Why is Everyone a DJ Now?

You know a DJ.

Actually, you probably know six.

Your coworker DJs.

Your friend’s boyfriend DJs.

The guy you met at the afters DJs.

You're probably a DJ.

Someone bought a controller three months ago and their Instagram bio already says:

MIAMI / NYC / WORLDWIDE

Worldwide is crazy.

Anyway.

When did everyone get decks?

THERE IS A CONTROLLER IN EVERY BRICKELL APARTMENT NOW

Not literally.

But close.

And it makes sense because the barrier to becoming someone who DJs has basically collapsed.

Not becoming good.

Relax.

Just starting.

There was a time when getting into DJing meant turntables, a mixer, records, money, and probably knowing some slightly intimidating person who knew where to buy all of it.

Now you need a laptop and approximately one irresponsible purchase.

Download rekordbox.

Watch a guy on YouTube explain phrasing.

Spend three hours trying to mix two songs that absolutely do not want to be mixed together.

Congratulations.

You DJ now.

Technology didn’t make DJing easy.

It made access to DJing easy.

Very different thing.

BUT SOMETHING ELSE HAPPENED

DJing became extremely visible.

Boiler Room didn’t invent the booth party, obviously.

But it did put a camera in front of it.

And that changed something.

The DJ wasn’t 200 feet away on a giant stage anymore. They were right there, surrounded by people who looked like people you knew, playing music in a room you wanted to be in.

Then TikTok and Reels chopped that down even further.

Thirty seconds.

One transition.

Crowd loses it.

Girl behind the DJ makes a face.

2.4 million views.

And somewhere, another controller enters an Amazon cart.

THE DJ IS KIND OF THE NEW GUY WITH A GUITAR

Sorry.

But they are.

There was a time when every vaguely interesting teenage boy mysteriously acquired a guitar.

Now he has CDJs in his Hinge pictures.

Same instinct.

Different equipment.

Except DJing fits our current relationship with music almost suspiciously well.

We already make playlists like they’re personality tests.

We send each other IDs.

We Shazam things from bathroom stalls.

We get mildly territorial when a song we’ve been playing for six months suddenly gets popular.

Finding music became part of having taste.

DJing just gives taste somewhere to live.

That’s probably the real appeal.

You’re not only saying:

I know good music.

You’re saying:

I know what should come next.

Which is a much sexier proposition.

DIGGING GOT WEIRD TOO

Because now everyone has access to basically everything.

Which somehow made finding something nobody else knows feel more important.

SoundCloud with 814 plays.

Some edit uploaded four hours ago.

A record from 1997 that suddenly sounds perfect again.

An unidentified track in a two-hour mix that six people in the comments are begging for.

That’s half the game now.

And yes, sometimes this becomes deeply annoying.

A song can apparently become “too TikTok” in approximately 36 hours.

People gatekeep IDs like they’re protecting national secrets.

Someone will play a track and immediately turn around to make sure you understood that they knew it.

Okay.

We saw you.

But underneath all the posturing, people are actually digging again.

That’s kind of nice.

(Don’t tell anyone we said that)

AND THEN THE BOOTH BECAME THE PLACE TO BE

This might be the funniest part.

At some point, standing behind the DJ became better than standing in front of them.

Everybody wants booth.

Nobody wants dance floor.

There are fourteen people behind the decks and approximately three of them need to be there.

One is DJing.

One is maybe the promoter.

Who are the rest of you?

And why is someone filming themselves dancing directly behind the person playing?

Actually, don’t answer that.

We know.

The DJ booth became social real estate.

Being close to the music became being close to the person controlling the music, which became being seen close to the person controlling the music.

Very normal progression.

SO, DOES EVERYONE ACTUALLY WANT TO DJ?

I don’t know.

Some people definitely do.

Some people love music enough that eventually playlists aren’t enough anymore.

Some want to understand how the thing works.

Some want to play for their friends.

Some want Berghain.

Some want an Instagram carousel that implies Berghain.

Humanity contains multitudes.

And obviously, plenty will quit.

There are Pioneer controllers currently collecting dust underneath very expensive candles all over America.

But some won’t.

Some kid messing around with rekordbox in their bedroom right now is going to become disgusting at this in five years.

That’s how scenes work.

Everybody starts somewhere.

I KIND OF LIKE IT, THOUGH :)

Annoying as it can be, there’s something funny about an entire generation becoming so obsessed with music consumption that eventually we started wanting to control the aux professionally.

Or semi-professionally.

Or at someone’s birthday.

Whatever.

People are finding records.

Trading tracks.

Learning software.

Throwing parties.

Making their friends dance.

Could be worse.

We used to give the aux to one person.

Now apparently everybody wants a shift.

Fine.

Just please stop putting WORLDWIDE in the bio before you’ve left Florida.