Share your digital crate digging tips

Taxilla

Hello i try to use Traktor as a Hiphop dj and i like to get the Controller to make better sets😊

FParadiso

There's lots of ways to come across new music.

I would say I find most new music through Spotify recommendations. Then I download those from my record pool, Live Dj Service. Anything not available through the record pool, I buy from Band Camp. The record pool provides for most of my downloads.

Like others have mentioned, I listen to other DJ sets. Also, I'll find songs that appear on Netflix shows or at the mall I shazam.

There's also plenty of Instagram channels that market music and one can shazam those too.

KOMPLETE MUsic

I use spotify to discover music, as their algorithmn is so good. And I use online flac downloaders for higher quality files.

Interestingly the spotify dj Is quite good. surprisingly.

Ves

I use the age old trick, look from tracks from my favourite labels and producers. Then expand from there through potential collaboration done.

Usually I start on Bandcamp as that pays them out the most. Then I shift to Traxsource and other platforms. I receive info about new music through mailing lists of promo lists. After that I go to DJ pools like ZipDJ and Franchise Record Pool. Again following the rule, look for labels I like and artist I know.

Then there is YouTube. I follow a bunch of channels that post music from various producers and labels.

Used to listen to YouTube Music and just play shuffle on the radio of favourite artist but that got less.

I shifted away from Soundcloud, I felt that despite some nice bootlegs it was too much digging to find useful and unique things.

Lastly which I don't do as often when I first started DJing, listening to mixes of other DJs and picking tracks from there I like.

LostInFoundation

Usually the “discovery” part is done in the real world (shops, friends suggestions,…).

Eventually the digital crate digging part comes to expand my discoveries: What else published that artist? Who worked with him? Where do the stuffs he uses come from?

And if we are talking also about crate digging for sampling, WhoSampled comes very useful

doombadger

Honestly, it's mostly stuff made by people I know that's either given to me unreleased or bought directly from the independent labels.

Brad G.

Time is a commodity for me these days so anytime where I’m stuck in traffic or doing some mindless work I am usually listening to XM radio or Spotify. If listening in the car and I hear some thing, I really like on someone’s mix, ill usually use Shazam to pull up the song and then use the Shazam feature of opening it in Spotify to locate the song. Once it’s located, I add it to a temporary playlist. Then I go on the BPM supreme when I have time at home and see if any of the songs that I’ve added to this temporary playlist or available to me on my record pools. Obviously, if they are, they get downloaded. The end, lol.

Anians

There's nothing like a good old Youtube rabbit hole to unearth some music you didn't know was out there

holonology

@Kaiwan_NI

A bit of the old, a bit of the new (ish.)

I'm a big fan of serendipity when it comes to music discovery, and like you, I am wary of handing this over to an algorithm. Fortunatley, most of the big music platforms, including Spotify have the opportunity for artists to have their own playlists. This sounds almost too easy, but I have a list of artists I like, I put their playlists in a folder, then hit play & shuffle on the folder. What you have there is all the benefits of discovering curated choices of artists you like, without the algorithm choosing for you.

Then there's good old blogs. Again I just have a regular rotation I return to who post new music. Very often I will run through these and find something new.

And lastly, in true back to the future fashion I just listen to the radio. That's actually a great way to find new things and I probably ignored this for too long when all the digital tools came along.

Kubrak

I use Spotify they suggest me real niche bands which I like. I prefer to play things nobody knows, so real niche, unknown bands are great for that purpose. I can use about 25% to 50% of what Spotify suggests me.

What I do is, that playlists I make in Spotify are not DJ playlists, I make playlists/selections by gendre. And if I play that "playlist" Spotify suggests something alike what is in that specialized playlist. And I have many gender specific "playlists". And not only just gender specific, but also subdivisions like, slow-fast. And so... Simply each future building element of DJ list has its own playlist.

Maybe that it works OK, so far, as I use Spotify just for digging, not listening, so it gets precise picture, what I like and what not.

I also use youtube, Soundcloud and like.

Sûlherokhh

I mainly listen to DJ sets (in the club or at home) and pre-releases from producer friends to find new Techno tracks for my own sets. Until several years past i collected a library from many sources that i am still combing through to find jewels from past years to press into service so my need to find new tracks has gone down quite a bit.

Madman

Shazam. Laugh if you want, but when i hear something randomly and i like it, i Shazam it and go down the rabbit hole of said artist. 🤷🏾‍♂️

CRS

Actually just found something on a tv show. Might sample something out of it If I can make it unique. Winning Time the series. It's funny because I was listening to something while watching the show and it fit perfectly. Had to come back and update my comment in realtime.

SeulStizz

I haven't been using SoundCloud but I will now. Thanks!

I used to use iTunes to buy music but it's all messed up in Traktor so maybe I'll switch to BandCamp.

I do use Spotify but that's partially because I play weddings and am looking for music that most people know. If they're in the algorithm, maybe I should be too. Even if just a bit. I also just dig through new releases on DJ Music Pools. I quite enjoy it actually.

JonnyG

I find that following labels and artists only gets me so far. It often limits my field of search and over the years I missed some gems because I was hyper focused on certain labels or artists.

As with all things, artists change over time. I like to keep a completely open mind and trust my ears.

Nowadays I like to pick a theme for my set. Go dig out some gems for that style then load up everything from the last few weeks on whatever music app I pick. I may filter based on bpm range if I know whether I'm opening, peak or closing which helps narrow the field a bit. Once I’m done, if any name (artist or label) shows up more than once in my cart, I’ll do a deeper dive on that artist or label.

It’s important to have those older reference tracks on hand though. I love loads of music and it’s easy to go down a rabbit hole. Make multiple carts or save other tracks as notes or somewhere for later if you’re like me and get distracted easily lol

It is long process but the feedback I’ve gotten on my sets has been tenfold so we’ll worth the effort. Also helps you stand out from the crowd when you find some obscure unknown records that light up the dancefloor.