DJ Creative Control

[MosDefANoob]

Ok, so Im not sure if i am in the right forum to ask this so if its not i apologize...but it is a nightclub question, so figured itll be ok.

Well...im in LV for a month playing poker. I went to go see Dada Life @ Hakkasan, Diplo @ XS, Axwell @ Light and Dillon Francis yesterday @ Surrender.

I really love the music and sadly my main purpose in all the club trips was primarily to check out the DJs as opposed to going to the club to go all out on booze, chicks, etc... Im a big fan of all these guys, but a big Dillon Francis fan. I was hoping to hear all, if not most of his "hits"...at least Masta Blasta, Bootleg Fireworks, IDGAFOS and suit and tie. WELL...i think he played a few bars of his suit and tie remix, maybe 30 sec or so total, and i think i remember the Masta Blasta drop mashed into another song...dont really remember hearing too much Dillon Francis Originals/Remixes...(or even seeing his cat, IDGAFOS, FUCK, SHIT and other bad words on the LED boards)!

Now, I put "hits" in quotes because i understand that a hit in the EDM world isnt really even a blip on the radar to the entire population. So, although I was there to hear these songs Im guessing that ~90% of the people could give 2 shits whats playing or who is playing it. Especially the bottle service dudes who have no idea who dillon francis is...and these are the people that really matter to the club from my understanding.

Now after my long winded post, here is my question. How much creative control/freedom do DJs actually have when playing at the type of venues Ive been to? I think DJs have little to no control based on my month here at the clubs. Dada didnt play much of their stuff, Diplo not as much of his stuff either (but it did feel like a diplo set)...so am i far off on this assumption?

TL;DR
Ive been to several top tier clubs in LV to go see some of my favorite DJs. DJs dont play many of the songs i would expect/hope to hear. Do DJs have creative control over what they play?

thanks...especially if you read the entire post.

[bigsi26]

calvin harris was once kicked of the decks at surrender (not sure if exact club) as he wasnt playing commercial enough music here in england we listen to more techno deep house not as much guetta shm and people were saying harris was not commercial enough they have no idea lol also mark farino plays real house music and the vip people started moaning

[renator]

Well i went to guetta @xs and he played alot of his songs lol
Jokes a part i think they play the popular songs or as the guys said, comercial house music...
It's what most of the crowd wants (including guys who pay for tables) so i think they pre-agreed on that...
But big djs play their own famous songs if its comercial (like avicii i could be the one, afrojack cant stop me now) these are just some examples...
at least for the ones ive been trough thats the kind of songs they play

[Flo]

went to mdw last year: afrojack pretty much played his sound, same goes for deadmau5, chuckie and laidback luke as well as kaskade (was his freaks of nature tour though). they all played the way you expect them to play.

most of the other djs mixed a few of their well known tracks with the most popular commercial tracks. cant count how many of the popular numbers were played several times by different djs at one venue during one night

[Ralph Mallett]

I've seen Eric Prydz loads in the UK and he's one of my favourite producers and DJs.

I see he has a redidency at Wyncore now so I'd be interested to hear what sort of stuff he plays there if anyone has seen him recently?

[kazflair]

I've seen Eric Prydz loads in the UK and he's one of my favourite producers and DJs.

I see he has a redidency at Wyncore now so I'd be interested to hear what sort of stuff he plays there if anyone has seen him recently?

Yea, I've heard the same, they just play to the crowd mainly. Heard when they spin in places like Ibiza, the sets are different. They are just being DJs. My favorite is Diplo, but you have to see him as Major Lazer.. That's the real Diplo. That's when that shit is super super Trap and good. I like him as Diplo but nothing like Major Lazer, again he is playing to the crowd/venue to appeal to that mass. Your point brings up a point I made... I can't tell the difference in DJ style to a lot of these guys here, they all play the same shit, so don't get the hype over the must need to see certain DJs, but that's just me...

[Ralph Mallett]

I've seen Eric Prydz loads in the UK and he's one of my favourite producers and DJs.

I see he has a redidency at Wyncore now so I'd be interested to hear what sort of stuff he plays there if anyone has seen him recently?

Yea, I've heard the same, they just play to the crowd mainly. Heard when they spin in places like Ibiza, the sets are different. They are just being DJs. My favorite is Diplo, but you have to see him as Major Lazer.. That's the real Diplo. That's when that shit is super super Trap and good. I like him as Diplo but nothing like Major Lazer, again he is playing to the crowd/venue to appeal to that mass. Your point brings up a point I made... I can't tell the difference in DJ style to a lot of these guys here, they all play the same shit, so don't get the hype over the must need to see certain DJs, but that's just me...

I'd agree with you definitely.

When you go to see a DJ in Ibiza, or in the UK it's generally because you like that DJ and you know what style they will play, not because you want to go to a certain club.

[doug]

I agree with the points made so far. Seeing them play a club in vegas is different than seeing them play as a headliner in a non-club venue.

When I see DJ's in nyc, they play whatever they want because it is typically their tour/show and thats the only reason people are going to the venue. In vegas, the club still has a certain image to keep and you get a much larger population showing up and not knowing anything about the DJ, they just know what they're hearing and if they like it or not. You'd never accidentally wind up at the venue down the street from me to see prydz if you didnt know he was there and like his music. Its safer to stay more mainstream in a club, especially when you want to appeal to as many people as possible.

[MosDefANoob]

I agree with the points made so far. Seeing them play a club in vegas is different than seeing them play as a headliner in a non-club venue.

When I see DJ's in nyc, they play whatever they want because it is typically their tour/show and thats the only reason people are going to the venue. In vegas, the club still has a certain image to keep and you get a much larger population showing up and not knowing anything about the DJ, they just know what they're hearing and if they like it or not. You'd never accidentally wind up at the venue down the street from me to see prydz if you didnt know he was there and like his music. Its safer to stay more mainstream in a club, especially when you want to appeal to as many people as possible.

LOL! This what I told my friend back home in TX...that i would rather go see the DJ at my hometown venue.

Someone did mention that Deadmau5 and afrojack spun and the set had their sound...this is a constant, every dj set i saw was in the styling of each DJ. I think more what Im asking is actual songs that they let them play. I think Guetta and C.Harris are bad examples in this discussion just cuz they produce so many EDM+Pop tracks that are mainstream so they get to play a fair amount of their own stuff. im asking more for the djs that havent reached that level yet...the Dillon Francis, Knife Party, Porter Robinson, etc.... type DJs!

bigsi...so youre saying that the UK and US have different ideas on mainstream EDM? and that Calvin Harris wasnt playing the UK friendly mainstream stuff so they gave him the boot? Wow! I started googling stuff and read about DJ Shadow getting kicked out of mansion....in mansions defense tho, i heard the set and it wouldve sucked listening to in the club!haha

Kazflair...DIPLO went off! I actually think song wise diplo has been my favorite so far! He had the place jumping...and got my mangina wet when he played express yourself and chicks just started handstanding on his DJ booth "expressing themselves"...so you say that wasnt shit? Making me regret not seeing ML when they were at Haze a few weeks ago :/

Dont beat me up if you are a true EDM head, cuz im barely getting into it...BUT although Im fully aware of his skills Prydz isnt on my to do list! but i did read that his Black Dice parties (or whatever theyre called) are a bit diff than a normal residency in that it is geared more to the music...so im guessing he plays more of his stuff than just commercial stuff, dunno tho!

[MosDefANoob]

Thinking of going to Knife Party just to get a real comparison since i saw them as a headliner in my hometown a couple weeks before i came out here! Prolly not tho...looking forward to porter robinson, anyone been to XS to see him?

[bigsi26]

[QUOTE=MosDefANoob;218633]

I agree with the points made so far. Seeing them play a club in vegas is different than seeing them play as a headliner in a non-club venue.

When I see DJ's in nyc, they play whatever they want because it is typically their tour/show and thats the only reason people are going to the venue. In vegas, the club still has a certain image to keep and you get a much larger population showing up and not knowing anything about the DJ, they just know what they're hearing and if they like it or not. You'd never accidentally wind up at the venue down the street from me to see prydz if you didnt know he was there and like his music. Its safer to stay more mainstream in a club, especially when you want to appeal to as many people as possible.

bigsi...so youre saying that the UK and US have different ideas on mainstream EDM? and that Calvin Harris wasnt playing the UK friendly mainstream stuff so they gave him the boot? Wow! I started googling stuff and read about DJ Shadow getting kicked out of mansion....in mansions defense tho, i heard the set and it wouldve sucked listening to in the club!haha

no what i mean is in the uk calving harris wouldnt be considered house and is the most commercial along with guetta and shm and people in vegas was complaing that it wasnt commercial enough because he wasnt on that night playing guetta and shm tracks pete tongue has tried to get vegas to open up to real house music but amercians dont seemed intrested on sat night i aslo heard a girl regard kaskade as techno :S

[ccc]

You have to understand that dance music, in it's electronic form, hasn't hit the 'mainstream' here in the U.S. Most people here only know Calvin Harris, David Guetta, SHM and a few individual tracks that have hit radio. Those people couldn't care less what the DJ plays. Almost every instance of a DJ being kicked off the decks in Vegas is the result of a [B]VERY[B] big spender bitching, we're talking the folks who blow their 10k mins out of the water or drop 500k plus in the casino.

There is another segment of the US fan base who know their DJ's, and their sounds. They've been in to the music for decades. We'd rather see Carl Cox and Erick Morillo than Mau any day of the week. Right now Electro house is the hot thing here, strangely I blame the European DJs for this, so that's mostly what you'll hear especially at Wynn properties and Hakkasan. Light and Tao Group (Marquee, Tao, Lavo) have more diversity in their lineups. Vegas plays to the lowest common denominator a lot of the time.

[MosDefANoob]

Does Carl Cox ever do the US beside Ultra? Is what we're discussing here maybe a reason why?

bigsi, ccc Im kinda lucky cuz i like the commercial stuff, Ive only started listening regularly for just over a year. I dont know anyone underground or anything like that, aside from random youtube vids when i search for a song i like + Remix...dont know if those guys are considered underground?

Id really wanna see murillo...but i dont think he does LV as much as he used to like a year or two ago iirc. I dont think hes been here the entire month ive been here (maybe a beach club but dont clearly remember)

[bigsi26]

Does Carl Cox ever do the US beside Ultra? Is what we're discussing here maybe a reason why?

bigsi, ccc Im kinda lucky cuz i like the commercial stuff, Ive only started listening regularly for just over a year. I dont know anyone underground or anything like that, aside from random youtube vids when i search for a song i like + Remix...dont know if those guys are considered underground?

Id really wanna see murillo...but i dont think he does LV as much as he used to like a year or two ago iirc. I dont think hes been here the entire month ive been here (maybe a beach club but dont clearly remember)

morillo isnt as big as he use to be he lefted pacha at ibiza and got another residency due to someone who booked the acts at pacha being involved in another club im pretty sure years ago he was a resident at marquee even deadmau5 admitted hes a rubbish dj he actually said all i do his hit the space bar on a laptop

[benst86]

Carl Cox is on at Lavo on EDC weekend. As are Sasha and Digweed. Three 'Ibiza' DJ's right there.

You won't see DJ's vary their sets that much. Van Buuren will play a similar set at Marquee to what he does at privilege every week. Axwell/Ingrosso the same at Light as they do Ushuaia. It's what DJ's do. You wouldn't get clubs commercial director telling them what to play, they'd walk off set.

I'd say there's much more variety in the sounds compared to Vegas in European destinations like Ibiza. But commercialization of a genre leads to every big clubs booking the same people, because those are what brings the spenders in. Look at EDC for example, or Ultra - same DJ's at every single festival.