

One subject we’ve not covered since but which is still a good idea is that of compiling a regular DJ chart; that is, somewhere publicly having a list of your favourite big tunes right now for all to see. As part of your marketing, this is a good way to put out there what you’re into and show people you’re a consistent and serious DJ, and is something of course that many of the top DJs do for Beatport and the like.

Having stacks and stacks of vinyl records was still very much on the radar of myself and many of my DJ friends five years ago, much more so than today (I don’t know anyone still DJing with vinyl, bar a “retro” DJ, in my circle of DJ friends). Maybe that’s why I decided to tell some horror stories in a little post about the perils of moving house, with a whole pile of vinyl in tow…

Those of us from Europe will almost certainly remember when all northern European air flights were grounded by the Iceland volcano in 2010, and that event was the trigger for me to write a post about the kind of excuses DJs use for not showing up at gigs, something that was a huge problem for me when I was a promoter.

I think it’s great how we change our views as we get more comfortable with technology. Five years ago I looked at a very early iPad DJ app and declared that I thought I’d feel stupid using it – now I DJ corporate events using an iPad and don’t even think twice about it! One thing that hasn’t changed, though is the mix of skills you need to succeed in DJing, as shown in this post where I explored them.

Can I get a rewind?

Click here to see all the articles from Digital DJ Tips five years ago this month.

What were you doing five years ago in your DJing? Do these bring back any memories for you? Got fond memories of any of this tech? Let us know your thoughts in the comments…