Beyond the Music Retreat

A-Trak speaks at the Beyond the Music Retreat in Black Hawk, Colorado. (Credit: Julian Melanson)

DJcity and DJ Vice‘s inaugural Beyond the Music Retreat went down in Black Hawk, Colorado this week. The conference brought together DJs from around the world, including A-Trak, who spoke on the “$kills vs Bills” panel alongside Miles Medina, Kayper, and DJcity National Director, Styles Davis.

With such a long history in the DJ business, A-Trak had plenty of experience to pull from. He, along with the other panelists, spoke on topics like playing for crowds that may not understand the technical aspects of DJing, losing gigs to celebrity DJs, and more.

After speaking at the conference, the Fool’s Gold boss took to Twitter on Friday to share more thoughts about the challenges that open-format DJs face and how they can overcome them.

Read what he said below.

I'm realizing how much of a hole there is in the infrastructure for DJs in North America, specifically for open format DJs.
The whole DJ business changed DRASTICALLY in the last 10 years.. and there's pockets of the DJ scene that kind of got left out. (cont'd)

— Basement Jacques (@atrak) March 8, 2019

Those changes happened with the explosion of EDM. Money brings change & infrastructure – like in any sector. When DJs started having huge hit records and the event space boomed (festivals, tours hitting ticketed venues), the business became legit.

— Basement Jacques (@atrak) March 8, 2019

DJs used to get known on the strength of their DJing (duh!). But then DJs started becoming known for their songs and that created serious draw to other markets. That also created a need for proper managers, lawyers etc. The social media boom happened at the same time.

— Basement Jacques (@atrak) March 8, 2019

The old school model was: most DJs had an agent-slash-manager. Which isn't ideal (church & state!). But most of us didn't need managers before. I was DJing for 10 years – multiple time world champion etc – before hiring my first manager.

— Basement Jacques (@atrak) March 8, 2019

That model worked all the way up to the DJ AM era, when bottle service clubs became more prominent and Vegas opened up to more DJs. But those types of venues and clubs don't respect DJs. So DJs need representation.

— Basement Jacques (@atrak) March 8, 2019

After that the music exploded and an entire industry was built… But what about the DJs who weren't producing records? who, truthfully, are better *DJs* than most of those getting known for their hits..? The club scene got caught in a bubble, a time warp.

— Basement Jacques (@atrak) March 8, 2019

And here's where it gets weird: then the EDM bubble burst. Club talent buyers started saying they were going back to booking open format DJs (for those who don't know that just means multi-genre DJs rooted in hip hop). But most of those DJs don't have modern agents, modern biz.

— Basement Jacques (@atrak) March 8, 2019

The DJ explosion that happened earlier in the decade created fast growth but now I find the scene needs some nurturing. And there's a lot of excellent DJs who still need representation.
It's wild: a celebrity DJ is more likely to have a legit agent than a GOOD open format DJ.

— Basement Jacques (@atrak) March 8, 2019

I think part of the problem is also because of the handful of people in a position of power in that club scene, that open format scene: it's very clicky which imo hindered it from riding the big wave a few years ago. Some ppl were too self-content to even SEE the wave…

— Basement Jacques (@atrak) March 8, 2019

The end result is a bunch of very very good skilled DJs who don't have an infrastructure.
I went to the #BeyondTheMusic retreat last week, organized by @DJcity & @djvice. It's clear that there's a big demand for mentorship, leadership, guidance in the scene.

— Basement Jacques (@atrak) March 8, 2019

It's a great start. We need more though. I don't understand why the main booking agencies aren't picking up more of these DJs. There has to still be a viable lane for DJs whose main focus isn't to produce music or be an Instagram personality, but just to be a great reliable DJ!!

— Basement Jacques (@atrak) March 8, 2019

Related: Laidback Luke and A-Trak Talk Heart Hands, Jumping on DJ Booth