trainspotting, what is the big deal?

Is this really a big deal? So I am going thru hypotheticals in my head and wondering who uses this and why?

There is a cynical side of me (the old grumpy man in my mid 30s who has been spinning almost half his life) that wants to say that it seems to me that some DJs (damn kids these days!) are such haters and cockblockers. Not all, just some. And I feel like the haters are the ones using this feature to make DJs less of a community and more cutthroat and competitive in an un-sportsmanlike way. The DJs who are not artists, but users and abusers. I wonder if they use this feature because they are afraid of biters. I wonder if they think that way because they are biters themselves and if someone took their playlist and tried to copy their style that they would be out of work.

To me, that just means they aren't enough of an artist that their style would evolve over time or get better. If your style was that unique and/or that good, your attitude should be "let them try to bite it". All of the best guys are biters themselves - what makes them innovative is they take what someone else invented and continue to make it better and combine it with thier other styles and techniques until they make it their own. That's how the art form elevates and as an artist I understand that.

But on the other hand, for some of the really big name players out there, I can understand how they might feel like they want to use it, because everyone is looking at them and they get so much attention and everyone is trying to bit their stuff and it begins to feel like people are stalking you and you have no privacy. I can image doing a big show and some roadie is sitting across the stage with a pair of binoculars to steal my whole set.

Or if you are in a battle or mix-off, I could see that. Except if I was in that situation, I'd be tricky and just change all my tags to some other artist and a non-existent track name to send any biters on a wild goose chase - let them chase their tail and waste a a few hours instead of practicing like they should be.

But really, my attitude when I play is I don't care if you know what I'm playing, I know you won't be able to jack my style, so who cares? In my mind, I will always play it better than you so I don't worry about it. In reality, my style appeals to my own ear so of course what I play sounds better to me - its perception. You might play it in your own style, and some people might like your way of playing it and some might like mine, but it is no sweat off my back either way. I will give you mad props if you can play it as good or better than I.

I always tell people what a song is if they want to know- I feel part of what I do as a DJ in addition to entertaining is to educate, whether educating the crowd or other DJs. There are a lot of good DJs out there playing bad music, if they find out what I'm playing it brings the whole scene up and then it forces me to evolve and get even better as a DJ to keep up.

Heck, if you ask me for a copy of a couple tracks, I'll probably trade you for something you got. I roll my own remixes, mashups and blends, so if you don't ask me for it, you'll never find it anywhere else than from me or someone I gave it to. Some of the stuff I got, you'll never find on your own because it came from a compilation or a soundtrack or a demo CD by an artist in some other country that doesn't have tracks out on the web (I know cuz I searched high and low for additional tracks by them to no avail). If I have a really special remix, I might remove the name of the mix and just leave the artist and original song title, but I want people to be able to know a little about what I'm playing.

I dunno, am I just way off base here? Maybe I am just trusting because I started with really cool DJs and we always had respect and shared music and techniques and stuff. We might get heated in a battle or mobile DJ showcase, but after it was over, we were all good friends.

Is it just me, having lived as a DJ in SF Bay, San Deigo and Hawaii? Is it really cutthroat between DJs in some other cities or countries? If so, tell me where you are so I know not to ever move to your city. I'd rather stay in my naive, idealistic little bubble, thank you.

So I have a question - if you use the trainspotting feature, what are you gonna do about people who use their iphone with the Shazam app? Are you gonna jam their mobile phone signal? What flavor will you use? Raspberry?

"Nobody gives me the raspberry!"

sorry... getting delerious. Had a gig last night and work early this morning. Just trying to stay awake in this boring meeting.

That was a long as post so I didn't read the whole thing...lol

Here's why I use the AM mode in SSL. I don't mind telling another DJ what track I just played if he/she asks me. I just think it's plain rude to read over another persons shoulder. I really could care less if you ask me for every song in my whole set because chances are you'll never be able rock it the way that I do anyway. It's just the principal of the whole thing though. I've done gigs where somebody will stand behind the whole night looking at every track I'm playing but won't even take the time to introduce themselves. It's mostly the noobs tht do it though. Most of us vets have the common courtesy to introduce ourselves and if we hear another DJ drop a hot track we'll ask what it is.

I would use it more to put an end to customers looking in and saying "just looking whats next"....

There is nothing more annoying to be than "Whats next.."

okay, starting to make a little more sense now...

I laughed last weekend... Another DJ thought there was something wrong because it wasnt showing the songs...

"why is it like that"

because i want it to be...

"why?"

so people don't stand next to me all night looking at my songs and writting them all down.

"oh" (walks away)

DJ-A, i have the same reactions... sometimes i don't want fly's leaning over my shoulder etc... gets really annoying especially when they are in my way and im jumping from deck to deck..

true. to make it worse. i use the trainspotting mode plus i make an extra crate so every time i load a track i go to the extra crate with nothing so you cant see anything

Ha Ha!!!

WTF???

I can see it now when their face goes blank as they try to figure out where all your songs went...

Maybe i'll start typing in something random like "ABBA", or "Depech m" so that all they see is songs by random artists

So Trainspotting is when people look over your shoulder to see what you're playing? Couldn't they just listen to the songs you're playing and figure it out? Isn't this the same as looking at a playlist? (for Radio DJ's) I don't see what the big deal is, except for of course someone being in the way. I'm curious as to why this would be a big issue. Can someone explain it to me?

^^^It's basically this... writing down every song i play is annoying... standing there looking over my shoulder is even more annoying. Put together your own sets and play your own songs, don't try to copy what i do.

sure i'll tell someone the name of a song that i'm playing... but giving them a list of everything, WTF? I may as well let them copy my hard drive... which as in other threads have said, people actually ask you to do..

dj's are a funny breed.

I could care less if they know the song I just played, I'll tell em everytime.

It's just plain rude to look over someone's shoulder.

How about the next one

and the next one

and the next one. oh, and they dont ask, they stand 6 inches away and try to read over your sloulder. at least with the trainspotter mode they don't have to be close enough to see your monitor

good point, call security ;)

Been there ive also been to a few places and they were running 1.5 still and had no clue that they should update lol

sad to say in the dvs world now which i have grown to love.... it brings out all of the nOObs and kids in this download age who have no respect for acquiring their own music since everything is available on the fly or through an illegal download.

Before in the wax times you couldn't just rip your precious vinyl and half to give to some curious dj who wanted your tunes... what makes it any different for me to let you copy and paste my tunes that i have spent time organizing, downloading, and filtering through for my liking?

One or two tracks like it was in the past is fine in today and the future... but trying to get the whole library/list is annoying.

Yes playlists are readily available off the radio shows, but you aren't there over the dj's shoulder on the show trying to get track id's... you are waiting till they publish the playlist before or after the show...

Hi.
Since I don't play the same sound as other DJs in my city I have no trouble with DJs copying whole playlists. But I use am mode for another reason. Everytime I play my sets there are a bunch of people who really like what I'm playing. On one hand this is something great since the parties I'm playing at are for a wiiiiide range of electronic music and most of the people are there for the mainstream sounds. But on the other hand I know that those guys never buy records, CDs or digital tracks. They haven't spend money for music in ages and I don't want to be the guy who "hands out" a list with music they can download in illegal ways.

To sum up:
I (also) use the am mode to prevent the artists and record labels from filesharing!

If people, start hanging over my shoulder, I just kick them out of the dj-boot.