Whether you are just starting out or have been playing live for many years, I’m sure you realize the importance of having music. After all, you can’t DJ without music ... people need sound to dance to ... even in silent discos :)

If you’re anything like me then at times you will struggle to keep up dated on new releases and find it difficult to sift through available tracks to find the gems you’re looking for. Let’s take a look at some of the issues that you may be facing:

•    You have a large collection already of the music genre you wish to play, yet they are over a decade old and you’re struggling to find something recent that gives you the same feeling as the tracks from back in the day.

•    You’re not sure where to sample or buy music from.

•    You’re playing gigs weekly so you need to have new material all the time, and it seems like a full-time job doing this preparation.

•    You’ve found some websites to buy music from but there are soooo many tracks ... you’re not sure how you will filter through them all and find the hidden gems.

•    You’ve found tracks you want to buy but it’s becoming very expensive.

•    You have a long folder of MP3s on your computer and have difficulty finding the tracks you want.

Ok, so let’s tackle the obvious question first ... where do you buy music from? These days pretty much everything has become digital and there are many websites out there with the latest releases you can buy in MP3 format. Following are some sites that I use:

http://www.audiojelly.com – This site lets you sample tracks (very important), view its waveform, has a Top 100 list, has a New Releases list and lets you browse by genre or perform a custom search.

http://www.trackitdown.net – This site has a pretty cool player with playlist, easy navigation for different genres, easy access to different mixes of a track and good descriptions of the tracks.

http://mp3skyline.com – Although you can browse for tracks on the site, you need to download/ install a Java application locally to interact with the music library ... perform searches, sample and download (you buy credit into your account to purchase tracks until your credit runs out). The application will store all downloads in a convenient location so you can re-download quickly and for free in the future. On the website you can also search by ‘last added’ date and ... my personal favourite ... access RSS feeds of your genres so you can keep updated via your RSS reader of latest tracks.

There are many more out there ... yet these work well for me. Google searching will give you a lot more. Test out different sites so you know the cost differences, how up-to-date their libraries are, what the purchasing process is (e.g. pay per track or pay to receive credits), whether you can access your download history and perform a repeat download without re-paying, whether you can skip through the sample so you don’t have to wait to get into the main part of the track, and so on.

Once you have found your preferred sites, you now want an automatic way of keeping updated on new releases. There are a few options here:

•    Facebook / Twitter – Most of the sites that sell tracks will have Twitter feeds and Facebook pages you can join to keep updated with latest releases.

•    Join the site’s mailing list to be emailed weekly with tracks in your preferred genre(s). Some mailing lists also give you tracks that are in DJ playlists so you know what’s hot right now.

•    Use the search features on the site to order by latest releases (or other filters that you prefer, such as if you’re looking for tracks by a particular artist).

One last thing I’ll mention regarding keeping costs low ... on some sites I’ve seen tracks that are new cost more than older tracks. If it isn’t urgent for you to be playing the latest releases, an option is to hold back and buy music let’s say with a release date of 3 months ago or older.

Next time we will discuss what to do with your purchases and good ways of organizing everything to save on time so you are in control of your music ... not the other way around.

Written by Etchy Boy!

So, you want to become a DJ. You started out with a dream, a fire and a passion to make this work.
You went out and bought some expensive equipment. You took lessons from the best tutors. You
practiced for many hours. Yet for some reason you feel like you aren't getting where you want to
be.

Maybe your goal is to play in bars, clubs, make loads of money, hook up with hot girls or guys, make
people smile, or you have another reason for wanting to DJ. However, all of a sudden the passion
doesn't feel as strong as it used to and you may doubt yourself at times.

Sound familiar? Well, firstly you should be patting yourself on the back for putting in the effort to
turn your dreams into a reality. You took the initiative when so many others would just talk and
take no action. That in itself is an accomplishment because you can't reach your destination without
getting on the road in the first place.

This road will have challenges, uphills, downhills and many obstacles. Just like anything with life, the good things don't come without a fight. At times you will feel like you aren't getting anywhere and it's at this moment you must push yourself further and show the world what you are made of. Close your eyes and picture yourself living the life of your dream ... hear the crowd cheering for you ... see them wanting more ... feel the adrenalin pumping through your body ... smell that scent of success.

What you have just done there is visualized your goal. Visualizations are a powerful way to express
to your mind exactly how you expect your life to be. Do this consistently and you will start making
subtle changes to your daily habits and routines that will result in your visions becoming a reality.
Do this consistently and do it with belief. You must believe in yourself. Know that you know that
you know you will reach your goal .... and it will happen. Too many quit when they are about to
reach the top of the hill, so close to seeing the sunshine on the other side.

So when you're feeling down and de-motivated, think back at why you wanted this in the first place
and believe in yourself. Think about the music ... the world needs to hear your music. Look in the
mirror and shout out as loudly as possible: "YES I CAN" ... too right you can ... and you will.

Written by Etchy Boy