Assessment 4 Reflective Writing P2

For the final project, I decided to do a video on the evolution of technology in DJ industry such as how technology brings changes to the DJs industry and how it affect the community. After I decided what topic I want to do, I start doing some research on the DJ technology and history. I found difficulty in getting journal on this topic as this topic wasn’t really popular and not many people did any research on it. However, I found some video and website that gave me a sense of the history of DJs industry and how the equipment evolved throughout the year since1980.

        After having some research, I start to find some people that have some knowledge or experience in the evolution of technology that willing to let me interview them. I found one lecture who teach music courses in RMIT, who had knowledge in the EDM culture and DJs stuff. However, he wasn’t feeling well for the week so I email one DJ store in Richmond. I am glad that I get a quick reply from them. They said that they willing to help me out on the interview. They introduced me their store consultant Phil Krokidis who is the store consultant and also a DJ. He starts DJing since 1984 and been thru the evolution of DJ industry.

        After getting contact with Phil, we decide to do the interview at the store in Richmond. During the interview, I ask him about the experience of being part of the community that been thru those changes and some of his thought on this issue. He tells me about his experience on DJing and few big evolution changes the way people DJ such as in 2007 Pioneer introduce the CDJ400, the first CDJ that support USB and DJ are able to do scratching on it instead of scratching in a turntable. He said that a lot of the DJ couldn’t get used to it as it very new to them at that time. Sonner, many of them start using it because they no longer need to take whole bag of album to play their gig. Instead, they can just store every music in their drive and plug it into the CDJ. It brings a lot of benefit to them but at the same time, it also affects the vinyl sales as people no longer using it anymore.

        Throughout the interview with Phil, I get a better picture of the evolution of technology in the DJs industry. I think that the evolution of technology not just affecting the DJs industry but it also affecting the media industry. Back in the olden days, reading newspaper and watching television are the most common thing people do in their daily routine. However, due to the technology evolution, everything had changed. Now many people no longer read printed newspaper and watch television, instead, people start reading the online newspaper and watch news or movie online thru Youtube or Netflix. Everything had changed due to the evolution of technology.

After spending half of the semester in this studio in exploring a different type of old media and craft, I decided to explore the evolution in DJ industry for the assessment 4. Music such as EDM is getting more popular among the young teenagers and thanks to the evolution of technology. It helps people to get access to new information. Social media become so popular and common where most of the people use it to communicate or get information. Social media such as Youtube and Vimeo became a platform for DJ and producer to share their music and reach out to more audience. Thus, social media help people to get access to their favorite songs or discover some new artist. The evolution of technology helps the distribution and growth of music industry where DJ and producer can sell their music on iTunes or Beatport and people can not just buy the album but also buy the song in digital format. Thus, the technology also changed the way people consume music. From cassette to CDs, from CDs to digital format, people are demanding more not just on the content but also the quality of sound. Now we can get enjoy the music in a better sound quality and listen to it everywhere we want.

What had caught my interest in doing this is because I am a Electronic Dance Music fans, I like to listen to different genre of EDM such as Progressive House, Hard Dance and Trance. Thus, I also have some knowledge and experience in DJing which draws me the interest on discovering the impact of technology toward the DJ industry. For this assessment, I decide to look into the impact of the technology toward DJ industry in few different aspect. Firstly, how DJ tech and equipment evolved due the to the evolution of the technology. Secondly, how technology affects the producer in creating their music. Lastly, how technology contributes to the diverse of the EDM genre.

When I was learning how to DJ, I remember that my tutor told me that DJ becomes more easier to learn and less complicated. He said that back in the 80s and 90s, club DJ need to bring along many different CDs and vinyl and play it one by one. They also need to make a marking point in the vinyl in order to play the right song. Thus, while playing the track they need to quickly eject the cd from the other player and input the another cd to play another track. He said that since the evolution of technology in DJ industry, now they can store all their music in a USB or play it thru their laptop. It helps them to reduce their workload and make it easier to DJ. The evolution of technology affects the industry draw my interest in looking into it.