What do Sonicbids alums Passion Pit & French Horn Rebellion have in common with each other that they don’t have in common with your grandma? Well if you read the name of this blog post you’ve probably guessed that they perform DJ sets in addition to all of their regular gigs. Now, regardless of her presumed distaste for change and the genre of Dance as a whole, there are some pretty good reasons why your grandma should consider trading in her sewing needle for a record needle.
1) Business Is A-Boomin’
The overall estimated worth of the Global EDM Industry has reached $4.5 billion annually according to an estimate released in May at the Ibiza International Music Summit. This figure is incredibly large and it definitely affects your grandma. With Dance being the fastest growing mainstream genre in the United States today, everyone from Los Angeles to New York is transfixed and looking to get in on the action. Between live events, promotions, branding, synchronization, streaming, single sales, album sales – you name it – there is so much cash splashing the EDM pot that everyone is paying attention. Big money means lots and lots of eyes and let’s face it a DJ grandma would certainly warrant a listen.
2) Variety Is The Spice of Life
Does your grandma want to make more money, play more dates, and gain more fans? Just like a well-groomed stock portfolio your grandma should be diversified. People should see your grandma play an acoustic set on Tuesday and then spinning a DJ set on Friday and be like “yo grandma be so diversified she be mitigating risk, yo!” There are plenty of rooms that she’s already playing, which is great – butthere are also a ton of rooms that she isn’t playing and that she could be with a little well-timed knob jiggering, champagne bottle spraying, and basic Serato or Traktor skills. Playing out clubs is an amazing way to tap into a new market and diversify your fan-base. Speaking as someone who has robot ears even I must put down the electro and listen to some other genres now and again, why not your grandma?
3) Opportunity and Hard Work Look Very Similar
Some great advice that I’ll never forget is that often times incredible opportunities look identical to hard work. Your grandma is in a world that is quickly moving completely digital, soon she’ll be able to download episodes of Murder She Wrote directly into her brain. It only makes sense that art – a field, which has a history steeped in being on the cutting edge of modernity – is too blending into the digital beast. Do not fear the unknown. Another quote I love is from one of my favorite authors, George R. R. Martin, ofGame of Thrones fame. A young princeling character asks an advisor, “Can a man still be brave if he’s afraid?” To which his advisor replies, “That is the only time a man can be brave.” Very, very wise, and, luckily for your grandma, her bravery only needs to extend to opening her mind to new technologies, which will ultimately expand her skills and knowledge base. For someone who is completely unfamiliar with DJ technologies, I’d suggest doing some due diligence on programs such as Garage Band, Logic,Pro Tools, Traktor, and Serato. It may seem scary at first but what better time to be brave? You go, grandma.
4) This Was Never Really About Your Grandma
I feel bad for getting you here on a false pretense but hey, at least I got you here. The main point I’m trying to make is that if your grandma has at least 3 good reasons why she should be looking into DJing – increasing visibility, expanding fan-base, increasing industry and technology knowledge and skillsets – then you, as a musician in a rapidly evolving market absolutely should be learning all you can about it at the very least. Art knows no bounds, don’t be afraid to explore new avenues of expression.
You may be scared of opening Pandora’s DJ booth-shaped box, but that just means this is an incredible opportunity disguised as hard work.
