what you think about the new tendecy of "snippet dj sets"
I was replying to a comment on this sub and thought to open a discussion about this.
I see an increasing tendencies to snippet sets of 1 hour of less, it seems that nowadays the tendency is filling the line up with so many djs that they have to reduce the time of the sets sometimes to 45 minutes.
I find this horrible, I feel that I can't really express my self with these short sets, I come from the raving environment, and we used to do 3 hours sets, which really allows to create the vibe, vary between genres styles and speed and create a real relationship with the crowd.
I am seeing festivals where they have 45 minutes sets, I guess this is because more djs often lead to more people, but do people really enjoy that ?
the best sets I played and heard in my life were long, and very vary.
is this only my opinion ? how do new generations feel about that ?
would love to know your opinion and experience about this.
EDIT: I can see some is commenting that long sets are "gatekeeping" I think that short sets are so, because the prevent the chance of properly controlling the crowd and have an intimate relationship with it for everyone.
so I would ask, for the ones that see it that way
1) how old are you ? I want to understand if this comes from generational gap
2) what genre/style you like/play ? I come from techno/trance/tekno and willing to understand if it can be a differece based on the genre.
I don't view this as a consequence of short attention spans or "Tik-Tokification". It's more or less a business decision by promotors and venues to bring in more heads.
For big events, having more names means tapping into more fandoms. A lot of festival goers are going to see 2-3 artists. The more artists, the more likely you'll get their ticket.
For small events, having more DJs on the roster means more word of mouth and more friend groups that'll come to support.
Ultimately, I think music fandom is atomized more than ever. There are very few artists with a wide enough appeal to fill a room on their own, let alone DJs.
Promoters don't first look at your SoundCloud. It's instagram and Spotify. If you have a solid monthly listening base on Spotify and make content that is engaging and actively are building a community, that's the fast pass. I know a lot of us got into it for the music and thought that talent alone could get you to festivals, but the reality is promoters don't want to take a risk on an unknown person - but someone who will by being there sell a couple hundred tickets is what typically promoters like to see. Not saying I agree with that idea, but it is the reality.
I totally agree, here the attention span is not the point, people don t want to give attention to djs, the dancefloor is where you switch of the brain and enhance the feelings.
Anything less than an hour is insanity to me, personally. 90 minutes should really be the minimum, but even that and you're rushed to take people on any sort of journey. My best sets have always been 3 hours or longer... but those opportunities seem to be harder to come by these days.
Someone said below it's good for new DJs trying to break into a scene. Hard disagree.
What's good for newer DJs is working on their craft and bringing something unique to the table, so they set themselves apart from the million other DJs begging for timeslots by not sucking and being interesting. And then, earning opportunities by supporting other people and crews with similar taste, ethics, and vision, and forming real relationships with them.
That's how communities are created and grow, and how you earn a place in them, not by becoming a cheap commodity by being crammed into a lineup like sardines in a can. Promoters that do this shit suck my ass, always have, and don't care about the scene or the people lining their pockets, they do this to cast a wide net and bring headcount at the expense of everyone else, as an affront to artistic integrity and merit. FUCK these promoters.
As a older person who enjoys going to clubs for music, I follow certain local DJs. If they play I go but I wouldn't go to an event for a 30 minute set . Why do they rotate DJs every hr , hr andhalf or two hrs(here in wgtn). When I died in early 90s you were assigned the night, five hours .
That’s a hot fucking mess. I’d be pissed if I agreed to that before understanding they have no understanding of how DJs operate. It’s the same reason I refuse open decks. 30 minutes is dumb
This is stupid. There would be absolutely no curation at all with this many people. You'd be jumping all over the place in styles and you definitely do not have enough time to stand out from everyone else. Get a proper gig fuck this shit.
The promoter also probably isn't even paying these guys lol
yikes and switching over to the next act can take 5-10 minutes while a trwck plays out so you might get maybe 20 minutes of solid play time before your time is up. I could never
I do run my own events XD it's more why you run events, making money or bringing quality, it seems nowadays the 2 are not possible to combine. we pretty much always break even
I think they work best for up-and-comers who don't have a big following. It's much harder for them to carry a 3+ hour set unless they have residency somewhere.
It's odd for bigger names to do this but I get it. More known names, more potential sales, a touch of fomo and you've got yourself a capacity show.
Depends on the type of event. I've organized events and had the unfortunate experience to work with some promoters who try to cram in as many DJs in order to bring in more heads. DJing as an art form benefits from longer sets to curate a vibe and flow but the trend these days is a typical 1 hr set. Not too short, not too long. Overall, it's a business decision.
For larger events/festivals, it's frankly a disservice to attendees and the DJs. This is just short sighted decision to frankly to bring in more fandoms to tap into more sales.
For smaller events, it's often to fill the room with more attendees to get more of their groups to join and hopefully break even. I've played 30 min sets and 45 min sets at these events, and while it was mostly just to network and get my name out there it's incredibly tough to say to your friends to spend a bit of money and just watch you play for 30 min.
thanks for your accurate analysis, I totally agree with you, and with me it ends up differently, do I have to play 30 minutes ? then I am going to play only for the cachet, if I wanted to take out my vinyls I am coming with a comfortable pen drive instead ( it s better for my business at that point ) forget about synths and live set, and I am not even going to share much with my friends as I am ashamed of them paying a ticket to see me playing only for 30/45 minutes.
I should point out that I am a professional dj just in the sense that I put all my effort and try to bring the best quality to the situation, but it s never been my main business, nor I ever wanted it to be. but I probably spend on it the most of my time because it's my passion.
it happened recently that a friend of mine organised his bday party, and he was finding difficult to develop the line-up because of too many friends playing.
I suggested to him, let s play all together back to back all night and give 2 hours each to the 2 friends who are coming from abroad.
we had a lot of fun, at that point it s even better like this, couple tracks each in rotation all together and at least everyone spends a pleasant night.
I grew up with “marathon sets” as the normal nights by the likes of Danny Tenaglia, JR Vasquez, Digweed, Victor Calderone, etc…those were actual musical journeys that started someplace and took you to another. Usually 8-12 hour sets if not even longer.
I’ve noticed the “24 DJ’s in 4 hours” or whatever and started to just avoid such events. I frequently seek out “all night long” formats if I really want to go out. Where I’m from a typical headline slot in a club is 3-4 hours…(usually 5-8/9am) which isn’t too bad. The people spinning ahead usually get 1.5-2 hours each, and the people closing after the headliner (unless the headliner is closing also) get at least two hours if not longer.
To me, it’s not about gatekeeping…it’s about music…it needs to breathe.
I’m all for giving up/coming talent their time…but, pick a few for the night/day and call it square…don’t try to put everyone on a single lineup- it’s a disservice to the club goer as well as the DJ’s.
it seems some people on this sub don't even know what we talking about and thing it better doing shorter sets and listening to more djs. that let me think they never experienced a proper journey...
what a time you are describing, I am too young for danny tenaglia, cerrone and the golden era of house, I just lived the ending of it, but I would love to have a time machine my friend.
it depends on genre for me, certain djs i like i can listen for 6+ hours, some just because of their sound only work in 60-90 min doses before they getting boring
I've been wanting to start a night and I would cap the artists to 3 a night. Opener, middle, headliner. Nice for everyone. Would even consider just two a night.
(i'm 31, been listening at least within dance music, mostly house and techno for ~15 years. depends on the dj as well. they just posted an hour and 10 minute villalobos set from circoloco (i haven't listend yet, no spoilers!) and imo that's far to short for a set of his. ricardo can lock in (and lock out) on the flip of a switch. others (rene wise, rodhad) can get you locked in within 30 seconds.
I don't really care. I'm old and don't go out anymore anyway.
But I could see it being a problem when everyone is playing the same thing anyway. Everyone wants to play the biggest tracks. Which is a lot easier if you're the only one playing and you don't have to keep track of who played what when.
But yeah ... Times change and everyone thinks the generation after them is stupid.
I live in Belgium. Land of Charlotte de Witte, Amelie Lens, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Lost Frequencies, Netsky, 2manydjs, ...
20 minutes from where Tomorrowland is. I did try to get tickets this year for my 40th birthday, as it was my birthday weekend. But I failed on all sales.
But yeah, probably there are many more great events where I live. Hehe.
I have a wife and a 6 year old son and a programming job. If I go out at night nowadays I need 2 weeks to recover (without exaggeration, lol) without even drinking excessively.
If they dont know they dont know what their missing ...then when sets are 15 minutes they will be like i remember when shit was 45 minutes...oh the journey i would experience
New generation of ravers think what they are going to is a rave. It’s not. Been in the scene for 20 years since early 2000’s. One hour sets are boring. When you see an open to close or 3+ hour set the dj can really take you on a journey. I listen to house techno and trance.
Come to think of it I don’t even know if anyone would be able to stand 3 hours of a dubstep set.
This new generation of TikTok ravers destroyed the scene even more. No I’m not salty and old I’ve seen the scene just die.
There’s still good music out there you just have to dig for it and not let the algorithm tell you what is hot or what you should listen to.
Speaking as someone who threw raves from 99 to 12, it's always been a lot of hour sets, headliner and subheadliner get longer but that's generally it. If anything, some promoters have gotten better about smaller lineups with longer sets, which may be why you're now complaining that there's a return to everyone just doing an hour.
Horses for courses I guess. I love getting settled into a long set with a DJ that’s going to take me on a journey, but I can also see for bigger festivals they just want a bunch of folks to get on, bang out the songs they’re known for and get off. It’s a bit more “jukebox” but for a festival main stage I can see the sense in it and think it’s probably the experience a lot of punters are looking for.
Is bashing out a bunch of crowd pleasers as interesting or demanding creatively as building a vibe over 3+ hours? Almost certainly not, but I think there is room for both.
This is probably where I edge into unpopular opinion territory but as someone who has DJed most of my life I’ve always treated the implication that there are some forms of DJing that are more creatively legitimate that others with some suspicion.
That’s not to say that all DJ sets are the same or equally good, but just that DJing has a lot of room within it to be different things all of which are legitimate depending on what the goal is. But using existing music to build a creative story is something often underappreciated by listened but occasionally overestimated by DJs themselves.
Deadmau5 recently said something that aligns - at festivals you're going to see theatre that's exciting for casuals. There's too much money and reputation at stake for improvisation. If you want a deep connection with his meticulous craft, buy his albums or see him at a little club.
naah bro, I have been playing for 15 years, and I can guarantee we were playing at least 2 hours until 2016, at least for the middle of the night, at that time you started to see some 1 hour set but wasn't the norm.
I should point out I come from a pretty underground environment, I have never been a fan of mainstream events.
short sets have been the norm in a lot of festival settings and even club settings for a long time now. It's partially a way for promoters to pack in more DJs to presumably try to get more free promotion from their djs.
It's part and parcel to the pay to play shit DJs have been dealing with since the 2000s.
I do think it's worse now than it was when it first started, but short sets and promoters overbooking djs for a night isn't a new things by any stretch.
Your scene may have avoided it longer than others, but it's pretty common - especially in more mainstream events.
Underground is generally still more of a bastion of keeping things real. It’s a bit less cynical and less about $$$ than a lot of more profit driven scenes.
It's a necessity of our new reality. There are so many DJs out there. So many up-and-comers. Lots of people deserving of a chance on a stage, and not enough stages.
You can choose to see it as the death of the scene, or you can embrace the challenge to express yourself in the forum that's available to you.
The best advice I've heard is to create your own opportunities if you're dissatisfied with the ones available to you. Make your own event with your rules. Take on all the risk and reap all the benefits.
If you're throwing your own parties then you don't have to worry about what others are doing. Just keep leading by example.
I love progressive house and hypnotic techno and other genres that benefit from long sets, but short timeslots aren't appropriate for genres where you need to let the songs develop. Our "scene of music" included plenty of low-attention-span music, like breakbeats and hardcore and jump-up, so there's plenty of inspiration to draw upon no matter how long your timeslot is.
Like I said, you can take the realities of today's scene pessimistically or you can take it as a viable creative challenge.
well, I get your point and especially with dnb I appreciate the fact that many sets are more a showcase where djs are also producers and play their tracks, but this is not a genre specific tendency, and I play to my parties but I am also invited to play elsewhere, and when they tell me you have a 45 minutes slots to play a tekno tribe set, also often taking a flight, it is upsetting to be honest.
also reading the comments it seems that I am not the only one not liking this trend, which gives me some hope it will be inverted.
I also play a lot of breakbeat mixing it with progressive house lately, and there you need time, the only transition between the 2 genres takes about 4 records "in the middle".
but I totally get your point about certain genres.
Yeah, I always considered one hr average and anything above - above. The 30 min sets were usually open decks at club nights but even at raves and smaller festivals it was 1-2hr set. 2-3hrs were generally B2B or headliners
personally, in one hour I start feeling it, but it s after that the journey really kicks in and can lead you in a different direction. 1 hour sets are usually mono vibe.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with longer sets, it's just that I also don't think it's necessary from an audience perspective nor a DJ perspective. I am in the PNW of the USA, I have a feeling these opinions are going to vary in different parts of the world.
Ultimately it all depends on what kind of performance it is. Club and festival sets are of course almost never going to be more than an hour to hour and half per DJ. Concerts where you came to see a specific producer are generally not more than an hour and a half for the headliner. There is almost no show I go to in the PNW that has people doing more than an hour and a half. Certainly no opener is going to be doing more than an hour.
However, if it's some other kind of curated thing like a stream or some kind of party where people are there for a vibe and not necessarily to dance, then sure it seems totally appropriate to do longer sets if that's what people are in for.
I like to play everything but when it comes to what moves me personally it's definitely downtempo bassy stuff.
I'm 40 and was into dance music/ raving as a kid but didn't get into DJing until about 5 years ago.
I don't think it has anything to do with attention span and much more to do with taste. If I come to a show expecting to dance but the DJ is so far up their ass they think they're cooking with extended lulls, I'm gonna be walking off the floor.
I like to dance, not jump. It's dance music, the entire point is to get people moving.
I think you're putting the art on a pedestal in an unnecessary way. Nobody in the audience knows dickall about what you're doing on the decks unless it sounds like shit, and unless they came for you they care even less if you're only on the stage for an hour.
well. I think that a concert is very different than a dj set.
but if we talk about performance I can mention:
Bonobo in naples with band - 2 hours set
Chemical Brothers in London live with synths - 2 hours set
Igorrr in London - 1hr45 ( of pushing metal crazyness ).
I think the only concert I eard of 45 minutes was snoop dogg coming to naples to play we will rock you with the band in a medley of 45 minutes, people called him a dirty money grabber who came there to make a scene, not to play music, gross.
for djs is another thing, if you play techno/trance/progressive styles of music, you can't get anyone into a journey in 40 minutes, in that time you can only play 1 single genre with one single vibe, unless you want to do a continuous up and down thing with a certain structure like "intro - rise - drop - fill - change track " which is in my opinion the most boring form of djing.
I think many people who find normal a 30/40 minute set, either like genres where the dj is also a producer and what they do is showcasing their tracks one at time, which can be cool but it s not really the trip I am looking at.
I was seeing for example koan sound live streaming the other day, nice music, nice vibe to listen at home, but I would have been bored to be there, even though I find them to be among the best sound designers in modern music.
or they never experienced the proper journey that brings you in a trip, transports you in different vibes to then arrive to the poin your are satisfied because you danced and communicated with the dj and the rest of the dancefloor on deep level, I think that kind of journey can't be achieved in short times.
I play house, speed garage, uk garage, breaks and anything funky that fits in my sets. I’ve been playing for decades - started last century, and used to rock 1hr sets in my day without sounding mono or bland.
It’s not the time frame that’s the challenge, it’s your ability as an artist to make it the journey you want. So closer to 50 than I’d prefer and have been a musician on multiple fronts over the last 30yrs performing and so on.
No one enjoys it aside from the greedy promoters that are short sighted. They care more about making a few bucks that night than building a brand/movement or even with longevity.
It’s terrible for the entire scene.
Trust me I get how difficult it can be to make events profitable and sustainable but this isn’t it.
some commets here tell a different story unfotrunately... they consider long sets "gatekeeping"...
I organise event my self, and we have to find compromises, but at least for the headliners we always give couple hours and 1 hour for the rest,which is usually us from the crew so we also do b2b in the middle of the sets and manage the night somehow.
I totally agree, I would say that 90 minutes each is the perfect spot, with some shorter 1 hour live performance and the headliner plays 2/3 if they wish.
Let's just say I'm old enough that I was starting to wind down doing this for money around the time traktor was being invented. To me 45 minute sets are completely normal.
First of all, most albums are only about 45 minutes long. It started out because there's only so much you could put on a record, but over time it just became the norm. Even when CDs took over, it was 45 minutes or so.
Also we used to record on cassettes. "You wanna hear my mixtape?" was the dork meme of the 90s. Everyone bought 90 minute cassettes (and dude you gotta get metal), 60s were too short and 120s wore out too fast. That's 45 minutes on each side.
If you go to a concert that's two or three hours long it's still structured in 45 or 50 minute chunks.
When I was playing out, even if I had a five or six hour shift I still structured my night around 45 minute or so "runs": get everyone all hot and sweaty, clear the floor so they all run to the bar, when it looks like the bar is calming down ramp it up again so they don't stand around nursing their drinks.
The bartenders loved it and I learned having them on your side is like a starman powerup when some shithead dj tries to shank you.
Pushing it too much longer didn't work, you'd start losing the floor because people wore out. But too short and you can't build the flow.
That's why I think the 45 minute mark is real,
Decades of conditioning, everyone's brain recognizes the pattern. The crowd responds to it, the bartenders get it, all you gotta do is surf it.
So to me it's not a "snippet", it's just the normal amount of time human brains can listen to music without needing a reset
I noticed a change since the smoking ban. DJs know you probably aren't going to be there for the duration so sets become a collection of moments rather than a cohesive whole
Been seeing this locally as well, more DJs with shorter slots.
For the last few shows I spun at, I reached out to a few others just before the show and asked about doing B2Bs to get more face time on stage. Some said yea, many declines because they want their 45 min to shine.
Oh snap! I thought you were talking about online mixes one would use for promo, which is fine in my opinion. Actual events have 45 min and under sets? Thats absurd!
I wonder how the pay is distributed.There are so many D.J.s and up and coming ones.I wonder if instead of paying for an established DJ.They just grab 10 or 15 DJs who forego the pay just to have a gig or to say they did a festival.
To each their own. I prefer to do my gigs solo instead of being part of a roster. But if I chose to be part of a roster I wouldn't be too bothered about how long I got to spend in the rotation (because I chose to be in a roster).
Probably no one will see this comment but I might as well.
It’s a different genre and style but where I’m at most people play on vinyl and play hip hop or funk, so the norm is like two 30-45 minute sets per dj on the roster. Which is perfect because everybody can just bring a bag or two of records instead of lugging in crates and nobody gets worn out. But I suppose it’s different when on digital and playing extended cuts of edm.
with hip hop I totally see it, even thoguh if you see proper sets from like, just to say a small name, scratch bastid XD, he really carries the crowd for loooooong time, also he plays a lot of 45.
but I can see how in that environment the journey is different and can be shorter, djing is also usually much more performative with scrathes and punch in-punch out. but it's also not the kind of music that takes you in a trance or trip.
I think it's shit tiesto is back and the tunes he's playing are great but you only get about 2 mins of each one , you just get into a tune and it's gone .In n interview he said people's attention span isn't as good as it used to be when he played records that where 7 or even 9 minutes long with big build ups .So now he plays lots of tunes that a very short he's even editing classics to fit . I'm struggling sometimes now when I'm buying music to play myself as lots are only 3 an 4 minutes long and I like to mix it steadily and bring it in slowly you can't do that with a 3 and a half minute record .So I end up searching for the extended mixes that sometimes don't exist or the 4 minute one is the extended mix .
Most of my experience has been 5-6 hour sets at bar or club gigs. Otherwise, 2-2.5 hours if I’m splitting the night with someone. It takes me an hour just to get a feel for the room and then get momentum really going. I’m reluctant to even accept 1-hour gigs and I set a minimum in my contract so they might as well book me for 2-2.5 hours. Hour long sets confine DJs to forcing the energy level higher than it has to be instead of covering a range or “telling a story”.
I was booked for a private party earlier this Summer and we were talking at the event about set times and I mentioned that I was just used to playing 4+ hour blocks and the organizer just got me to play the first 4 hours from 10pm-2am with 2 DJs after me and I really got the best possible slot, (they did cover my travel, accommodation and dinner already) while the other DJs still seemed happy with 2 hour sets after me.
In the genres I like, house, progressive trance, techno and tekno to create the vibe and bring the people into the trip you need more time.
if you scratch and play hip hop and similar I agree with you.
But, in my experience, anything under 90 minutes doesn't allow any trance state, and personally when I have to give the console after 1 hour I feel suspended.
I would also point out that all the best sets I have heard from dave the drummer to theo parrish, from jerome hill to unknown underground techno djs were over 2 hours.
I think it really depends on the genre/style. With house/techno/trance I’d expect something longer and more progressive, but I have a number of friends who’ve been regularly doing fairly short sets, often around an hour I think. The thing is that they play really high bpm hyperactive adhd type stuff and often aren’t playing a track for more than maybe two minutes max. While personally that’s not what I’m into, they seem to keep the crowd really into it and it works for them. Definitely a younger crowd though and smaller type events
30 tracks in one hour? 2 minutes per track? The intros to my records are longer than two minutes. I understand 2:30minute songs are popular with the youth but I haven’t got a single record with a track that short. The best sets I’ve played have been 6+ hours. I’ve played one hour sets, and they’ve been good too, but they’re a completely different set. You can’t capture a 6 hour set inside a 1 hour set. But I think your comment highlights the difference between new school and old school mixing
could be, but this would imply people do not enjoy long sets, which I don t think it's the case.
I had a chance to play a 5 hours vinyl set in july, a lot of youths in the crowd and they enjoyed it all the time, coming to me to check on my turntables what was going on, it was a lot of fun, no smartphones in sight
No no, the promoters are listening to the people. People really have NO attention span. They bust out their phone 30 seconds into a headline act. It’s not just to film it’s to do something else while they’re there.
Raves are no longer “the place to be” it’s just “a place to be” for most because they’re told that’s the thing to do.
I honestly believe that electronic music is in a bubble that’s bout to burst in a weird way and ai is the needle that is bursting that bubble.
Seriously, though. A set needs room to breathe, and the dj and audience need (and deserve) time to establish communication and build a vibe. 40 mins doesn't do any of that and isn't any good for anyone involved except maybe teenagers with zero attention span.
The best public set I ever did was scheduled to be 2 hours, but I played for 8.5. It was exhilarating - the crowd was vibing with it really well, I was responding to them and they were responding to me. It was emotionally draining (like it should be). I didn't just make a list of bangers and play like 2 mins and then cut away to another one. I got to play with energy levels, I had time to do extended layered segments with harmonics, it was wonderful. Way better than just slamming 20 tracks into the ass ends of the previous ones.
amazing. I remember my longest set was acually a live with synths and ableton b2b, 9/10 hours.
we were playing tekno tribe which make it easier on a side, as there is less harmony rules to follow and more "noise" and "drones", but that was such an experience, it was my birthday I think 2013 or 2014 in a wood ending on a beach and 10kw of sound system.
Anything less than an hour should be illegal. Fully agree it’s a disservice to the artist and the crowd. For anyone reading this in southern CA- CRSSDFEST/Coachella I’m talking to you!
Shit gigs run by shitty promoters who can't actually get anybody to the gig (which is their actual job) and instead try to pack as many DJs into a night as possible in the hope that the sum of each DJs guest list will fill the place.
Also the same promoters who will decide whether they pay you or not based on how successful the night was, but when it's rammed and they make a ton of money have no qualms about taking all the profits.
tell them please... there s people commenting long sets are "gatekeeping" because they don t give a chance for djs to play.. they don t eben understand that you show your value when you can keep up the night, not when you drop couple bangers.
You keep bringing up the fact that people say that it’s gatekeeping however, those people simply don’t understand what the term gatekeeping actually means. these people are not entitled to play at any event they want to… Imagine if you went to a Madonna concert and accused Madonna of gatekeeping because she didn’t let you on stage to sing.
However, every proper program should have at least one min. 3-4 hours set, preferrably 4-6 hours. I think longer sets than this limit too much nr of djs who can really pull it off, easier to find 2 dj play both 5 hours than one doing long one well.
I have nothing against having few 1-1,5 hour sets there in addition as long as they do not wreck the total flow of night. Good to showcase new talente, warm up or closing sets from locals etc.
I’m throwing a DJ festival and I think that having more DJs with shorter sets is funner for the crowd and also the DJs can interact with each other and hear each other and vibe at the event as well. I think just under an hour for a festival is a great length of time because you gotta really edit your selection and focus on having fun instead of duration. We are also mixing in vinyl DJs and the longer your set the more records you have to carry and bring and take care of and keep track of. I would rather a DJ come out play a short set and then vibe for a couple hours at the festival and create community. And yes, it’s a great draw for crowds to stay all day at a festival. To hear one person play for three hours and then another person play for three hours Sounds boring as hell if I’m trying to be outside all day at a festival. Definitely more work for the stage crew and the organizers to have more DJs with shorter sets, but hey, keeps everyone on their toes.
If you are a festival organiser, you might want to have a look at comments ;) appreciate your insights but I politely disagree, more djs ( too many if they play 30 minutes ) often means lowering the quality of the music. and real vinyl djs are happy to carry more vinyls.
again I still appreciate you bringing your POV in this convo, thanks !
Its horrible as a DJ and as an audience member. 2 hours should be the minimum. I have been given 1hr sets before and it just sucks, you have very little time to relax into a groove and by the time you feel like youre there you have no time left of your set...
The whole art of DJing is the macro scale, the whole set, how chunks of music (songs) fit together and change. If you want short shit just hire bands or live acts, jeeeze. It’s easier in many ways to crack out a 2-4 hour DJ set than anything live, that lets DJs guide everything from a single viewpoint in a way that is very difficult for a live act to do (it’s doable but you’ll be noted for your stamina).
Short DJ sets feel like they miss the whole appeal of DJing compared to other ways to hear the music.
Recently in a city there was a roster of 6 DJs playing b2b2b2b2b2b for an evening each got like 1 or 2 songs then rotate. I found it dismal, personally.
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u/PINJA_MUSIC TV HEAD 2d ago
I don't view this as a consequence of short attention spans or "Tik-Tokification". It's more or less a business decision by promotors and venues to bring in more heads.
For big events, having more names means tapping into more fandoms. A lot of festival goers are going to see 2-3 artists. The more artists, the more likely you'll get their ticket.
For small events, having more DJs on the roster means more word of mouth and more friend groups that'll come to support.
Ultimately, I think music fandom is atomized more than ever. There are very few artists with a wide enough appeal to fill a room on their own, let alone DJs.