Twitter DJ application

[Jay Pace]

At first I thought this was a really twatty attempt to jump on "the next big thing".... but having read a bit more on this, its got a lot of interesting potential.

First is generating tracklists for sets automatically, which is pretty useful and appreciated. But the part about synching in with performing rights is very interesting. Doubt anyone is expecting to get rich off the back of pubic performance of their tracks, but every little helps.

Taken from a minus mailout:

TWITTER DJ APPLICATION
Richie Hawtin brings Twitter into the DJ booth and invites the world
to see what's happening in real time!

It’s often the case that the advent of one idea heralds unexpected
benefits and developments in other areas, and so it goes with Native
Instruments’ Traktor Pro. Having already revolutionised the art of
mixing, it could now be about to have a profound effect on the
relationship between a DJ and their audience, not to mention the world
of performing rights by making sure each and every artist, large or
small, is properly compensated for the use of their work.

Twitter DJ is the latest brainwave from Richie Hawtin, who’s already
spent much of his career pioneering new technologies as a DJ, producer
and label owner, from the development of Midi enabled DJ mixers such
as Allen & Heath’s Xone92 & 3D mixers, to Final Scratch DJ technology
that gave way to Native Instruments’ Traktor software. At this year’s
Time Warp event Richie built on ideas first explored during 2008’s
Contakt tour, testing a custom version of Traktor Pro with a new
background application that allows for real time broadcasting of all
tracks played during a DJ set. The new application, developed in-house
by Bryan McDade at Hawtin’s Minus label, works as a conduit between
Traktor and the online messaging utility Twitter. Minus and Native
Instruments worked closely together to optimize the Traktor software
for this special use.

The Twitter DJ application utilizes feeds from an updated version of
Traktor’s standard broadcasting technology to send 30 second updates
during Hawtin’s set of what’s currently playing to a designated
Twitter account, allowing anyone following the Twitter group to obtain
a unique insight into how a DJ builds the atmosphere and dynamics of a
set, track by track, and in real time. The track information is freely
accessible from any Twitter configured personal mobile devices (even
from the dance floor) and archived online on the Twitter page. This
concept is also a significant step towards helping smaller independent
record companies and artists to gain further recognition and free
promotion when their releases are played as digital files.

However, the real potential comes to light when considering the
benefits for performing rights societies: “By providing the necessary
information to track what is really being played in clubs, the Twitter
DJ application would not only drag the likes of GEMA, PRS and SOCAN
kicking and screaming into the 21st century, but make sure the real
artists get paid instead of performance payments simply being carved
up between the Madonnas and U2s of the world. If record sales are
slowing down and performance is now the key area where artists can
achieve financial stability, better solutions need to be found and a
workable structure put in place as soon as possible. We hope that our
Twitter DJ application is a step forward in the development of these
types of systems.“

Richie will be testing the beta version of the software on his next
tour, starting on Wednesday 29/04/09. To see it in operation, contact
rhawtin on Twitter (www.twitter.com/rhawtin)

[Patrick DSP]

That's pretty neat, and it might help push more clubs to setup an internet connection in the dj booth.

It's also great to see that Native Instruments already put this into their upcoming update of Traktor.

[Jay Pace]

The tracklisting thing is mint. For purely selfish reasons, I know he's played a couple of my tracks in the past, and it would get me a lot more exposure when his set lists get seized upon by every fanboy out there.

Tis a genuinely good idea this, props to the man.

[DJPAUZE]

It's going to be sweet on 2 fronts, labels getting paid and dj's being able to track a dj's playlist without posting in the id's forums and waiting. Can't wait to see this in action...

[Patrick DSP]

It's going to be sweet on 2 fronts, labels getting paid and dj's being able to track a dj's playlist without posting in the id's forums and waiting. Can't wait to see this in action...

it's already in action, check his twitter link in the original post.

[Patrick DSP]

I could totally see future updates of this including links to beatport to purchase the tracks.

another good concept for this is if you show up to a gig last minute and don't want to play the same tracks as the djs before you (that you missed), just check their twitter.

[djfilthmonger]

well handy.