DJ's, KJ's and PLJ's

[toqer]

Just an annoyance, this is a fully fledge flamebait topic so go ahead and bring it.

%90 of folks out there that are shoutcasting call themselves a DJ are not. A DJ means "Disc Jockey". The meaning hasn't changed despite technological advancements. Simply loading up a playlist, configuring your shoutcast DSP to go, and hitting play on winamp does not make you a DJ.

DJ's i've seen and heard don't work with a playlist at all. They're in the clubs, watching the crowd. They know their music almost spiritually. They know exactly which songs will mix well with one another, and try to set a general mood to their venue.

KJ is what I am. I am a Karaoke Jockey. I'm not ashamed of what I am, nor do I go around trying to say i'm a DJ. My goal is very different from a DJ in that, I manage a playlist full of people, and my goal is to get them up and singing as quickly and as fairly as possible. There should be no such thing as trying to "Mix" in karaoke, plenty of KJ's try to do this, and fail miserably.

Finally, I want to say, you guys out there shoutcasting with a playlist, don't be ashamed of what you are. You're a playlist jockey. I'm not saying everyone is a PLJ, there are plenty of live DJ's mixing music on turntables, or recording their own mixes and setting those to a playlist, but simply loading a bunch of random songs into your playlist and shoutcasting it isn't considered DJ'ing. Call it what it is, you're a PLJ.

--toq

[Jay]

eh, a playlist jockey? In traditional terms we call this a program director.

[NJK]

Originally posted by KXRM
eh, a playlist jockey? In traditional terms we call this a program director.

Nah i call myself --click once a week a button, playlist creator--

for the other station on AM i'm a real dj but with cd these days.

[Evil Lu]

I'm an mp3j when nobody is looking.
Alot of people have different ideas of what a DJ actually does. Some people think that they play a record, talk a bit, play another record and so forth.
Others expect them to mix one record into another etc and never speak.
I prefer the latter. It also depends on genre, this works for electronic music, drum'n'bass and house etc but it's not going to work on 80's pop songs and black metal.
Then you get the argumentative die-hard vinyl enthusiasts who think that nothing sounds as great as a bit of an old record with a scratch on it.
I don't care what medium someone chooses to use to get their music out, I care what the music sounds like as a result.

[djdragons5]

if you want to get technical t0qer the term DJ was around long before club dj's came onto the scene in the 1960's (NYC) at any rate I am a real DJ. I use tables (direct drive) and know my records religiously. However technology does allow you to emmulate many aspects of tables with mp3's. If I remember correctly there is even a hardware USB device that will emmulate the actual feel of the tables.

Its all relative, but like you at one point in time I was angered by lil 13 yo kids immitating TRL playlist and calling themselves DJ's. However I have grown beyond that point and realize now that I should just educate people on the feel, the warmth, and the thrill of using turntables.

P.S. In my party/club sets I use a laptop along with my tables.. ya know so I can mix those tracks that are either so new I cant get the vinyl yet or so rare they're hard to find.

[PsyberMind]

In the modern days of radio automation. One can no longer be consndered a DJ. We dont play discs (unless of course, the station goes on heitus for a dad gummed server crash, and we have to go to our backup cds....) So how can we be called DISC jockeys? I prefer the term our station uses.. simply.. Jocks

[kewlnet]

wrong. you are a karaoke host. kj is a slang term which has no place in the karaoke world. it was coined by dj's trying to muscle in on the act to make more more cash.

[NJK]

Originally posted by PsyberMind
In the modern days of radio automation. One can no longer be consndered a DJ. We dont play discs (unless of course, the station goes on heitus for a dad gummed server crash, and we have to go to our backup cds....) So how can we be called DISC jockeys? I prefer the term our station uses.. simply.. Jocks

You would be surprised to see how many 'jocks' still use the vinyl or cd's to do their shows.

so "c" disc jockey's ?

[ravetrax]

Originally posted by djdragons5
However technology does allow you to emmulate many aspects of tables with mp3's. If I remember correctly there is even a hardware USB device that will emmulate the actual feel of the tables.

final scratch... and its great...

i have been spinning off vinyl for about 8 years, but as the cost for ravetrax got higher, the less vinyl i was able to buy..

so getting FS allows me access to tons of more music, even newer unreleased stuff and personal tracks without having to get the pressed on acitate...

yes i am a dj... and it is annouying to have others call themselves that, but hey... what can ya do? it just comes with the trade.

[Bradford]

At 9412, we had quite the discussion among staff about this, only the term in question was IJ,Internet Jock. For one reason or another, we decided to stick with DJ. No matter how the technology changes, common listeners etc. will always think of anyone who plays music as a DJ, no matter how they're deliering it.

BTW, t0qer does do a great job keeping people going at 7Bamboo, if it's the same guy.

[toqer]

Originally posted by kewlnet
wrong. you are a karaoke host. kj is a slang term which has no place in the karaoke world. it was coined by dj's trying to muscle in on the act to make more more cash.

Actually, it's what me and all the other KJ's at the 7 Bamboo call ourselves. They're japanese, have been doing it longer than me, and I think they know a great deal more about the term KJ than you.

[MegaRock]

Originally posted by t0qer
and I think they know a great deal more about the term KJ than you.

Buahaha. Shit that's funny. Anyone who believes the word disc jockey applies to some moron at a dance parlor who scratches the crap out of records don't obviously know shit about where the term comes from.

Sit down and chew some gum. And screw the Japanese. They only know what we taught them since Hiroshima.

[Vchat20]

take a gander: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DJ

[MegaRock]

"The physical act of selecting and playing sound recordings is called deejaying, or DJing, and ranges in sophistication from simply playing a series of recordings (referred to as programming, or composing a playlist), to the manipulating of recordings, using techniques such as audio mixing, cueing, phrasing, cutting, scratching, and beatmatching, often to the point of creating original musical compositions."

So much for knowing so much more than everyone else.

[toqer]

Sorry for offending you master of playlists.

[rockouthippie]

I agree with you Toq, but it isn't just shoutcast stations. Try your FM dial, DJ is a dead art.

Part of the problem is the interaction with the audience. I remember when I was a kid, you could call up the radio station and talk to the deejay, he might even put you on the air and play the tune you asked for.

That's against the rules now. I remember the midnight album, and they'd tell you to get your tape deck ready. Also now against the rules.

Now the only "slightly" interactive stuff is in clubs and talk shows, which are usually canned too.

Locally we have KGON, the playlist hasn't changed in 25 years and you can tell it's all canned, even the parts that sound like it's a deejay are pre-recorded.

I can just see the empty booth blinking and clicking as I listen.

No wonder these jerkoffs can't sell any records.

Another thing, I've seen KJ's (if you wanna call it that). They do more than play music (at least the good ones). I know a good one can pack a bar. That's by being involved with the audience and being an entertainer themselves.

I've also seen ones that might as well have been a push button jukebox.

[MegaRock]

Originally posted by t0qer
Sorry for offending you master of playlists.

You're getting funnier by the minute.

Not sure how one can be the master of playlists when there is no playlist.

Everything on my station occurs in real time. Listeners pick the music and we play it. No list, nothing planned and everything is done live by a real breathing human.

But whatever. You and your 7 Bamboo people obviously think they know so much more than everyone else and with a head that big nothings likely to change your belief. Enjoy your ego.

[toqer]

"Chew some gum" "Screw the japanese" "Hiroshima"

And me and my "people" got ego? What kind of people are they? Black? White? Purple?

You're igorant to even say something like that. WWII was a long time ago. All my relatives that were alive for it are dying or dead now, as i'm sure yours are. What did gum hiroshima and ego have to do with poser DJ's?

I'm sorry you don't agree that a lack of vinyl disqualifies you as a DJ, but DISK JOCKEY as the wikipedia says.

You also made some crack about a DJ scratching vinyl in a dance club. Have you ever actually watched/listen to a talented one?

Tune into ravetraxs video during a live stream. Listen to how they mix the music together seamlessly, going from one song to another setting the mood like a long sonata. Watch what they do, it's a lot more complex than just taking requests on a webpage and hitting "add file" in winamp, saying quick blurb and hitting play. You and I do pretty much the same thing except you're sitting in your room by yourself or maybe IRC, and i'm in a club with lots of people.

If I went around calling myself a DJ just using winamp playlists, then yah, i'd get pissed too if someone challenged my self proclaimed title.

But i'm not. I am what I am, as you are what you are.

[MegaRock]

I am what I am, as you are what you are.

If that was true you wouldn't be here trying to tell everyone else what they should or should not be calling themselves. Go back to your little club kiddies because they're likely the only ones who give a shit about your opinion.

And as far as someone mixing music between records like a long sonata makes me want to puke. I'd rather have a red hot poker shoved through my eyeball than to listen to that crap.

[toqer]

Better than sittin home alone. I bet you're just lashing out cause you're lonely. Poor guy.

[NJK]

Time to take it to A PM level !!

nice if you have a disagreement but don't fight it out here, it might end in people getting banned etc.

let's keep it civil Gentlemen, a discussion is nothing more than giving your view on the topic, let's keep it at that topic instead of attacking on a personal level

[Evil Lu]

Blimey! (nice bit of cockney there )
I think a few people are suffering from the Deadly Personal-taste-ilitis virus.
Despite the 'eloquent' way that t0ger has about his choice of music, I prefer to listen to music his way. This is not for everyone and, as I stated previously, it obviously ain't going to work on some genres of music.
If people are wanting to listen to rock, metal, punk, music that is made from songs and/or guitar riffs then it's perfectly feasible that it will be played with introductions to each song. The listeners want to know what they are.
If you're a drum'n'bass or rave-type person then you really don't want someone introducing each track, this music was designed to be mixed into the next record and the only talking that goes on is maybe a shout here and there to your audience.
So, t0ger, Megarock, you're both correct in your differing opinions and there is no need at all to get cross at each other because your musical taste doesn't quite match.
If we all liked the same thing then we'd be paying attention to that first caveman who discovered that banging a stick on a rock was a nice noise and be doing the same as he was doing. As it is, some other caveman preferred banging a dinosaur bone for a different "clunk" and as time has gone on we have diversity.

[rockouthippie]

God, it's like a bunch of little girls pulling hair.

[Germ]

Toqer shut up

[MegaRock]

It's pretty funny folks. You have to admit it. Here is a person who is getting all fired up because he doesn't like what you may call yourself. He thinks the people who play music in a club are the only ones who have a right to call themselves a disc jockey.

The rest of us should just straighten up, fly right and stop abusing the name because it's disrespectful to his wonderful collegues. The rest of us are just posers and not worthy of using a name that he believes only defines people who mix records for people dancing even though the term DJ was in use over a hundred years and before the vinyl record and long before radio.

He sure gets upset when I might say 'your people' but think's it's fine and dandy to start the thread telling people 'dont be ashamed of what you are'...well, again - unless you're mixing records together in a club. I love it.

Basically we have a person here who started an entire thread which says "Hey, I'm so much better than you or anyone else here on Shoutcast and you should all stop calling youselves these things because these words are reserved for me and the people I personally think are cool. The rest of you are nothing and stop using the names we use for ourselves".

I get it fully now.

[Jay]

locked.

This is retarded, a label is a label, don't concern yourself with what people want to be. If they call themselves a DJ even if you don't agree just let em be.

I'll stick to my original comment.