13 Bite-Sized Facts About Being a Modern DJ

Crate digging is not dead, and it's nobody else's fault if you are too lazy to search deeply through a larger & more accessible music pool.  (tweet it)

As a DJ, “success” is typically about doing more of the things you know you should do, rather than learning the “secrets” you don't know.  (tweet it)

Don't fear the equipment or the approach of the modern DJ.  Only that which can change can continue.  (tweet it)

New technology is common; new thinking is rare.  (tweet it)

You may be tempted to compare your DJ skills to someone else.  Instead, compare yourself to when you first started.  (tweet it)

You can't build a reputation on what you're GOING to do.  (tweet it)

Integrity is crucial in order to infuse your DJing with passion.  Instead of compromising, get real serious about your purpose.  (tweet it)

It's not “laptop DJ vs. Vinyl DJ”, it's “bad DJ vs. good DJ”.  There's always room to improve – format be damned!  (tweet it)

The free DJ does not devalue the paid DJ, unless he's failing to provide value in the first place.  (tweet it)

You can't just prove yourself once in order to get noticed.  You have to be proving yourself so much that it's impossible to be missed.  (tweet it)

DJs: learn to pace yourself.  Magic happens when it's not forced.  (tweet it)

If the most interesting thing you can say about your event is that it is a social obligation, you're doing it wrong!  (tweet it)

Nuture your network, and it will return the favor.  (tweet it)

(By the way, that last one comes courtesy of my interview with Fortune, which you can listen to right here.)

There is a lot of noise out there today about how “kids today” don't really “get it”, and how laptops are ruining DJing, and how free gigs are ruining DJing, and so on.  But, I implore you to think of what DJing can and should be, and focus on doing that.  Stop worrying about how everyone is getting it wrong, and be one of the few who do it right.

To be honest, the industry hasn't changed all that much… aside from the fact that there are more of us and we get to see each other's thoughts on social media 24/7.