Well i'm getting into Dj'ing...slowly piecing together everything. I have a huge collection of music. i'll be using a laptop to store and mix music. Question is...what web-sites do you use to keep current on new music for downloads? Any Top 40 googling has kinda left me empty handed. Appreciated...

I am no DJ but if I want to download music I go to Limewire. Not sure if that helps.

I do use limewire for some downloads...but it doesn't have a "Top" list for music. (that I know of)

Used to be a DJ. Pre-digital days. So I've got tons of music...but it's all on vinyl.

Call me old fashioned, but mixing on the computer/digital is cheating.

(Unless, of course, you're making an actual song)

If you do run LIMEWIRE (Bearshare twin), be sure to have a Parasite/Spyware killer during the install (ONLY during the install will Bearshare and Limewire try to install a parasite (spyware).

Once done. You're good to go. Note- no "top list" or "most downloaded" on either I know of...

Also a former DJ waaaaay back in High School, owned my own company with 3 crews. 1200'z baby!

MGJ

You aren't getting into DJ-ing with a laptop and downloaded mp3s. You are getting into playing stolen music for a crowd.

My experience with DJs was being involved in the rave scene "way back when". Any "DJ" I knew sure as hell would never spin any "Top 40" songs, and would never touch anything besides vinyl. I guess the folks that play weddings and crap are still considered DJ's by title, but I sure don't think of them as such. If you can't perfectly beatmatch DnB, you're not a DJ in my book.

I guess I could write something constructive inst4ead of just ranting:

Go buy a couple turntables, a mixer, and head to the record store for some 12"'s.

All of you discussing Limewire- fucking thieves. You don't deserve to play the music you profess to love.

top 40 site for all genres is here, www.billboard.com

Don't forget your ASCAP fees. They'll be mighty thrilled to learn where you obtained your music from, I'm sure.

Damn dude go have a coke and a smile. :rolleyes:

I can agree with a lot of what you said. Nothing can beat dj'ing on a pair of 1200's. Nothing even comes close. (Started spinning dnb in 1993) But considering MemorEsto's request (Top40), he won't be running out to buy vinyl singles at $15 a pop any time soon. You can check out the MuchMusic and MTV websites for their playlists and see what is in rotation currently. I think most radio stations have their playlists posted up as well. As for downloading tunes off Limewire and such, if you don't feel any guilt about it, did you really do anything wrong?

So for you DJ zealots who played in the vinyl days... you DID pay ASCAP fee's?

Did you pay, based on a head count or needle-drop?

I agree that you need to purchase your music, but as a radio DJ for 10 years, I'm well aware of ASCAP/BMI and other copyright issues.

Your best bet, is to find a place that specializes in DJ music... very hard to find... there is one such place, here in Austin, Tx.... don't remember the spot, but Google around...

By the way... the music will likely not be that big of an expense, once you start looking at lighting and power issues...

To Silence all the critics... and to be more clear I guess. I have DJ'd at clubs..I DO have turn tables and mixers and beat box's. I live in a small town, and there isn't alot of request for me mixing or throwing down a 10 minute beat..which I can do with the best of them. I PAY for my limewire for higherspeeds and tax purposes..... But i'm not gonna be a dick when somone asks for me to play "fergiliscious" or whatever...yell at them that REAL DJ's don't play it..... anything else. YIKES....so much for good web sites. I forgot to put my F'n flame suit on for asking about DJ shit.

Hey, didn't mean to kick you around. After reading your initial post, this is how it got assembled in my mind:

"I've got tons of music on my laptop [that I've downloaded over the years] so I was thinking getting into the DJ thing would be cool. Before I go downloading more current stuff, where are some good sites to find out what that current stuff would be."

Had you posted some of the additional information in your first post that you just replied with, you probably would have come across much differently.

Anyway, to the other poster asking about ASCAP/BMI. No, I've never DJ'd, but I remember when my Mom owned a dance school that the ASCAP folks liked to drop by now and again to inspect her current collection of music. And this in a small town out in rural KY.

It's cool, I guess first post did look a little poser'ish .... The ASCAP comes to dance schools to inspect music???? WOW!

I didn't. The bar did.

Then you would know that an ASCAP license for a radio station is different from an ASCAP license for restaurants/bars/nightclubs, which is different from an ASCAP license for a stadium/arena.

Needle drops mean nothing in the nightclub area.

It's hard to even find vinyl much anymore..musicians friend still carries some decent things...I still have the Stanton Str8 100...decent machine...but the new mixer I picked up has the digital...still getting used to it...mixing with a dial 2" in diamater as opposed to vinyl....

Here's a question. I'm a technical trainer by profession, and in my private life I enjoy music and have 700+ CDs packed into my iPod. I also do some voice over work so I know and respect the artists and singers I know and have spent time with so I won't hijack, steal, or illegally distribute music.

My question is... in the classroom during the day, my students will spend some fairly mundane time doing their labwork. It would be cool if I could play some background music for them off of my iPod. What (if anything) can I play legally? Mozart? Handel? Public Domain only? "Best of the Blues?" Modern top 40?

I guess what I'm asking is, would this fall into the:
"Hey I bought some cool songs I'd like you to hear" category, or the
"Welcome to my class, I'll be illegally playing music during the lab?" category?

Where's the limit? If I buy a CD and play it in my car with my wife, its not a problem. If I buy a CD and play it at home during a party, that's not a problem either. So... where do you cross the line?

Legally speaking, I have no idea...but I wouldn't think this would be a problem...cause you aren't being paid to play the music...but, honestly don't know. Or you could just charge them .25 like a jukebox

Technically speaking, playing it at home during a party does constitute a public performance. But I don't think they are really worried about that.

As far as the classroom goes - it's a little sketchy. If the music is part of the lesson, and it's a non-profit (I assume all public schools would fall under that banner), it would be legal to play it. But since it's not part of the lesson, it might not be. But again - I don't think they'd really be concerned.

Its definately not a public school, I'm a traveling technical trainer for a large software company based in San Francisco. The music has nothing to do with the lesson except to help dissapate the stone cold silence during the 4 hour lab session. Our annual raises and performance reviews are based largely on customer feedback on evaluation forms. Music helps a LOT, but not if I had to stick to public domain tunes sung by charitable barbershop quartets, etc.

Tsk, tsk, Moby, I'd expect you to know better... Being in a classroom, or via a non-profit has nothing to do with public exhibition of licensed works. The exceptions to copyright are due to how it is used, not where or by whom. The only exceptions in a classroom are due to the Fair Use clause. Fair Use only covers "Comment & Criticism" (if you are reviewing a work for academic discussion), or Parody. I work at a college, and we still have to pay ASCAP for any performances that are not part of a class lesson. Its a major PITA. :rolleyes:

After re-reading your answer, I realized I mis-read your response and you were effectively saying the exact same thing. Sorry...

Ok, I rescind most of my flame about your DJ skills. You are still stealing music, though. There is absolutely nothing legal about Limewire Pro. You're only paying a fellow pirate. If nothing else, you should buy the original media (if its CD, so be it) so that you get a much better quality copy of the music. That 128kbps MP3 will sound like crap when its amplified to party levels compared to an original CD. I wouldn't DJ with anything less than a 196kbps sources, 320 preferred. If you really want quality (and have an enormous HDD), use a raw .wav rip of the music.

Yeah, sounds like you (or your company, rather) would be a good financial target for the MPAA. Tough call on your part. Keep your fingers crossed that noone turns you in!

I've been DJ'ing for over 16 years. Started on
vinyl, then cd's, and now I am using MP3's. I use a program called PCDJ Red by Visiosonic. It's awesome, looks just like a dual cd player. I've ripped my entire cd collection to MP3 and for newer stuff, I download from Napster. $14.95 for unlimited downloads. I use the billboard charts to and local radio station charts to find the top hits.

I think Wagner's "Ride Of The Valkyries" is perfect for that situation.

It will do wonders for their concentration.