This time ‘round, Armin van Buuren was given the floor to reflect on reclaiming the top spot from David Guetta. “I thought that was it, and house music was taking over,” he told DJ Mag. “I’ve been really impressed by a lot of the new house guys, and I’ve been to a lot of house gigs over the summer. All that new energy that they’re bringing, I thought ‘OK, this is the future’.” We heard a similar line from the Dutchman at ADE: “This summer I went to see Hardwell and Nicky Romero; I was really impressed by these DJs. [However] I will not play music that Hardwell or Guetta plays, ‘cause that’s not who I am. No disrespect, but that’s not who I am.” Then there was Tiesto’s interview, which saw the Musical Freedom boss admit “it’s impossible to have a relationship” when you’re a superstar DJ, despite all the highs.
Of the stock questions asked of each winning DJ, one was the contentious, “Are you a DJ if you don’t beat match?” There was a new bout of interest in the topic back in September, when Pioneer announced its new CDJ-2000nexus came with a Master Sync button that effectively does away with the need to beat-match. As Melbourne stalwart Mike Callander wrote for inthemix: “Sync doesn’t choose the mood or vibe of music, nor the key in which it is written…I really believe that good DJing will always be about programming – that is, playing the right track at the right time in the context of what was played before, and the ability of the DJ to influence the audience reaction through their choice of music.”
Here’s how some of DJ Mag’s Top 100, including the guys getting the biggest pay-cheques for doing the job, weighed in on the question, “Are you a DJ if you don’t beat match?”
David Guetta
No, you’re a selector. But you have to be an idiot not to be able to beat match.Above & Beyond
Absolutely. Anyone can learn to beat match anyway. The whole beat-matching thing is a big distraction. That said, it’s good to have as many skills as possible in your locker.Skrillex
Although I’ve been accused of it, I’ve never “played” pre-recorded sets and wouldn’t consider that DJing. Aside from collecting vinyl which takes time and lots of space, all the tools to become a DJ are accessible to everybody so it’s pretty fair game. If you’re using Traktor or Ableton and your mixing and transitions are on-point, then you’re DJing by today’s technological standards.Avicii
Every DJ should be able to beat match, but who’s to say what a DJ is in the public eye a few years from now? That’s just the fundamental of what a DJ is to me, and will always be.Afrojack
Yes, but a really bad one. At least use auto-synch.Steve Aoki
Yes. There are many different ways to DJ. It’s not about beat matching so much as all the many things you can do to manipulate one song with another and create a story throughout the night. DJing is much more than the beat match.Aly & Fila
Well actually there are a lot of famous DJs who don’t beat match.Kaskade
Sure. Why not? What we do now is different, so we need a different word other than ‘DJ’.Richie Hawtin
DJing is more about the music and how you program it…these are both things that you need to feel at your core.John Digweed
Beat matching is only part of being a DJ, track selection and the ability to read the crowd are just as, if not more, important.Porter Robinson
Yeah, sure, but who cares what’s a DJ? Let’s just show audiences a good time, OK? This is supposed to be fun!Credit : In The Mix
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