[Bad News] Simply Starting or Continuing to DJ Now Will Not Give You the Future You Want [A DJ Career Discussion Without Quibbling]

This time I would like to address a topic that regularly resurfaces on Twitter and other social media, DJ careers, with plenty of personal opinions.

In Tokyo, although this is just my impression, far fewer people seem to visit clubs than before, while the number of DJs has grown enormously. It is an era with DJ schools springing up everywhere.

When Becoming a DJ Had a High Barrier

In the old days—until around 2010, when vinyl and CDs stopped being mainstream—even starting DJing had a high barrier.

A full setup—two turntables, a mixer, and headphones—cost over ¥150,000.

And every record you bought cost another ¥1,300.

Of course, dance music records were not stocked locally, so you spent time and money traveling to Shibuya's record shop district to buy them.

You could not keep playing the same tracks forever, of course. You had to keep buying new releases like groceries.

Fixed spending of ¥30,000 a month was normal, and motivation was proportional to the number bought, so you increased your spending to become a good DJ.

After debuting as a club DJ, you faced:

These ordeals awaited you.

Viewed as an investment, it was a terrible proposition, consistently delivering returns of -100% or worse, I have to say, haha.

Simply put, you could not start unless your family was rich or you had the strong will to give up all pleasures and spending outside music. Naturally I was the latter, haha.

Unlike now, it was not something girls could start casually. Carrying a record bag was hard, and there must have been many things besides records they wanted to spend money on.

DJs Themselves Are Now a Commodity

Later, technology dramatically lowered equipment and new-release prices. Digital DJing also removed burdens such as record bags.

Technology's transformation did not stop there.

Moving from vinyl to digital data advanced track management, cue insertion, and automation, and equipment began replacing the skills needed in the vinyl era.

Because of these factors, anyone could start DJing, the numbers of performing DJs and events soared, and none of them are remotely unusual anymore.

DJs Who Cannot Differentiate Themselves Will Simply Disappear

When DJs and dance music were novelties, merely continuing to DJ had value.

After all, the original role of a DJ—disc jockey—was to pick out unknown tracks and producers and spread them.

But the internet, particularly Spotify, YouTube, and SoundCloud, now fulfills that role, making DJs less important, as everyone knows.

That means only the added value that lets you stand out from the crowd matters, rather than soft skills such as selection taste and the flow of a set.

How to Stand Out from Everyone Else

The conclusion comes down to “Do you have authority or status?”.

Without something like these, you will disappear sooner or later.

Being Young with an Exceptionally Attractive Face and Physique

Longtime DJs may not want to admit it, but looks are extremely important for DJs now.

Without mincing words, “If you have an unattractive face and body and are old, do not even think about DJing. If you insist, get extensive cosmetic surgery first!”—that is the feeling, haha.

I normally work using marketing and psychology, and sexual appeal is a major factor in moving people—that is, attracting many customers.

This is not limited to DJs, of course.

For example, if people want to learn English, who draws a crowd and succeeds as a business: an elderly veteran professor at a prestigious foreign-language university, or a cute young English-conversation YouTuber who studied abroad briefly in recent years?

The answer goes without saying. However you look at it, appearance is among the most important factors today.

Incidentally, women have an advantage over men. Same-sex support differs: men praising attractive men are a minority, but many women praise cute women.

Working Overseas

Japanese people have always been creatures who submit to foreign “black ships,” haha.

Regardless of actual ability or experience releasing tracks, profile copy such as “Has DJed in X countries, with booking offers never stopping” works powerfully.

Also, the sense of mystery combined with rarity from hardly ever being in Japan should work positively too.

Long-Term Endorsement from the Highest Authorities

What matters is whether you can obtain endorsement, past, present, and future, from authorities whose influence has always been absolute, such as Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto, Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin, and Pete Tong.

Their positions do not shift across genres, eras, and generations, and if you stand on their shoulders, your own position will not shift either.

Additionally, becoming a regular performer at universally known huge festivals such as Tomorrowland, EDC, and Ultra Music Festival would establish your status, I would say.

Bad News: You Cannot Gain These Kinds of Authority Through Effort…

Sorry, but that is how it is.

So if your motivation is purely and straightforwardly loving music or dance music and wanting to share quality music through DJing, to put it mildly, only a hopeless ending awaits.

That was me, to be honest, haha.

In terms of dance music's quality, there is an overwhelming gap between Europe and Asia, including Japan.

But if you shrug and say “I am fine being one of the crowd; I do it because I love music,” honestly the spending exceeds an acceptable hobby budget and amounts to taking on liabilities every month.

As the world moves toward tougher economic conditions, continuing such a hobby is not a wise choice in terms of quality of life, I have to say.

The Most Realistic and Cost-Effective Way to Differentiate Yourself as a DJ

Still, I think there are ways to differentiate yourself as a DJ beyond the above.

One is “Become a successful influencer first, then shift into DJing”.

It may differ somewhat if you idealize a scene like Europe's, but essentially it is far more cost-effective to make your name first and shift into DJing once it is known.

This is hardly new, though.

Takashi Okamura, Sayaka Araki, Ayame Tachibana—there are quite a few examples just off the top of my head.

In other words, get famous somehow before taking DJing seriously.

Fortunately, there are now many ways to become famous besides being a celebrity or reader model.

Just off the top of my head:

These are some examples.

You could combine several elements, and once you gain popularity, spending on advertising to boost exposure may be useful too.

Even I may start sharing content through one of these before you know it, haha.

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