DJ Equipment Reviews

Twitter will soon let you publish your Traktor tracklist out to the world

This is another of those controversial topics to debate, and people will of course be on one side or the other of the barricade. Maybe not as much as the payola topic, real time broadcasting of a working DJ’s tracklist over the internet (using a newly released Twitter application for Native Instruments’ Traktor software) will split the crowd as well. I’m talking about this new application that Richie Hawtin’s label Minus came up with earlier this week, that’s supposed to update the status and tracks on Richie Hawtin’s playlist every 30 seconds on his Twitter page.

This isn’t really an available application right now, but Richie Hawtin’s Minus and Native Instruments came to an agreement and the next free update for the widely used Traktor DJ software, which will be version 1.2, will have this little Twitter broadcasting application built in for every working DJ out there to use. For those that think this is a good idea and a better way to promote yourself, this new Traktor update will probably be available somewhere in June 2009, and of course, current owners of the Traktor software will be able to freely upgrade their DJ program to that version and enjoy the use of this Twitter broadcasting application, as well as other improvements. Also, the Minus label said that this application will be made available to the large public as well in the future, which means you won’t need a Traktor DJ software for it and will be able to update your tracklist on Twitter no matter what you use.

This may sound like a good idea at first and definitely in tune with the modern, all digital working DJ nowadays, but broadcasting your tracklist every 30 seconds on your Twitter account may and will have some other effects as well, if the practice gets generalized. It’s not my place to start talking about Twitter and how to promote yourself using its features, that’s for every working DJ out there to decide, but promotion is without a doubt one of the biggest things in a DJ’s career, so my guess is a lot of Traktor using digital DJ’s will take this step, following Richie Hawtin, so what can the rest of the industry expect of this?

Well not long ago, to know what track a DJ was playing at a party involved some pretty low-tech methods, but was a very important fact to find out, especially if you’re another DJ trying to see what works. Either trying to make out a name on the 45 RPM spinning vinyl (which in a low light, night club environment is quite a feat in itself), or catching the DJ in a tight spot and squeezing it out of him or in the digital age, taking some crappy photos of the club and then trying to make out a name from the vinyl’s white label that you knowingly caught in a corner of your picture (I know, some people are twisted…)

With Hawtin’s Twitter application for Traktor, those days will be long gone, as digital DJ’s will have their page updated constantly with what they’re playing. No more trying to remember some weird German band name, no more headaches for the working DJ and finally, more free time for people to do something constructive, because now it’s all on Twitter. Hop on the band wagon and check out each and every track a working DJ mixes at a party. Easy. Richie Hawtin’s Minus, with the help of Twitter and Traktor, make the process an efficient flowing circulation of track names and details, but take the life out of it in the end.

The serious effects of this Twitter application for Traktor users (and we can assume that if this works, a similar Twitter broadcasting tool will be available generally to every working DJ out there) have yet to be seen, and besides the side effect of bulking up your Twitter account with constant updates, there will definitely be some others that are worth mentioning. Tell us what you feel about broadcasting your tracklist on Twitter, would you do it? would you like it or benefit from it? … and while you’re at it, check out the WorkingDJ Twitter account as well. We don’t update tracklists, but we do keep you informed and in the know.

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