DJ Music Library Tips: Download Your Music and Own Your Library

I'm old-fashioned about one thing: I download and own my music. I don't run my sets off a streaming subscription. When you own your library, you never have to worry about the Wi-Fi, the connection, or a track lagging while the software tries to analyze it mid-set.

Why I'm anti-streaming for live sets

A lot of DJs lean on streaming now, always asking "you got Wi-Fi?" I get the appeal, but I believe in owning the music. If the connection's not right, or the song has to load and then analyze the record late, you don't even see the BPM and it gets stressful. That's a risk I'm not taking in front of a crowd. The one real upside to a licensed streaming service is for certain licensed venues where you have to be covered to play, but for everyday sets, I want the file on my drive.

Use the record pools

If you're going to source music the right way, use the record pools. The ones I use are BPM Supreme, DJ City, and Headliner Music Club. BPM Supreme I'd recommend for hip-hop especially, because they have a lot of hip-hop and new records.

Quality matters more than people think

Avoid building your whole library off YouTube rips. The quality isn't good, and at a big event with pro equipment, people will tell you a track didn't sound right. If I do need something from YouTube, I look for the official audio from the artist rather than the music video. The official audio sounds almost as good as the record, and music videos sometimes have skits or talking buried in them. When you're EQ-ing and adjusting volume on a bad file, it sounds off the second you're on a real system.

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The takeaway

Own your music, source it from real record pools, and protect your sound quality. Your library is your instrument, so don't leave it at the mercy of a Wi-Fi signal.