Over To You: How Can I Diversify My Music Collection?

Digital DJ Tips reader David from Manchester, England, writes: “I’ve recently been trying to diversify my music collection with more underground tracks, however I’ve only ever bought off Beatport. As much as I’d love to buy vinyl I don’t see the the point as I only own CDJs and have no wish to rip vinyl due to quality issues.

“I’ve looked at Juno but don’t like having to buy full three-track EPs for just one song. Are there many other sites that specialise in digital copies of tracks that wouldn’t be found on more mainstream retailers?”

Digital DJ Tips says:

It’s a good question. Back in the vinyl shopping days, you’d always have your favourite store, but sometimes you’d head there and find nothing you liked. Heading into unfamiliar stores maybe in different towns always felt a bit weird, but it was a great way to find stuff you’d otherwise have missed.

Fast forward to the digital age, and the same applies: Sure, buy the majority of your stuff from the place that best suits the majority of your needs, but that extra 20% of effort to get tunes from elsewhere can make a huge difference!

I’m not going to make specific recommendations – there are plenty of online download stores you can find, and you shouldn’t discount iTunes and Amazon etc, as a lot of material makes it onto these supposedly more mainstream stores too, but I will say one thing: If you want so-called “underground” (and I presume you mean upfront / exclusive / not-on-public-sale types of tunes) then get yourself on SoundCloud and spend some serious time finding people who make and play the kind of music you love.

I know DJs who only DJ from SoundCloud in order to keep things exclusive. And if you can’t find a download link on tunes you find on there? Contact the producer. More often than not they’ll give you the tune freely and willingly.

Over to you: What have you done to escape “one store syndrome” when buying online? Please share your advice with David in the comments.