How many songs does a DJ need?

Sohra

New member
Hi, so I was wanting to start building up my music selection but wanted to know how many songs I should have at the ready?

Here was my idea

350 House
250 Trance
600 PoP / Hip Hop / Rap

Would this be a good start???

and question, do I need to know any of the songs or can I just be one of those people who goes and downloads / buys a cd, and doesn't listen to the song. Just have it there incase I need it. If option 1, how do people mantain these libaries in the 10s of thousands?

I currently know 100 songs off the top of my head between the above genres and planned to start listening to radio and google more.
 
Hi Sohra,

When I first started off DJ'ing I only had a handfull of tracks that I had experimented with and knew which ones worked well together. It's not so much about the quantity but quality. It helps to know a bit about the genre your playing which would help picking out tracks that much easier. Eventually as you get older you'll have to make room for new information so older info will have to go.

As the years progressed going from vinyl, to CD, and now mp3 with controllers, the one thing I've always done was highlight a few key tracks in my bag of whatever genre I'm playing as to jog my memory and for me that helps. With the aid of Traktor/Serato based controllers it's just that much easier now to figure out what goes with what and where.

It sounds to me that your well on your way! The best thing to remember is to practice, make new mixes and push outside of your comfort level.

Hi, so I was wanting to start building up my music selection but wanted to know how many songs I should have at the ready?

Here was my idea

350 House
250 Trance
600 PoP / Hip Hop / Rap

Would this be a good start???

and question, do I need to know any of the songs or can I just be one of those people who goes and downloads / buys a cd, and doesn't listen to the song. Just have it there incase I need it. If option 1, how do people mantain these libaries in the 10s of thousands?

I currently know 100 songs off the top of my head between the above genres and planned to start listening to radio and google more.
 
In my opinion, the key thing is to know your records (or mp3's if that's how you rock).. The better you know them, the better you'll be able to mix them with others. So it isn't necessarily about the quantity of songs you carry with you. I can see how mp3's could make one focus on going for a huge collection and maybe neglecting the getting to know the music part.

I play vinyl records and normally take about 100-110 well selected 12"/LP's with me on a gig and maybe a few 45's on top of that. This really depends on what I'm going to play, but it gives the idea. I mainly spin funk, disco, hip hop & jazz. There's usually a fellow DJ with me and we spin the whole night. The selection is always more than sufficient, I don't make setlists and like to select records on the fly, so I prefer having more records with me than I will need.

Of course, having a lot of music is always good, but just wanted to point out that it's better to focus on knowing the music than trying to quickly get over 10 000 mp3's when you would quite easily pull through gigs with what you have now. I would never consider playing a track I haven't listened to.
 
you only need about 100 just gotta please the audience
 
Think its another Quality over Quantity thing with this, i aint a Dj but their is a reason why when a track is hot, most Djs in clubs have it playing, because its quality that the listeners enjoy !! The comment about knowing your tracks is right, the more you know about them the better you can Dj without having to continue to practice your sets before a Gig ... Although having lots of music can never be a bad thing !!
 
Honestly it depends on the gig, if its a wedding, obviously a lot of top 40 and gay shit like that, if its a rave get about 2hrs worth of house, dubstep, dnb or whatever u wanna throw down
 
you can never have enough songs, some drunken fool will ask for a song that u dont have nor will you play live... play popular stuff uw ill be fine.
 
Personally, I've never heard a DJ play the same song twice in one night. But if the audience wants it, then why argue with them? I would think that you wouldn't want to make it a habit, but at the same time I can't see why it would be a hard and fast rule to never replay a song in the same set.
 
i think 1200 Songs are much more than enough. when i started i had 100 hip hop and rnb Vinyls (most of them where samplers with different Songs) and that was more then enough. Play a song twice? why not. if the croud loves it then you can Play it twice, but not in a short time period. What i love to do is Play a Remix with the same beat and other vocals, if they want that song again.
 
Depends. depends on so many things. Wheter you play all night, or just a one hour set, for an one hour set 40-50 must be more than enough. Even a little more if you play like Laidback Luke (I believe he has the best ratio with the songs played/minute). Of course it also depends if you take requests from the crowd, than you pretty much gotta have all the music that is mainstream and played on radios etc.
 
The dj must have a really larg music bag cause he never will know what needs during the party before to start that!
 
Quality > Quantity. I personally think that it's better to have 5 good tracks (top quality as well) then to have 50 bad/boring tracks. Explore and choose wisely!
 
Hey srry,

I am guessing you'll start off doing grad parties, parties for friends, and other normal events... right? If so, go to these websites: Billboard, Itunes (top songs - click the US version on the top left), and Top 40 (USA Singles), and make sure you have most of those songs. You should be good then. However, here are four things you can do to improve your playlist:

1. Check out Promo Only - they will keep you updated on all the latest and greatest hits, however they are a bit expensive.
2. Make sure you have a piece of paper and pen at every gig. Write down all the requests, and if you see songs that occur a lot, make sure you get them.
3. Listen to the radio in your car or at home.
4. If you have a smart phone, learn how to tether the internet (click that link, its called PDA Net) so you can download songs on the go.

You will build your collection in no time. You will also start to see a pattern of songs that you will ALWAYS use (Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO, Gangnam Style -PSY, etc...). Again, this is taking into consideration that you are doing these types of gigs.

So what types of gigs will you be DJing? :)

DJ Whrr!
 
Its not the quantity that matters but the quality of mix. you can mix as many songs as you wish to but it should be in a proper way that sounds good .
 
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