If you thought you could safely dismiss Algoriddim’s djay as some entry-level player, something for non-serious users, you might change your mind.
And that could also cause Spotify to make a bigger splash with DJing.
The company has a few surprise announcements today.
320k Spotify. First, you can now stream from Spotify at a full 320 kbps. Now, that’s not going to do you any good if you’re somewhere with a poor Internet connection, but if you can rely on the Internet, “streaming” is no longer akin to “low quality.” You just need a Premium subscription.
djay Meets Pioneer. Also, there’s official CDJ integration, the result of a partnership between Pioneer and Algoriddim. The CDJ-2000nexus, 900nexus, and XDJ-1000 now all have plug-and-play support. That’s a big play for both Pioneer and Algoriddim, I think, and it means that connecting a laptop with djay at a club is more viable.
Here you can watch it in action:
I played with this a bit at Messe; it’s impressive. You can do everything – slip, scratch, pitch bend, loop, cue, tempo, and library navigation even when you’re in Spotify – including waveforms and cue points for those Spotify tracks. CDJs also have the advantage of screens, so you can do everything without the computer.
It’s suddenly a VJ tool. Algoriddim already makes a decent VJ tool called VJ, but having video and audio in one tool makes loads of sense. So now djay Pro gives you a video library, video mixing and scratching, transitions (including a nice split crossfader mode for making audio and video transitions separately), titles and image overlays, cue points and looping, and A/V recording. You can even use external displays or Airplay. And it does all of this without increasing the price – you just get this stuff free with the app when you upgrade.
There’s a built in library, too, which I kind of hope you don’t ever use. (Ahem.)
Watch the video mixing tools:
But this makes djay Pro – already the “ultimate wedding DJ request” tool thanks to Spotify integration – also the “yes, get paid a lot of money at a corporate gig tool.” I’m not being cynical; pros need to get paid. And with recording, it could be a quick-and-dirty option for lots of jobs outside those contexts, too.
More features. You can sync up to eight cue points across iOS and desktop. You can use external mixers and you get enhanced MIDI support – something standard in existing DJ tools, but closing the gap between djay Pro and those options. And you can export playlists, at last, as CSV or iTunes or Spotify.
I’m not quite ready to switch to djay Pro as a DJ tool. Traktor has some powerful features I can’t walk away from, including some effects I love. But I was already messing about with djay Pro in place of my Spotify client as a way of organizing my music – digging through the inbox of new tracks and assembling playlists. Unlike Spotify, that means the ability to see bpm and key information at a glance and try mixing. Now that I can export playlists, I can really see djay Pro being a must-have DJ organizing tool – and it’s just $50, meaning you can afford it even if you’re invested in another platform.
Finally, while it’s more of a curiosity, Algoriddim continues to lead the industry with Apple platform support with a powerful Apple Watcher controller tool. And this really is a controller, making it one of the more interesting applications yet for Apple’s wrist gizmo. We’re fully in early adopter territory, but then again, you can save enough money on djay versus some of its rivals that you might have money left over for an entry-level Watch.
djay Pro is out today on the App Store for US$49.95.
And seriously, if you’re even a moderate Spotify user, and you’re a DJ, I think you may find as I did that this is the way you want to explore dance music, even if you stick to DJing out with other tools.
Does anyone know if playing Spotify songs in public is legally okay? In germany any public broadcast without additional permission is a crime (copyright infringement)
I would think no more than Djing in public. The venue you are performing in would need a PRS/PPL license to play recorded music anyhow.
Spotify is strictly for personal use only. Not even shops can play bg music from spotify. It’s in their lisencing deals. But who relly cares? Who will know where the tracks are played?
Here police raided clubs last year to bust Traktor dj’s. In most eu countries it’s illegal to play mp3’s in public without separate lisencing agreement. None of the dj’s had paid for the lisence.
I played last NYE set with Djay and 60% of tracks came form spotify. It was mind blowing to be able to choose any track on the fly 🙂
If you were interested in recording a set, say to turn it into a mixcloud (I’ll typically prefer this method over deliberately releasing a curated and post-edited mix) would you feel comfortable having an audio hijack program running in the background? Because the recording option in djay is disengaged for streamed tracks.
In other words, how would you choose to do this in a performance setting if at all?
I would record it from the mixer like it’s usually done. Been doing so since 1994. Only the very few Traktor dj’s don’t do it like that.
Venues pay those blanket fees; they’re statutory licenses for playback in public. Now, even in Germany, that’s not a “broadcast” – it’s licensed as a performance. So, it’s correct to say Spotify doesn’t provide that license – meaning if you’re listening to a Spotify stream in a cafe, for instance, it’s probably illegal. But neither does buying an MP3 or a vinyl record; it’s the same problem.
One might ask *why* we don’t have a system in which purchasing a download also provides this kind of license. And… uh, yes, why not? 😉
Does anyone know if playing Spotify songs in public is legally okay? In germany any public broadcast without additional permission is a crime (copyright infringement)
I would think no more than Djing in public. The venue you are performing in would need a PRS/PPL license to play recorded music anyhow.
Spotify is strictly for personal use only. Not even shops can play bg music from spotify. It’s in their lisencing deals. But who relly cares? Who will know where the tracks are played?
Here police raided clubs last year to bust Traktor dj’s. In most eu countries it’s illegal to play mp3’s in public without separate lisencing agreement. None of the dj’s had paid for the lisence.
I played last NYE set with Djay and 60% of tracks came form spotify. It was mind blowing to be able to choose any track on the fly 🙂
If you were interested in recording a set, say to turn it into a mixcloud (I’ll typically prefer this method over deliberately releasing a curated and post-edited mix) would you feel comfortable having an audio hijack program running in the background? Because the recording option in djay is disengaged for streamed tracks.
In other words, how would you choose to do this in a performance setting if at all?
I would record it from the mixer like it’s usually done. Been doing so since 1994. Only the very few Traktor dj’s don’t do it like that.
Venues pay those blanket fees; they’re statutory licenses for playback in public. Now, even in Germany, that’s not a “broadcast” – it’s licensed as a performance. So, it’s correct to say Spotify doesn’t provide that license – meaning if you’re listening to a Spotify stream in a cafe, for instance, it’s probably illegal. But neither does buying an MP3 or a vinyl record; it’s the same problem.
One might ask *why* we don’t have a system in which purchasing a download also provides this kind of license. And… uh, yes, why not? 😉
Does anyone know if playing Spotify songs in public is legally okay? In germany any public broadcast without additional permission is a crime (copyright infringement)
I would think no more than Djing in public. The venue you are performing in would need a PRS/PPL license to play recorded music anyhow.
Spotify is strictly for personal use only. Not even shops can play bg music from spotify. It’s in their lisencing deals. But who relly cares? Who will know where the tracks are played?
Here police raided clubs last year to bust Traktor dj’s. In most eu countries it’s illegal to play mp3’s in public without separate lisencing agreement. None of the dj’s had paid for the lisence.
I played last NYE set with Djay and 60% of tracks came form spotify. It was mind blowing to be able to choose any track on the fly 🙂
If you were interested in recording a set, say to turn it into a mixcloud (I’ll typically prefer this method over deliberately releasing a curated and post-edited mix) would you feel comfortable having an audio hijack program running in the background? Because the recording option in djay is disengaged for streamed tracks.
In other words, how would you choose to do this in a performance setting if at all?
I would record it from the mixer like it’s usually done. Been doing so since 1994. Only the very few Traktor dj’s don’t do it like that.
Venues pay those blanket fees; they’re statutory licenses for playback in public. Now, even in Germany, that’s not a “broadcast” – it’s licensed as a performance. So, it’s correct to say Spotify doesn’t provide that license – meaning if you’re listening to a Spotify stream in a cafe, for instance, it’s probably illegal. But neither does buying an MP3 or a vinyl record; it’s the same problem.
One might ask *why* we don’t have a system in which purchasing a download also provides this kind of license. And… uh, yes, why not? 😉
This is awesome. I’m really excited to try it out.
This is awesome. I’m really excited to try it out.
This is awesome. I’m really excited to try it out.
This was amazing to use last year when working with kids who didn’t have access to a full collection of vinyl but wanted to dj. We got them a Spotify account and now they are doing gigs ….its amazing.
This was amazing to use last year when working with kids who didn’t have access to a full collection of vinyl but wanted to dj. We got them a Spotify account and now they are doing gigs ….its amazing.
This was amazing to use last year when working with kids who didn’t have access to a full collection of vinyl but wanted to dj. We got them a Spotify account and now they are doing gigs ….its amazing.
Damn, DJing from the Internet, we really do live in the future now…
Damn, DJing from the Internet, we really do live in the future now…
Damn, DJing from the Internet, we really do live in the future now…
heres a quick video i made of how the integration works
https://youtu.be/Gv1kOo30EK4
heres a quick video i made of how the integration works
https://youtu.be/Gv1kOo30EK4
heres a quick video i made of how the integration works
https://youtu.be/Gv1kOo30EK4
Spotify integration is a killer feature for any situation where you aren’t just going to play the music you “normally” play – for example, at an after party where people are asking to hear certain songs, or someone else might want to jump on the decks. Djay Pro lacks too many features from Traktor for me to consider it as my main DJ software (e.g. filter resonance, control over effect parameters) but for $50/£40, it’s a bit of a must-have for those situations where you aren’t “properly” DJing, in my opinion.
Spotify integration is a killer feature for any situation where you aren’t just going to play the music you “normally” play – for example, at an after party where people are asking to hear certain songs, or someone else might want to jump on the decks. Djay Pro lacks too many features from Traktor for me to consider it as my main DJ software (e.g. filter resonance, control over effect parameters) but for $50/£40, it’s a bit of a must-have for those situations where you aren’t “properly” DJing, in my opinion.
Spotify integration is a killer feature for any situation where you aren’t just going to play the music you “normally” play – for example, at an after party where people are asking to hear certain songs, or someone else might want to jump on the decks. Djay Pro lacks too many features from Traktor for me to consider it as my main DJ software (e.g. filter resonance, control over effect parameters) but for $50/£40, it’s a bit of a must-have for those situations where you aren’t “properly” DJing, in my opinion.