The Fall of the DJ as a Tastemaker

Thus, a new era was born, what I like to call - the reign of the producers - in the clubbing landscape, effectively transforming nightclubs into concert venues for these producers and pushing many DJs out of the scene. It marked a substantial loss for the industry, and an unfortunate turn away from the true essence of DJ culture – curating and introducing diverse, novel sounds to an eager audience.

In the heydays of electronic music, people flocked to nightclubs not just to dance but to uncover new and exciting music. This was an era when electronic music wasn't a staple on radio stations. Instead, it lived and thrived in the pulsating ambiance of nightclubs, where DJs were the gatekeepers of this fascinating sound, introducing audiences to new artists and fresh music currents. They were the tastemakers, their knowledge and unique ability to weave different tracks together provided an immersive musical journey that fans couldn't get anywhere else.

And as the DJs were previously guiding audiences on musical journeys back in the days, they were once again stripped of their status as tastemakers, when the streaming platforms created editorial playlists supposed to introduce new music to their users, switching aside the crucial role of independent music curator replacing it by the illusion that this would now be seamlessly fulfilled by the editorial teams of streaming platforms.

An Illusion of Diversity: How Majors are Shaping Listener Preferences

With the rise of streaming platforms, users have been led to believe they are enjoying an unprecedented level of diversity. After all, they now have access to millions of songs from all around the world.

But while many playlists on streaming platforms give an illusion of diversity, they're being owned and curated by majors, through playlists building companies that have been acquired (Digster for Universal, Filtr for Sony and Topsify for Warner) and produce hundreds of playlists to promote their catalog leading to the result is a music ecosystem that locks users within their catalogs, rather than truly expanding their musical horizons.

In 2020, according to research conducted by analytics company Alpha Data, their report suggest that 90% of streams are accounted for by just 1% of artists. As reported by Rolling Stone, 1.6million artists released music to streaming services in the past year, but nine in ten tracks played were made by just 16,000 top tier artists.

In a world where major labels increasingly dictate what listeners hear, we risk losing the art of discovery, the role of the DJ as a curator is being lost. If the diversity and vibrancy of electronic music is to be preserved, we need to rekindle our appreciation for the DJ's art.