Phase Team
Published on
October 10, 2024
To thrive as a DJ and create out-of-this-world mixes, you need loads of access to fresh sounds and tunes to make it work. So, what are the ways to get your music?
There are a bunch of different options to do so: starting from DJ record pools to streaming, from buying tracks to ripping your old vinyl, we’ve made a shortlist for you to make your life a tad easier! ;)
A DJ record pool is a huge online library of promotional music options in different genres.
It allows DJs to access wide selections of the latest hits that come in the highest quality and directly from the music labels or the artists themselves. In addition, the tracks quite often come in different versions to suit the need of a DJ: extended versions, additional intro or outro, or acapella. Most of the records pools work with a subscription model, but in some cases, you can also purchase tracks individually.
Price: Starting from $30 Per Month
One of the biggest and most popular DJ pools in the market. Clean, and easy to use, DJ city has an in-house production team that creates red rums and edits, so you can get access to one-of-a-kind stuff! This record pool is particularly interesting for club and radio DJs that are focused more on Hip-Hop and House genres, but it has an extensive list of other popular genres. The highly curated and exclusive playlists will also give you an exclusive experience of finding new tracks in similar moods, tempo, and overall ease of choosing your tracks.
With the subscription, you'll also get access to their mobile app and DJ City exclusives, which can't be found anywhere else!
Price: Starting from $19.99 Per Month
Packed with loads of music for every genre, BPM Supreme is one of the go-to platforms in the DJing world.
There’s also a free trial, so you can have a go and explore the pool. Sort the tracks through a wide range of tunes, from acapella tracks to outros and intros.
BPM Supreme could be particularly interesting for Hip-Hop DJs, as it has a scratch tool section, where it offers almost 100 scratch tools: scratch sentences, beats and cuts, for live performances, or practicing or training at home.
Price: Starting from $25 Per Month
With one of the biggest back catalogs on the list, zipDJ offers unlimited music downloads, so you won’t have to worry about running out of tracks. Also, they’ve partnered with more than 2000 labels around the world, including Ultra Music, Ministry of Sounds, and offer 60 sub-genre categories like Dance, House, hip-Hop, you name it!
However, as you’ve noticed from the labels, zipDJ definitely excels the most in House, and its sub-genres, especially if you’re trying to find something unique.
FuVi Clan: Offers a wide range of electronic music, a DJ pool that is easy to navigate, and find some gems.
Digital DJ Pool: For only $1 for the first 5 days, it offers a wide range of genres, including remixes, dirty mixes, acapellas, and so much more.
BPM Latino: Need some reggaeton, mambo, merengue or other Latin style tracks? Find them all here!
Crate Connect: ideal for a DJ who’s into urban, reggae, or house, this DJ pool proposes WAV packs only.
My Mp3 Pool: Hip-Hop, Rap, Trap, and everything in between. Also, you can easily transfer the tracks to your Dropbox account!
Streaming has taken over everywhere: nowadays, we stream our movies, podcasts, music in our personal lives and DJing is no exception: it has been getting more and more attention in the DJing world with the latest software and hardware integrations.
However, even though we’re used to hearing about the streaming giants like Apple Music or Spotify, you won’t find them on this list, as they do not support third-party DJ apps since 2020.
But worry not, as we have prepared a comparison of the streaming services that are currently supported by the biggest DJ software in the market. This way, you’ll be able to dive into the streaming service that will compliment your current setup!
Taking the digital and the new school away, buying tracks by unit via digital stores is still a very interesting choice today. With fair pricing too: on average, you pay $1.29 on iTunes and on Beatport the tracks start from $1.29 for very optimal quality tracks.
And what can be a more classic way than taking an advantage of your existing CD or vinyl library, which you can digitalize and use with your favorite DJ software?
We could definitely be listing some places that everyone knows like iTunes, Beatport, or Amazon Music (which are still top choices with a large library), but we’ve decided to spice it up a bit and give you several options that are niche and definitely interesting.
If you’re looking for some electronic or dance music, look no further than Juno Download. It offers you a huge selection of tracks in a wide variety of digital formats, including high-quality WAV and FLAC files.
Or if you want to find some unheard gems in high-quality files, Bleep offers tracks from independent artists & labels with a focus on electronic/alternative music, but has a ground base for familiar genres such as House, R&B, including slightly more niche genres like modern classical or krautrock!
And if you want your payment to go directly to the artist, SoundClick is the place to go! The cool thing about is that the artists can typically set their own prices, thus there are loads of FREE tracks available. It doesn’t have a preferred genre per se, but it offers 15 genres with their respective sub-genres, definitely worth checking out!
This section is dedicated to that one golden album that has tracks so good yet not available online (we love you, and we appreciate you!). Ripping a CD and vinyl is a good alternative, which you can easily do if you have all your necessary equipment.
For CDs, it’s fairly simple: for Windows users, you can simply rip your tracks via Windows Media Player. For Mac owners, iTunes also easily does the trick. However, you can always use ripping software for other formats than mp3 (like NCH, dBpoweramp, or Exact Audio Copy)
For vinyl, you need to have a very good quality needle, recording software, and the rest of the DJ turntable setup (see the 6 Tips for ripping vinyl by DJ city). And today, the majority of DJ software allows you to record the tracks in high quality.
But! Even though it’s a fun thing to do and it allows you to re-utilize your vinyl library, it is nonetheless a very time-consuming process. So, consider ripping only the tracks you definitely can’t find online. Also, keep in mind the potential quality and sound distortion.
We hope this article gave you a good scope of the ways you can get your music in 2022. Of course, it all comes down to what type of music you’re looking for, and its accessibility online, but all in all, every DJ should find what they need.
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