Richie Hawtin came by the office the other week to chat with Ean about life, DJing and amongst other things, the latest updates to Twitter DJ. Building on his “straight-to-Twitter” DJ broadcasting service, Twitter.DJ is a beta web portal that allows users to follow live performers, view their tracklists, listen to tracks, and see other performers around them. Check out the exclusive video interview inside…
Visit Twitter.DJ to start broadcasting your setlists now.
DJ TechTools provides our community with a powerful opportunity to provide valuable feedback directly to the people developing DJ products. What do you think is great about twitter.dj and how can they make it better?
Nice one…a poster from a recent article led me here when I made a comment on this concept…I checked it out, and it’s interesting how KUVO/Pioneer have apparently take this initiative over alongs side support from AEFM. Would love to see more on his this Get Played Get Paid initiative is going…
Did you ever try http://www.beatneek.com/?
Hero!
If I can give any help to why on the TwitterDJ site. Both the Beta and New one. The Mac OS X download doesn’t work. Only sends this junky text file? I would really love to be connected and connect myself to this great new digital djing experience.
Cool idea rich! DJing has gotten so much more interesting since laptops appeared in booths
sharing the playlist on twitter by my macbook during my session could be a problem if i’m using also other network stuff (as my ipad) to control ableton….is why i cant use twitterDj
sharing the playlist on twitter by my macbook during my session could be a problem if i’m using also other network stuff (as my ipad) to control ableton….is why i cant use twitterDj
?DJ?STEPHEN?V?
https://twitter.com/DJSTEPHENV
i like the idea. but i also like the idea of just enjoying the atmosphere and not worrying about tracks but about the performance, the flow, the energy and the ‘story’ of the set.
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its like spotify, it profits from ranking and charts, cause musicindustry doesn’t have reliable sources anymore which music is heard by people.
This isn’t working for me. I have my laptop on and ableton is launched, but when I put the needle on my original copy of “Deeper Love” on colored vinyl, nothing happens. 😉
actually it would be cool for some of us old farts that still use vinyl, if it could detect an analog stream through, let’s say Live, and use something like Shazam to ID the tracks and post to twitter. It would be totally impractical but cool just to say yeah, I can do that!
LOL…sort of.
I love it, and have it setup. I can send test tweets and everything, but the Broadcast button in Traktor still blinks, even though I set it up exactly how the install guide says too. What am I doing wrong?
Well nice app!!
I think this app should be built in traktor,serato,abelton…, and all Dj should get music free from beatport, because with this app he would be giving feedback of the music he is playing, so is helping the Pros and making people know songs that maybe wouldn’t hear on the radio.
The Dj is the new radio!
You can’t click preferences in windows … just the main screen shows
Port Conflict!! This application use the broadcast port to display track info.. so if you already streaming your music. You can’t use both software simultaneously. (I use IceCast btw)
Really You guys delete comments now??? Just cause they aren’t favorable???
Ignore this comment…My original is down there somewhere. Sorry and thanks..
Really? does the world need to be more connected? Does Hawtin, who owns part of beatport really need more income when you buy the tracks he plays from the site he owns? The age of information is starting to get really annoying. Glad there are still Dj’s who play vinyl and don’t post all there secrets for everyone. Some people still want the dance floor to be something surprising and some people still go to hear DJ’s play things others don’t play, don’t have or don’t even know exist.. For everyone one of the new generation who just NEEDS all the info this will be great…I’m sure. But for those who DIG for their music, we’ll be in the record stores hunting for that Gem that will never be posted on twitter dj feeds..
isn’t this the same idea as serato live playlists??
dont know if has been said yet, but would be nice to integrate virtual dj too!
damn….. now i wish i had a mac already.
Testing. Is this thing on?
Very good idea it goes well with new 2.0 music model, the next step is to leave out the beatport from equation because we need a completely different business model!
That is an amazing idea Richie Hawtin really loves to embrace technology.
Works fine for me with Windows & S2 running
Howd you get it running
awesome idea!!!
I think this is an awesome idea. Signed up right after watching. As for the DJs out there who think that having other DJs knowing the music they are playing is in some way giving up some golden jewel that will suddenly make or break them….Wake up. New music is available to everyone within minutes of being posted online thanks to the insane traffic and re posting of blog sites etc. Gone are the days that you are some special DJ for having a “hot off the press” copy of some producers track. It’s more about how you play the music and the way you entertain the crowd more than having some new unheard of track.
Anyway, I invite anyone to follow me on twitter and see the music I play. Because I DJ to share music. . .
Sounds like you haven’t heard an awesome DJ who has a ton of rare tracks.
I actually have seen lots of DJs,many of which have rare tracks in their sets for sure. And didn’t intend that to mean DJs shouldn’t try and play tracks outside of the “normal” recognized tracks being played, I just meant that people knowing what you play shouldn’t in anyway affect your career. Be confident in what you do and play because you love music, not love being in the spotlight, ya know. Besides, if the tracks “you” (any dj) are playing are intact so rare. then when anther DJ starts playing them in your area take it as a compliment that you are influential enough to have other people following you and mimicking your sets.
then you’re not a d.j. You’re an idiot. plain and simple you’re not a disc jockey if you don’t want to jockey the fucking disc & share the music.
Sweet. Bringing trainspotting into the digital age. I like it.
brilliant idea!
I think I just fell in love. This is really fantastic. In case Richie pops in to read the comments though, I suggest randomizing the first page of the Users section. Otherwise, newcomers will just be clicking on the A-names all the time.
my thing is i like to be able to add the #FB to the end of my tweets so the selective tweets can post this on my Facebook also ….
well you create a page in FB and have twitter automatically update it.
but that would be too much work
Great! Im not afraid of people knowing what tracks im playing. The club i play at has my twitter name up on their screen all the time so now people can stop asking me what im playing haha! Besides…i play lots of my own mixes and dubs and even if people get my whole playlist they aren’t going to play it like me. Im not trying to sound cocky but rather point out that its just as much about how you mix the tunes on any given night and at what time. The tunes are just a small piece!
Good point. Mixing styles can make a huge difference. Rearranging or editing the track to any degree is also an option. Sometimes having sections play sooner or later in the track compared to the original, or even cutting whole sections out to your taste can change the whole perception on the song.
It doesn’t work on PC, tried and tried and tried, please fix this as it seems that the PC version is not even complete yet, the idea is quite nice but with a half backed product how do you expect us to keep our interest?
I can’t get it to work. It just crashes every time I open it. Never even gives me a chance to set up.
i got mine to work on both Win 7 and Mac OSX
Isn’t twitter going to claim copyright over the domain?
Not necessarily copyright, but certainly there might be a trademark rights issue.
scamo
Nice
Great tool!!! The app just send the name of tracks for Twitter or send a sound stream too? Because i want to use this with 3G. Thanks!
Well done Ean for nabbing this interview… and even better done Richie…. I think there’s more in this than there is right now… but the basis is FANTASTIC!
I’m not a fan of this. Why would I want to give away my secrets and have every other DJ on the planet playing what I’m playing? Part of the fun of being a DJ is dropping tunes that the other guys haven’t heard of yet. People come see me DJ because I’ve got the best new tracks before anyone else. I understand the positive side of it but Serato has a trainspotter function for a reason. Find yer own tracks bitch!
Wow…. so you want to stand behind the smoke & mirrors? I hope people come to your show because you understand best what fits their mood/energy right now… not that you found a new track and just are able to put it on.
Because that would make you a crap DJ
Then it’s a good thing I do exactly that
As much as I don’t agree with trainspotter’s tone, he is right. DJs for decades have staked their careers on having tunes that nobody else had. This goes right back to the 60s in Jamaica where the dancehall djs would spin one off dub-plate versions of songs that weren’t and never will be released. Fast forward to the 80s and hip-hop Djs were doing the same thing, so secretive were they about their tunes that often they’d cover up the labels of the records so no one could tell what the track was. Now we find ourselves in the present day where everything is instantaneous and replicable. Getting the list and being able to download the track onto your phone as it is being played makes it too easy. The kid in the crowd doing it won’t understand the culture of digging or the hours spent looking for songs to sit together. The process of digging is what defines your taste and broadens horizons. Simply ripping another djs playlist make you a fraud.
I Agree they should make some sort of private buton that lets you choose to hide paticular songs. Like the share function on spotify.
White Labeling things has been standard for a long time. I don’t mind people getting the info for one or two tracks, but it’s not my job to do all the hard work so that some other DJ can simply cherry pick my sets. I think that people as famous as “Plasticman” can make their playlists
public, but also think that there is some importance to keeping a set
secret for those who are up-and-coming.
One DJ I know heard a couple of my sets (where I was playing music no one else played), found my playlist (required by the promoter of the club) and not only took my sets verbatim, but (because
he’s better connected) squeezed me out of playing at my own friend’s
club. So Fraud or not, he won and I lost and that’s not something I want to promote. As a side note, I’m moving on to make my own thing happen and no longer associating myself with these people.
its fucked up to be a stingy DJ. if you know how to mix the music it’s going to sound original when you do it live and no one can copy that without skills.
Amazing idea, I’d love to get a notification when a track I’ve been searching for is eventually released.
I currently use The existing twitterdj app when doing my fortnightly radio shows (Fortnightly Mondays on http://www.radioactivefm.co.uk plu plug plug) and it is great I have had artists contact me and expressed thanks for advertising tracks on twitter, even got on the white label lists for a couple..Really looking forward to checking out the new app.
Make sure you write Twitter.DJ and not Twitter. This program has nothing to do with Twitter (which is also why I can’t imagine it isn’t going to be a problem, if the rights to use the Twitter name haven’t been cleared already.)
scamo
thumbs up to the developers. works perfect
what software did you use?
the twitter.dj mac app
Great! But I need a little help here during setup. It does not read my tracks.The test message send to twitter is o.k. I turned on broadcasting in traktor.. Any ideas??
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CFsQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.dj%2Fbeta%2Fdownloads%2FTwitterDJ-Manual.pdf&ei=PTHkT_zqPMjB0QWlsKmCCQ&usg=AFQjCNFWu_55N9Qr-Em_vJpwbgVvTl-YKg&sig2=qnMQbmsjQXA–5FdKylHig
it feels lit it was never intended to work on PC, even the instructions are Mac only!
It’s great to finally see a true underground techno DJ interview on techtools.com (i was utterly tired of seing so much commercial house and mainstream electronic music artists over here)
hawtin, underground dj? hhahaha!!!
Just a Few words: Nice idea i want to use it, but – S4/S2 + Windows + WLan… dosent work!
Looks very nice. They even adapted my Nicecast-feature. I’ll start supporting Twitter.DJ and Last.fm with my Traktor Scrobbler as soon as my new Macbook arrives.
I was just about to mention your Scrobbler bro 🙂
n1, ean, thanks!
a request: i know that dave aju is SF-based. i’d really like to see an interview with him. what equipment he uses, what he does live, etc.
Great idea. It was be cool if the tunes that were not available yet could be put in the hold bin and then you get notified once it is released.
Interesting. I am assuming Ritchie got the rights to use the name “Twitter”?
Also, for this to work, the WLAN would have to be on, right? That is unfortunately not going to work with Traktor and a lot of S4/S2/Windows users. Maybe Ritchie can put some pressure on NI to get that issue fixed.;)
It needs a mobile app/ version too. Think about how often you are at a club and hear a track and go “Oh, I like that….”, but don’t know what it is. SoundHound and Shazam are only so good. This could be another cool way to keep in touch with the music. Me likes!:)
scamo
I must say, this little app is awesome. I personally like putting up tracklists and this makes it much easier to provide that service. I know this is a beta but expanding the app to Virtual DJ and Torq, etc. would be even better, allowing many more people to use this awesome service!
SBDJ has already made a twitter plugin that posts on the real twitter, it’s only available on pc atm.