Your Questions: Is It OK To Play The Same Track Twice?

Digital DJ Tips Forum member meloboom writes: “I DJ in bars and clubs in Kobe and Osaka, Japan. I try my best not to repeat the same tracks already played by other DJs and I don’t use more than one track by the same artist in any of my sets. However, not only do the other DJs here repeat the same tracks at will, some of them even play three tracks by the same artist in a row. Does this happen in other countries, or is it isolated to the Japanese scene?”

Digital DJ Tips says:

I am quite sure that this goes on all over the world, every weekend. Personally, I think that it is absolutely fine to play tracks from the same artist in your sets and I do this often. Sometimes, the most logical progression in your set is two tracks by the same artist back to back because they suit each other so well. For me, it depends on two things: how well you are performing for the crowd and how well known the tracks are. The latter obviously depends on the genre that you spin.

If you have the crowd eating out of the palm of your hand, they trust your judgement, so why not? If the crowd is unlikely to know that the two tracks are from the same artist, again, what is the problem? Even if they do know both tracks, if they reacted well to the first track, what would be the harm in giving them another to dance to?

The second part of the question is a little more complicated and is certainly rarer outside of mainstream clubs and weddings. Again though, it just depends on what the crowd wants. If you’re DJing a wedding and the bride comes up to you and asks you to play the same song five times in a row, are you going to refuse? The role of the wedding DJ is to provide music for the bride, the groom, and their guests to enjoy and dance to, not to play what the DJ wants to hear. You have to leave your ego securely locked away at home when performing, something we all learn over time.

The best advice I can give here is that if a DJ has already dropped a track you wanted to play, tough luck, don’t play it, the one exception maybe being the hands-down biggest tune of the moment, played one more time at the very end of the night.

However, if you’re confident the crowd would enjoy another track by the same artist, go for it! If someone requests the same track to be played later in the night, use your discretion. It depends completely on the event and how you feel the other guests will react. The fact other DJs do as you described doesn’t make it right or wrong (unless it clears the dancefloor!). As with many things in life, we all have our own different methods and quirks.

Do you play more than one track by the same artist in your sets? Is it OK to repeat tracks in sets? How common is this where you are? Let us know in the comments below…