Two-Thirds Of DJs Don't Play Their Favourite Music While Performing

A survey conducted by Pirate.com found that 65% of DJs don't play their favourite music out. 

The survey was conducted after Spotify released their annual Spotify Wrapped, which shows users which genres and artists they've listened to the most this year.

Pirate proceeded to ask 260 DJs from across the UK what their most streamed genre was as well as what type of music they play in their DJ sets.

For 65% of DJs, their most-listened-to genre was different to the music they play when they’re DJing. Examples included a jungle DJ who got Lana Del Rey as their top artist, a techno DJ who got The Who and a house DJ who had been listening to mainly afro-pop. 

While the headline of this article may sound damning, this makes total sense. Most dance music genres are completely contextual, one that makes these genres most enjoyable when seeing the tracks DJed out live in a club environment. I'd be deeply concerned if the techno DJ mentioned above only listened to techno.

This trend was also reflected in the study, which showcased that 63% of DJs surveyed said their music taste is driven by their surroundings. A UK bass DJ stated, "I wake up to shoegaze/dream pop every morning. During the day, I'll listen to soft acoustic or jazz records and tune in to my local station. At night, I'll listen to lyrically powerful music (Nick Cave, Kate Tempest etc.) or fully emotive electronic music (Burial, Ross From Friends etc.).

"In the clubs it's mostly UKG & bassline stuff with the odd hyperpop banger."

In terms of finding new music, 75% of DJs said they found new music in other people's DJ sets, many praising Soundcloud, saying, "I mainly just use SoundCloud to find new music, the related tracks section is great. They also have a Stations section which generates a list of tunes based on what you’ve listened to.”

You can check out the report HERE.