The Nuances of Platinum DJing

I'm back from the midwest after a long, relaxing, and rather outmazing weekend that ended with my purchase of a rather platinum fedora hat. Before I go on, I'd like to take a moment to share my new title: Vice President to the Facilitator of Social Activity and Spontaneous Order.

I liked the direction that Raph's previous post was going, and it reminded me of a similar conversation we'd had on the nuances of platinum DJing. As any host/DJ would know, the atmosphere and ambience of a party is critical to its success. Music selection is the impetus of that achievement.

To begin, know your audience. Put your audience's tastes before your own in music, and you'll have a better time--everyone will. While having a core music playlist on hand is essential and easy to replay at future parties, it is also important to customize that list so that each event has a subtle but individual musical flavor. Also, customize it to the event you're staging--this goes hand in hand with your audience's preferences--for example, retro '80s may or may not be platinum for a wine and cheese party, but again, that depends on your audience.

Secondly, go with something everyone knows. This usually spans from classic rock to '90s, and even some intermittent recent songs (avoid those overplayed). This is the base of your music list, and it's extremely adaptable to any one individual's musical taste. People bond when they sings songs together, even if they don't care for the song. And TIP: well-known songs can break the ice for you single folks out there.

Also--it's important to pick songs that are generally "up-beat"--meaning, even if everyone knows the wishy-washy love song you're considering playing, you won't want to compile your entire music list with this particular tempo or attitude, which brings me to another finer point...

Shuffle the genres and the ages: if you just played Kanye's "Stronger," you should go with something disconnected next like Journey's "Small Town Girl." And never repeat songs unless it's strongly requested: you should have a music list long enough for the planned length of the party, with room for error. Arbitrary music lists are useful in keeping the crowd interested in the playlist instead of lulled into one music niche, no matter how up-beat it is.

Finally, if you insist on implanting your own tastes, do so with caution, and very sparsely into the list. If that song, or any that may have made the list, changes the general positive mood be sure to change that song as soon as possible. I'm sure there's something going on at a psychological level here, but parties with good vibes from great music last longer, or at least give a lasting impression that you know how to host a platinum party.