ADE 2019: “Streaming Is Here, But Pro DJs Still Need Convincing”

Digital DJ Tips founder Phil Morse took part in a SoundCloud-organised debate at ADE in Amsterdam last week, looking at the arrival of streaming and what it means for DJs and producers.

Alongside panelists from Serato DJ and Denon DJ, fellow educationalists and pro DJs, Phil contributed to a wide-ranging debate that took in whether streaming music will help more females to get into DJing, why pro DJs don’t trust it yet (“too much to go wrong”), and how it could be the next big thing – possibly as big a shift in the DJ world as when controllers first appeared on the scene.

The general consensus was that this is definitely coming, that it has to become more reliable for pro DJs to risk using it (but that, again, that is definitely going to happen, it just needs time), and that while older DJs and music collectors will probably never “get it”, likewise a new generation of DJs from Gen Z onwards will see the idea of owning music in just as alien a way as the Gen X DJs view streaming it.

There was discussion around how streaming democratises DJing (as it means you don’t need to pay hundreds for a big music collection to start), how it spreads DJing to places where buying and owning a music collection is impractical or economically nonviable, and how having streaming playlists available for both tutors and students can help DJ tuition.

And for all you record lovers reading this, there was acceptance that records and indeed all physical music formats are going nowhere – they’re just turning into more like a coffee table experience, a “souvenir” of tracks and artists that really mean something to the consumer (usually as a result of the fan having streamed their music first in order to know and love it…).

• The panel was organised by SoundCloud, which is is now the most widely integrated streaming platform in DJ performance software.

What are your thoughts? Is streaming something you’re considering, or even doing? How are you finding it? Share below.