Do you guys buy music to use?

DjInTraining

DjInTraining

New member
Hey guys, first post here :)

Basically, I'm pretty new to this dj lark, and at the moment I'm just playing around in Virtual Dj. I'm having a lot of fun making mixes, just experimenting to find out what I would like mixing the most. Anyway, onto my question...

Do all you dj's out there buy music? I know the answer should be 'of course' but music can be so expensive these days. I normally buy off itunes, but since becoming interested in dj'ing I've found sites like Beatport and Dj Tunes etc. I've found so much amazing music, but my question is, do I just suck it up and pay the prices?

I thought iTunes was pricey at 99p a track, but then I go to Beatport and it ranges from £1.12 a track to £1.73 a track! Of course the tracks are longer, and it depends how new it is and all, but my point is they are pretty expensive. I read somewhere that Dj tunes was supposedly cheaper, but on the whole it often seems more expensive to me?

Dj tunes says the price 'includes tax'. What exactly does that mean?

To sum up then:

1) Is £1.12 from Beatport classed as a reasonable price?
2) What does it mean when it says 'includes tax' - I should know this but honestly, I don't ;)
3) Are there any sites you guys use that are cheaper?

Cheers for any replies and taking the time to read, peace.

Edit: Should say I want to buy music to support the artist and all, but also because I don't want crappy quality should I ever reach the stage of playing for people. Converting to mp3, to me, doesn't have the same high quality a lot of the time. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd like to buy it legally either way.
 
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I shop alot with Beatport for electronic music. For the most part I just suck it up to show support.
 
P. Casso said:
I shop alot with Beatport for electronic music. For the most part I just suck it up to show support.
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Cheers for the reply :)

So would you say around £1.12 per track is a decent price? It's not so much paying I'm worried about, because quality is important in my opinion (and it could be VERY important in the future)

I'm just wondering if there are any cheaper sites that people know of? If not, I'll just suck it up. Hoping to get a job soon anyway which will help; cheers again :)
 
Cheaper... Maybe iTunes as you listed. You could search for songs on Beatport then try to locate them on iTunes for a little cheaper if possible.
 
P. Casso said:
Cheaper... Maybe iTunes as you listed. You could search for songs on Beatport then try to locate them on iTunes for a little cheaper if possible.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's kind of my plan of action right now. I normally find music the quickest on Beatport, and then try other websites for better prices.

Like I said, some people say Dj tunes is cheaper but so far I haven't really found that. Thanks :)
 
there is a lot of free music on the internet AND if the track is a banger, L1.12 is a good price <> soundclick and soundcloud are good places to find free music by undiscoved artists <> always look for the mom & pop music stores, they usually have a 'bonus bin' of used material <> got quite a few cds doing just this thing <> cheers on the virtual dj, love it ;-)
 
DjInTraining said:
do I just suck it up and pay the prices?
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yeah, for the simple fact that BACK IN THE DAY WHEN EVERYTHING WAS ALL VINYL, that's what they had to do...

but if we ignore the past and focus on the PRESENT, YEAH, too...

it's not fair to the artists for you to get paid as a DJ spinning tunes that you yourself didn't pay for.

SURE it adds up...but in life, WHAT DOESN'T ADD UP?
 
[F_or_DEAF] said:
yeah, for the simple fact that BACK IN THE DAY WHEN EVERYTHING WAS ALL VINYL, that's what they had to do...

but if we ignore the past and focus on the PRESENT, YEAH, too...

it's not fair to the artists for you to get paid as a DJ spinning tunes that you yourself didn't pay for.

SURE it adds up...but in life, WHAT DOESN'T ADD UP?
Click to expand...


Agree, I remember back in the day having to spend £7.99 for the latest vinyl which was 1 song, if you were lucky the B-side might have another good tune on it but you were normally paying for 1 song. I used to save all the money I had which wasn't much at the time and blow like £50.00 on like 7 records. I appreciated them more though and I only ever bought records I really liked which help give my sets a more personal touch.

These days because music is so cheap DJ's just buy or pirate everything that's popular, you have thousands of generic dj's downloading shit they don't even like just because everybody else has got it. They have no identity and stick to whats on the radio to play it safe. There are to few DJ's playing new music and to few dj's that play to there own taste. I understand you need to please your audience but being able keep the crowd moving while staying true to your own musical taste is what makes a DJ.

But back to the point, £1.17 or £1.75 is not expensive at all for a song, but in this disposable society people will begrudge spending money on music because it is so easy to find free. I also don't believe you are supporting artists by purchasing there music as they probable don't get to see much of that revenue unless they are independant artists. The only plus is you are gauranteed a good quality version of the song with no DJ shouting out big dave over the intro.

You need to look at it like this, if you feel a song is worth £1 and some change buy it if not don't, that way you will only buy stuff that you think is worth it and you will inturn build a collection of tunes that is specific to your taste.
 
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You can buy music. Using programs like Serato...you can dowload music and mix it. I will never pay for music again...just a thought :)
 
focus383 said:
there is a lot of free music on the internet AND if the track is a banger, L1.12 is a good price <> soundclick and soundcloud are good places to find free music by undiscoved artists <> always look for the mom & pop music stores, they usually have a 'bonus bin' of used material <> got quite a few cds doing just this thing <> cheers on the virtual dj, love it ;-)
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Thanks man :)

[F_or_DEAF] said:
it's not fair to the artists for you to get paid as a DJ spinning tunes that you yourself didn't pay for.
Click to expand...

Should have made it clearer really. I wasn't asking whether I should pirate music, more whether I was looking at reasonable prices. Thanks though, good points!

DJR said:
But back to the point, £1.17 or £1.75 is not expensive at all for a song, but in this disposable society people will begrudge spending money on music because it is so easy to find free. I also don't believe you are supporting artists by purchasing there music as they probable don't get to see much of that revenue unless they are independant artists. The only plus is you are gauranteed a good quality version of the song with no DJ shouting out big dave over the intro.

You need to look at it like this, if you feel a song is worth £1 and some change buy it if not don't, that way you will only buy stuff that you think is worth it and you will inturn build a collection of tunes that is specific to your taste.
Click to expand...

That's good to know then, cheers mate. Funnily enough, one of my college teachers was talking about buying single tracks for like a fiver 'back in the day', so really I have nothing to complain about when I can get lots of stuff for just under a pound. To be honest I can find a lot of the songs on iTunes for 99p, some of them are even at 79p. I was pleasantly surprised at what iTunes manages to get up, and I can easily buy them without hassle.

Cheers to all who posted, was very helpful :)
 
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I buy all my music for a few reason:

1. Higher bit rate- Typically either wav., 320kbps mp3's, or aiff. For me mostly 320 mp3's. Trust me, makes a huge difference on a club sound system. Most of the time it's hard to find high quality music for free download unless it's soundcloud or the like.

2. Tagging- Everything is already tagged. Artist, Track Name, Album, Remixer, sometimes the only thing I have to change is Genre, but thats mostly personal preference.

3. Help support the artist so they can keep doing what they are doing- Considering I spin mostly tech and deep house, a majority of these producers are not out there making some lavish lifestyle out of their record sales and concert tickets, so why not hook them up with a few bucks for doing some awesome work.

I'm not here to bash on people that get their music for free, just here to list the benefits of buying it instead :)
 
I buy tracks I can't live without. For the trendy run of the mill stuff I won't be playing in 2 months I find it on the net or from friends. My personal secret is Satellite records online. I would link it, but can't yet because I don't have enough posts. I've found some KILLER tracks nobody is touching on there, I've also spend hours listening to shyte mate.
 
no man I never spend my money on musics. But I am buying my own beats for $5 ..
 
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