if you are a dj, do the job of a dj and look for your own music to play instead of making a playlist based on what other dj's have played that is based on a set of rules rather than based on the music itself.
i haven't listened to the radio since i was a kid. i've been a dj for a long time and i've never had a problem finding great music to play. in fact not listening to the radio helps as you aren't persuaded to copy others. these days there are plenty of ways to find new music, especially online
radio had been shit for decades, unless you like shit music
I've never liked Radio 1, despite having a few years to go before I'm Radio 2's supposed demographic. They just seem to play some random racket then tell everyone how amazing it was for two minutes afterwards. Or it would be songs I've heard a million times anyway, the likes of Rihanna etc. Unfortunately Sara Cox is bringing that annoying "WOW WASN'T THAT GREAT" after every song over to Radio 2 which is pretty annoying.
I'm a big surprised a DJ looks at the Radio 1 playlist for songs to play lol. I guess it's worth a look at, but it's not that important.
I think pirate radio stations or urban radio stations are the best places to look, songs usually start getting played on those stations a lot earlier than Radio 1.
Also, you said you never get asked to play people like Route 94 or Duke Dumont? By that I assume you get asked to play pre-dominantly pure pop music then, since they are in reality extemely popular in most clubs. Capital FM's playlist might be a better place to look for pure dance-pop, also stations like Z100 or NRG to get foreign songs which could crossover to the UK.
I grew up in the eighties, which some people still consider to be the station's golden era, and as it had a monopoly in many parts of the country, a lot of the time it was bloody awful, broadcasting on medium wave and playing a mixture of bland chart hits and golden oldies while egomaniac DJs like Simon Bates namedropped and talked about themselves and talked over records. These days the station has far more competition and has less than half the audience it had 30 years ago and has to work harder and has defined itself as a station for the under 30s, which is better than being a catch all pop station, but it's still dominated by DJs who think they are the biggest thing in the universe, flog current trends to death and also have the modern equivalent of Smashey and Nicey with dance DJs well into middle age.
I'm a big surprised a DJ looks at the Radio 1 playlist for songs to play lol. I guess it's worth a look at, but it's not that important.
I think pirate radio stations or urban radio stations are the best places to look, songs usually start getting played on those stations a lot earlier than Radio 1.
Also, you said you never get asked to play people like Route 94 or Duke Dumont? By that I assume you get asked to play pre-dominantly pure pop music then, since they are in reality extemely popular in most clubs. Capital FM's playlist might be a better place to look for pure dance-pop, also stations like Z100 or NRG to get foreign songs which could crossover to the UK.
Yes it is a mainstream dance and chart club. However, it's to thousands each week. I find it very hard to believe that nobody in the room likes those songs, however, I have never been asked for them or similar since that type of music has been popular. It's not to say that other clubs don't, however, even the other DJ's I work with, between us we have over 20 residencies and none of them have it on their 'to play list'.
Also, of course I don't just use radio playlists to make a set list. I have been been putting out solid sets for years based on songs I know will be/ or have been popular. I consider myself to have a great ear for what people will love in a club.
The point I was making is, I would find it difficult to pick out 10 songs on Radio 1's current play list that I could play and not clear my dancefloor.
Yes it is a mainstream dance and chart club. However, it's to thousands each week. I find it very hard to believe that nobody in the room likes those songs, however, I have never been asked for them or similar since that type of music has been popular. It's not to say that other clubs don't, however, even the other DJ's I work with, between us we have over 20 residencies and none of them have it on their 'to play list'.
Also, of course I don't just use radio playlists to make a set list. I have been been putting out solid sets for years based on songs I know will be/ or have been popular. I consider myself to have a great ear for what people will love in a club.
The point I was making is, I would find it difficult to pick out 10 songs on Radio 1's current play list that I could play and not clear my dancefloor.
Maybe it depends where you live. The deep house stuff might not be so popular in rural areas I guess. But where I live it is definitely. Depends on what audience you get as well. If you're getting a club full of mainly people in their 30's who are going for a night out with their friends from the office after a hard work's week, they're obviously going to be more into MOR pop music, if it's university students they'll be more into different genres.
Bruce Dickinson used to have a Rock Show on 6 Music, but despite being the most listened to show on 6 Music he was dropped so they could give Tom Ravenscroft, John Peel's son, a show with the bland assurance that the music played on Bruce's show would be covered across the other programmes which, of course, it never was.
Their Rock music coverage has been virtually non-existant ever since.
As a rock fan Radio 1 was irrelevant to me when I was 16 some 35 years ago, apart from Tommy Vance's legendary Friday Rock Show, and it would remain the case if I were 16 today.
Yeah, most rock acts weren't played much on Radio 1 from my memory.
Don;t even think grunge was played that much in its time (apart from Nirvana and Pearl Jam). Metallica, Faith no More, for example certainly weren't played much.
radio one is now the most snobbish clueless station out there. its even managed to seep its poisen into 1xtra - which has now also been ruined, used to rely on 1xtra for classic 'urban music' and loads of new stuff and stuff which only got airplay in america but found its way onto 1xtra, these days that f**king clean bandit song somehow gets regular circulation ON THE A LIST OF 1XTRA!! what on earth is that all about ?! as if they didnt play it into a coma on radio one enough.
cant bear to listen to either stations anymore.
and the ageism against females displayed on radio one does not sit right with me at all.
Don;t play much stuff from older males either, do they? Robbie Williams has been blacklisted, after all.
Aside from a few groups, eg: Coldplay, Foo Fighters.
In the early to mid noughties, Radio 1 would rarely play boyband groups music. Played a lot of rock then - eg: Funeral for a Friend , Lost Prophets, the Strokes, Foo Fighters, etc.
I think even amongst the daytime shows, the mix of music does vary somewhat though (although I don;t listen to Radio 1 much now - I did listen a lot when I drove for a living six months or so ago, stretching back about 3-4 years).
Fearne Cotton and Chris Moyles definitely would play more indie and rock than say, Scott Mills and Nick Grimshaw. That was despite the playlist.
I guess you guys are highlighting a failure amongst modern DJs/Radio Presenters to actively seek out new music for the audience and present good playlists.
I remember the pirate radio stations actively playing music that wasn't available on the mainstream BBC way back. And I was devoted to John Peel in the 70s/80s because he maintained that spirit of actively seeking out stuff worthy of his audience.
I guess there is a different ethos in this era of risk averse radio where everything is awesome and pop music is essentially trivialised.
Fearne Cotton, despite all the criticism she gets, does promote some new acts, outside of the playlist.
And the music played in the evenings is definitely new. Just a shame about the useless documentaries presented by Nick Grimshaw, which sometimes get aired. About fans' love of One Direction, or something of that nature.
Even among its target audience, Radio 1 was always ridiculed by everyone except teenyboppers from the moment of its inception. John Peel was one of the few DJs to give it any kind of authority, although the breakfast stint of Mark & Lard was notable for sneaking pure, unadulterated filth into the Kellogs slot, seemingly without the top brass ever noticing.
remember radio dj's have little to no say in the music they play on commercial and bbc radio stations. those type of dj's are little more than presenters who talk between and over records. a bunch of people often sit in an office and put together the music choices in advance, usually from a choice of playlists. that's why you hear the same 5 songs repeated 20 times a day every day instead of a real varied choice of music.
if you are a music fan the best thing you can do is turn off the radio and leave it off. if you are a dj and want to play whats popular as opposed to what is good, just look at the charts in places like mixmag or the singles charts and play the same shit as everyone else
remember radio dj's have little to no say in the music they play on commercial and bbc radio stations. those type of dj's are little more than presenters who talk between and over records. a bunch of people often sit in an office and put together the music choices in advance, usually from a choice of playlists. that's why you hear the same 5 songs repeated 20 times a day every day instead of a real varied choice of music.
if you are a music fan the best thing you can do is turn off the radio and leave it off. if you are a dj and want to play whats popular as opposed to what is good, just look at the charts in places like mixmag or the singles charts and play the same shit as everyone else
True - to a degree.
The mix of music they play is different though. They mainly left Stock, Aitken and Waterman tracks to private radio stations in the late eighties.
Boybands were not playlisted before recently, to my memory either.
I stopped listening to radio one once Chris Moyles left. I did enjoy listning to Scot Mills but fail to listen these days due to the type of music radio 1 plays now. The other main DJ's mainly Nick and Greg try to be entertaining and funny but sadly its not for me.
remember radio dj's have little to no say in the music they play on commercial and bbc radio stations. those type of dj's are little more than presenters who talk between and over records. a bunch of people often sit in an office and put together the music choices in advance, usually from a choice of playlists. that's why you hear the same 5 songs repeated 20 times a day every day instead of a real varied choice of music.
if you are a music fan the best thing you can do is turn off the radio and leave it off. if you are a dj and want to play whats popular as opposed to what is good, just look at the charts in places like mixmag or the singles charts and play the same shit as everyone else
This is only true to a very small degree. The radio DJ's on Radio 1 have a choice of playlist but can play any song they like. Most choose not to as it fits with their show, or because the music isn't a part of their show and is more focused on comedy.
I remember Moyles used to defy the playlist on Radio 1 a lot and actively express his disinterest in the music that was lined up and change it at the drop of a hat to something else.
I think your last paragraph is once again missing the point and quite rude. If you're a DJ, you will know that by the time a song is in the chart, it's more or less old news in night clubs. It will only be played for a few weeks after then forgotten, unless it's a total overwhelming success that has continued chart exposure.
The point of this post was stated originally, but I will re-illiterate. Radio 1 is still tagged as for the 'clubbing generation' out of all of the BBC's channels, they used to be the place you would hear a massive new track before anywhere else, then as a DJ, you would then try your butt off to get that track as soon as you could to play in the club. That doesn't happen with Radio 1 anymore.
It's not a case of 'playing the same shit as everyone else' it's a case of playing the music that everyone wants to hear, hence why those songs are the biggest selling of that week. That you can't argue.
Radio 1 have been late picking up tones of songs recently and only playlist once they have had a success elsewhere. I really do think they are out of touch with the current popular music circles.
Radio 1 lost it years ago when they started employing banal, annoying DJs. But it always struck me in recent years that they try too hard to be seen to be 'on the pulse' when in reality they are always the last to discovery a new artist. One thing that really grates though is their DJs pretending that bands they have just met are their 'bestest' mates.
Radio 1 lost it years ago when they started employing banal, annoying DJs. But it always struck me in recent years that they try too hard to be seen to be 'on the pulse' when in reality they are always the last to discovery a new artist. One thing that really grates though is their DJs pretending that bands they have just met are their 'bestest' mates.
Grimshaws relentless pushing of Haim even though they've generally untroubled the charts is an example of this.
I also gaffawed when he made some mocking "grow up" remark about someone adoring new boyband 5 Seconds of Summers. Irony much??
Nick Grimshaw and his silly haircut sums up everything that is wrong with Radio 1. And agree them championing a load of "hipster" shyte that nobody but them and their trendy London mates like.
That said it's actually the producers who choose the playlist, not the DJ's!
The same parallel universe where Radio 1 & 1 Xtra were the same station with a listenership of deaf kids, institutionalised mongs and chavvy smackheads.
This is only true to a very small degree. The radio DJ's on Radio 1 have a choice of playlist but can play any song they like. Most choose not to as it fits with their show, or because the music isn't a part of their show and is more focused on comedy.
I remember Moyles used to defy the playlist on Radio 1 a lot and actively express his disinterest in the music that was lined up and change it at the drop of a hat to something else.
I think your last paragraph is once again missing the point and quite rude. If you're a DJ, you will know that by the time a song is in the chart, it's more or less old news in night clubs. It will only be played for a few weeks after then forgotten, unless it's a total overwhelming success that has continued chart exposure.
The point of this post was stated originally, but I will re-illiterate. Radio 1 is still tagged as for the 'clubbing generation' out of all of the BBC's channels, they used to be the place you would hear a massive new track before anywhere else, then as a DJ, you would then try your butt off to get that track as soon as you could to play in the club. That doesn't happen with Radio 1 anymore.
It's not a case of 'playing the same shit as everyone else' it's a case of playing the music that everyone wants to hear, hence why those songs are the biggest selling of that week. That you can't argue.
Radio 1 have been late picking up tones of songs recently and only playlist once they have had a success elsewhere. I really do think they are out of touch with the current popular music circles.
it doesn't matter if you are a dj or not. turning off the radio and keeping it off is the best thing you can do if you are a music lover. as for being a dj, do you want to play music people will love or just play the same old crap as everyone else, as if it's the latter you don't need to listen to radio as you can just copy lists. however you aren't going to get far as a dj if you just play the same stuff as everyone else. introducing people to new music they like will get you much further. but of course some dj's are simply doing a job in a crappy bar or club playing chart based music to drunk people. those dj's wont go very far and don't need to do much apart from play what appears in chart lists and play requests. in both cases it just depends on if you are a music lover and/or dj that wants to play good music, or someone that just wants to follow the same old shit as everyone else and perpetuate that shit going around. sometimes i play to people who want to hear chart and popular stuff but i don't need to listen to the radio to tell me whats popular or in the charts
it doesn't matter if you are a dj or not. turning off the radio and keeping it off is the best thing you can do if you are a music lover. as for being a dj, do you want to play music people will love or just play the same old crap as everyone else, as if it's the latter you don't need to listen to radio as you can just copy lists. however you aren't going to get far as a dj if you just play the same stuff as everyone else. introducing people to new music they like will get you much further. but of course some dj's are simply doing a job in a crappy bar or club playing chart based music to drunk people. those dj's wont go very far and don't need to do much apart from play what appears in chart lists and play requests. in both cases it just depends on if you are a music lover and/or dj that wants to play good music, or someone that just wants to follow the same old shit as everyone else and perpetuate that shit going around. sometimes i play to people who want to hear chart and popular stuff but i don't need to listen to the radio to tell me whats popular or in the charts
Actually what you are describing is a form of musical curation - acquiring and selecting the good works and distributing them to a wider audience - Erik Hermansen the producer said something along these lines at a conference a couple of years ago. DJs, streaming services, music threads are all part of this curation process.
As for radio, I listen to radio stations that have DJs who don't interrupt the music but still licence and select it. One solution might be be to change radio stations or at least the presenters and producers rather than switch them off.
He originally took over as host of a show called Top Gear which went out from 2-5pm on Sundays, then moved to Saturday afternoons from 1969-71.
He also stood in for Jakki Brambles at lunchtime on Radio 1 for a week in 1993: http://peel.wikia.com/wiki/Peel_Is_Brambles and played the likes of The Fall (of course) and some excellent jazz piano music, amongst the more predictable Radio 1 fare.
Comments
i haven't listened to the radio since i was a kid. i've been a dj for a long time and i've never had a problem finding great music to play. in fact not listening to the radio helps as you aren't persuaded to copy others. these days there are plenty of ways to find new music, especially online
radio had been shit for decades, unless you like shit music
I think pirate radio stations or urban radio stations are the best places to look, songs usually start getting played on those stations a lot earlier than Radio 1.
Also, you said you never get asked to play people like Route 94 or Duke Dumont? By that I assume you get asked to play pre-dominantly pure pop music then, since they are in reality extemely popular in most clubs. Capital FM's playlist might be a better place to look for pure dance-pop, also stations like Z100 or NRG to get foreign songs which could crossover to the UK.
Yes it is a mainstream dance and chart club. However, it's to thousands each week. I find it very hard to believe that nobody in the room likes those songs, however, I have never been asked for them or similar since that type of music has been popular. It's not to say that other clubs don't, however, even the other DJ's I work with, between us we have over 20 residencies and none of them have it on their 'to play list'.
Also, of course I don't just use radio playlists to make a set list. I have been been putting out solid sets for years based on songs I know will be/ or have been popular. I consider myself to have a great ear for what people will love in a club.
The point I was making is, I would find it difficult to pick out 10 songs on Radio 1's current play list that I could play and not clear my dancefloor.
Maybe it depends where you live. The deep house stuff might not be so popular in rural areas I guess. But where I live it is definitely. Depends on what audience you get as well. If you're getting a club full of mainly people in their 30's who are going for a night out with their friends from the office after a hard work's week, they're obviously going to be more into MOR pop music, if it's university students they'll be more into different genres.
Yeah, most rock acts weren't played much on Radio 1 from my memory.
Don;t even think grunge was played that much in its time (apart from Nirvana and Pearl Jam). Metallica, Faith no More, for example certainly weren't played much.
Don;t play much stuff from older males either, do they? Robbie Williams has been blacklisted, after all.
Aside from a few groups, eg: Coldplay, Foo Fighters.
In the early to mid noughties, Radio 1 would rarely play boyband groups music. Played a lot of rock then - eg: Funeral for a Friend , Lost Prophets, the Strokes, Foo Fighters, etc.
I think even amongst the daytime shows, the mix of music does vary somewhat though (although I don;t listen to Radio 1 much now - I did listen a lot when I drove for a living six months or so ago, stretching back about 3-4 years).
Fearne Cotton and Chris Moyles definitely would play more indie and rock than say, Scott Mills and Nick Grimshaw. That was despite the playlist.
I remember the pirate radio stations actively playing music that wasn't available on the mainstream BBC way back. And I was devoted to John Peel in the 70s/80s because he maintained that spirit of actively seeking out stuff worthy of his audience.
I guess there is a different ethos in this era of risk averse radio where everything is awesome and pop music is essentially trivialised.
And the music played in the evenings is definitely new. Just a shame about the useless documentaries presented by Nick Grimshaw, which sometimes get aired. About fans' love of One Direction, or something of that nature.
Did John peel ever have a daytime show?
if you are a music fan the best thing you can do is turn off the radio and leave it off. if you are a dj and want to play whats popular as opposed to what is good, just look at the charts in places like mixmag or the singles charts and play the same shit as everyone else
True - to a degree.
The mix of music they play is different though. They mainly left Stock, Aitken and Waterman tracks to private radio stations in the late eighties.
Boybands were not playlisted before recently, to my memory either.
This is only true to a very small degree. The radio DJ's on Radio 1 have a choice of playlist but can play any song they like. Most choose not to as it fits with their show, or because the music isn't a part of their show and is more focused on comedy.
I remember Moyles used to defy the playlist on Radio 1 a lot and actively express his disinterest in the music that was lined up and change it at the drop of a hat to something else.
I think your last paragraph is once again missing the point and quite rude. If you're a DJ, you will know that by the time a song is in the chart, it's more or less old news in night clubs. It will only be played for a few weeks after then forgotten, unless it's a total overwhelming success that has continued chart exposure.
The point of this post was stated originally, but I will re-illiterate. Radio 1 is still tagged as for the 'clubbing generation' out of all of the BBC's channels, they used to be the place you would hear a massive new track before anywhere else, then as a DJ, you would then try your butt off to get that track as soon as you could to play in the club. That doesn't happen with Radio 1 anymore.
It's not a case of 'playing the same shit as everyone else' it's a case of playing the music that everyone wants to hear, hence why those songs are the biggest selling of that week. That you can't argue.
Radio 1 have been late picking up tones of songs recently and only playlist once they have had a success elsewhere. I really do think they are out of touch with the current popular music circles.
Nick Grimshaw is the expert at this!
Grimshaws relentless pushing of Haim even though they've generally untroubled the charts is an example of this.
I also gaffawed when he made some mocking "grow up" remark about someone adoring new boyband 5 Seconds of Summers. Irony much??
That said it's actually the producers who choose the playlist, not the DJ's!
Me too, especially when Zoe Ball used to say that a band was "friend of the show".
In an ideal parallel universe.. yes.
The same parallel universe where Radio 1 & 1 Xtra were the same station with a listenership of deaf kids, institutionalised mongs and chavvy smackheads.
it doesn't matter if you are a dj or not. turning off the radio and keeping it off is the best thing you can do if you are a music lover. as for being a dj, do you want to play music people will love or just play the same old crap as everyone else, as if it's the latter you don't need to listen to radio as you can just copy lists. however you aren't going to get far as a dj if you just play the same stuff as everyone else. introducing people to new music they like will get you much further. but of course some dj's are simply doing a job in a crappy bar or club playing chart based music to drunk people. those dj's wont go very far and don't need to do much apart from play what appears in chart lists and play requests. in both cases it just depends on if you are a music lover and/or dj that wants to play good music, or someone that just wants to follow the same old shit as everyone else and perpetuate that shit going around. sometimes i play to people who want to hear chart and popular stuff but i don't need to listen to the radio to tell me whats popular or in the charts
Actually what you are describing is a form of musical curation - acquiring and selecting the good works and distributing them to a wider audience - Erik Hermansen the producer said something along these lines at a conference a couple of years ago. DJs, streaming services, music threads are all part of this curation process.
As for radio, I listen to radio stations that have DJs who don't interrupt the music but still licence and select it. One solution might be be to change radio stations or at least the presenters and producers rather than switch them off.
He originally took over as host of a show called Top Gear which went out from 2-5pm on Sundays, then moved to Saturday afternoons from 1969-71.
He also stood in for Jakki Brambles at lunchtime on Radio 1 for a week in 1993: http://peel.wikia.com/wiki/Peel_Is_Brambles and played the likes of The Fall (of course) and some excellent jazz piano music, amongst the more predictable Radio 1 fare.