Scratch Cyborgs: The Hip-Hop DJ as Technology
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu
As a former professional DJ turned tech startup CEO I believe this article is very accurate and the author well researched.
I'm troubled that the next generation of DJ has their hands tied by terrible tech and onerous licensing restrictions rolled together. Tools like Apple Music and Spotify encourage users to just consume music one slice at a time from start to finish which is boring. It also caters more to the commercial interests of the labels than the listeners. Imagine for example if you couldn't mix your food together, only one product at a time. That's the current state of music without immense ongoing effort on the part of users to convert their music into DRM free and seek out complicated and/or expensive DJ tools.
DJ's should be able to access all available music and monetize their art by sampling whatever they want from any artist as long as that artist gets paid for the full "spin" of the song even if there is just a one second sample.
If you want to hear what music can be like when licensing restrictions are flagrantly ignored you might enjoy...
"Girl Talk" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWzkK7tUjaU
"2 many DJ's, Hang the DJ" https://www.mixcloud.com/2manybootlegs/2manydjs-hang-the-dj-...
Where did all the creativity go? Some of the more niche platforms like SoundCloud are absolutely full of highly illegal mixes and mashups waiting to be taken down... but I haven't yet seen anybody seriously considering listening to SoundCloud daily instead of just consuming Spotify's prepackaged playlists. Even piracy doesn't seem to care; just go to TPB and see how large its repertoire of DJ mixes, EDM or non-mainstream hip hop is (hint: not very large). And let's not even talk about the minefield of doing anything related to music on YouTube. Remix culture is not yet fully dead, but it might as well be.
Performing where? Doesn't a venue's ASCAP license fee cover that? If I go out on the weekend, there's gonna be a DJ at the bar/club and most of them aren't playing exclusively their original tracks. I'm sure some of the smaller venues are skirting the law but anywhere notable isn't going to be able to get away with that, and be paid up on their licensing fees.
As far as just listening to SoundCloud, maybe my cohort is more musically adventurous but there are a ton of 3 hour mixes that are on heavy rotation, with Spotify a distant second.
The thing is, I have zero optimism for an "acceptable" solution, especially given that -- big winners in the space of "using other peoples content" have NEVER followed the law. It just doesn't happen.
Along with all the great freely-sampling records of the past, Google, Youtube, and lately Github Copilot and the DALL-Es all have/had in common that they essentially disregarded copyright law in the beginning and just created. Some might say "flagrantly stole."
It's odd because as a lawyer I should have a solution. But I'm starting to think there is no good, "legally acceptable" one -- if the goal really is innovation and creativity.
That might not exactly be it but I think a technical payment/usage standard open to all is directionally the right way to let the new artists play/create.
I think the issue isn't "we don't have the technology to pay creators," I think it's always "greedy middlemen suck." They've never been more useless than today, and yet they're still so very powerful here. We just sort of assume their necessity and existence.
It probably took more effort for Girl Talk and 2 Many DJs to obtain their source material then it would for an artist to do similar now.
Obviously we've advanced in voice interfaces and perhaps may not have much of a "need" for innovation in the "physical?" Not sure.
Nice to see a shout-out for that, I spent a lot of money on one once, got good use out of it. (I was not a hip hop DJ)