Reddit’s Most Controversial and Viral DJ Opinions – And Whether They’re Right

Reddit is rife with DJs spouting their opinions about everything in the DJ world. Many express strong opinions from behind the safety of an anonymous handle, safe from retaliation. Exploring Reddit's viral DJ debates gives a fascinating and uncensored glimpse into the behind-the-scenes experiences and thoughts of DJs both big and small. From gear snobbery to genres wars, DJs love to battle it out on the Reddit forums. We scoured the threads of r/DJs, r/Beatmatch, and r/ElectronicMusic to find the hottest arguments and whether they hold up.

What are your thoughts on these debates? Let us know here on our Instagram.

1. “You Don’t Need Vinyl Skills to Be a Real DJ”

🔥 The Controversy: Old-school DJs argue that you're not a real DJ unless you can mix on vinyl, without sync, purely beatmatching by ear.

✅ Reality Check: There are many ways to DJ. Beatmatching is a crucial skill for all DJs to learn and even DJs using sync might need to fall back on this skill when the tech fails. Pitch-shifting is the skill vinyl DJs employ to determine the BPM and sync the beats by ear and it's a skill all DJs should aspire to learn. However, in todays DJ world, there are DJ software programs and visuals that can help you beatmatch, so it's possible, but not advisable, to DJ without knowing how to pitch-shift. We teach pitch-shifting in our advanced DJ courses because we think it's a skill all DJs should learn to help them beatmatch themselves when technology fails them. It's also a rewarding skill to learn, so why not enjoy taking your beatmatching to a professional level?

2. “Wedding DJs aren't Real DJs”

🔥 The Controversy: Some genre specialists claim open-format wedding DJs just play popular tracks without real technical skill or curation of a set.

✅ Reality Check: The ability to read a crowd and play multiple genres of music is an advanced DJ skill. What a lot of DJs here don't understand is there are two many ways to mix, you either mix club edits or radio edits. Club edits, typical for DJs who mix House, EDM, DnB and Techno are DJ friendly edits with long predictable intros and outros. They fit together like lego, so you could argue it's easier to mix club edits for this reason. These types of DJs typically stick to one genre and play gigs where the crowd are expecting just one type of sound, so again it's quite easy to predict what to play. Open-format DJs have to find ways to mix shorter vocal-rich radio edits and employ additional skills that club-edit DJs might not learn, including scratching and crossfader drops. Typically, open-format DJs often need to know how to mix both radio edits and club edits together successfully, while reading the crowd in terms of genre direction. The jury is out on which skill is more complex!

3. “DJs Who Talk on the Mic Are Annoying”

🔥 The Controversy: Some Redditors hate when DJs yell “Put your hands up!” or try to engage the audience with the mic and look down upon it as being naff.

✅ Reality Check: It's normal in some scenes for DJs to be required to use the mic to hype the crowd. It's prevalent in some countries such as those in Asia but frowned upon in countries in Europe. It's up to the DJ and the promoter to decide if using the mic is necessary or if the music can speak for itself. In addition, it's popular in the world of reggae and rap for DJs to perform alongside an MC who will toast, spit, rap or just hype the crowd into a frenzy creating a bigger live performance. Sometimes this can overshadow the DJ so it's up to the DJ if they want to perform alongside an MC or not. What do you think?

4. “Pioneer DJ Gear Is Overrated”

🔥 The Controversy: Some swear by CDJs, while others say brands like Denon, Rane (Serato) and Native Instruments (Traktor) offer better value and forward-thinking tech.

✅ Reality Check: Firstly, we are biased because we are one of the world's few Official Pioneer DJ Education Partners and we love all Pioneers' products. We teach with the full range at our studios in London, Birmingham and London. That being said, they are not the only company making top quality DJ software and hardware. Pioneer dominates clubs for reliability, but yes, there are alternatives. We also teach with Serato and Traktor DJ software and recognise their contribution to industry-standard DJ tech. Budget-friendly alternatives include Virtual DJ and Denon. We think that it's the skills that make the DJ, not the equipment and you can rock a DJ set on even the oldest or most basic DJ equipment. Just use the tech that's best for your budget and performance goals. If you want some advice on what DJ software and equipment is best for your style of DJing click here to contact us. ‍

5. “DJs Should Never Play Requests”

🔥 The Controversy: Purists say a DJ’s job is to curate, not take orders. Accepting requests lowers the job of the DJ to a crowd-pleasing juke box and serious DJs should never take requests.

✅ Reality Check: There are countless ways to express yourself as a DJ. Most Reddit debates are simply rubbish because some DJs seem to think their way is the only way, when in reality everyone has the agency to perform as they please. Many DJ gigs will require you to take requests, the vast majority in fact. Locals bars, pubs and regional clubs all book DJs who play for the crowd, and that often means taking requests and keeping the audience entertained with their favourite popular music. It's also fun to work with the crowd to create special memorable moments and not take the job too seriously. On the other hand there are situations like headline gigs where the DJ will not accept requests or even be close enough to the crowd to take them! There are many branches to the tree of DJing so just do your own thing!

6. “DJs just press buttons and dance”

🔥 The Controversy: Nowadays many people see videos of DJs dancing more than actually mixing and wonder what it is they are actually doing, if anything. Many Reddit posts accuse DJs or using pre-recorded sets of simply just pressing play at the right moment. So do DJs actually do anything?

✅ Reality Check: Of course there are some DJs who have been caught playing pre-mixed DJ sets, and in some cases cancelled because of it. Thankfully, most DJs do actually perform live! The good ones will often make it look much easier than it is. When you learn how to DJ, you will find out there is way more to it than meets the eye. If you're interested in becoming a DJ and finding out what it is that DJs do, join our Beginner DJ Course. ‍

7. “All EDM Sounds the Same”

🔥 The Controversy: Some say modern dance music lacks originality and everyone is just regurgitating past styles of music.

✅ Reality Check: Mainstage EDM can be formulaic but if you dive a bit deeper you'll realise there are more forms of EDM music than every before. Click here for an A-Z list of popular forms of EDM that DJs can be seen playing around the world. There is a vast array of genres and new sub-genres are being created every year while old forms of music are recycled, remixed and updated with modern sounds. We love a classic remix, but we celebrate new sonics at the same time.

8. “You Need a Big Social Media Following to Get Gigs”

🔥 The Controversy: Some say Instagram fame matters more than skill.

✅ Reality Check: Social media has created a platform where everyone is given the tools to reach a global audience. It's a level-playing field where anyone can become viral. It's a tool that DJs can use to market themselves and spread their unique selling point or message. Just be careful to first perfect your DJ skills and create a USP that aligns with your ideals and artistry. Once you have a direction, share your message with the world. You can connect with fans in far-away countries and different continents, what's not to love about that! Promoters do want to book popular acts that will sell tickets and make events financially viable, it's always been that way and social media didn't change anything. Find ways to build a truly engaged audience on social media by showcasing your unique style and skill.

‍

What’s your most controversial DJ take?

Drop into our DMs on Instagram and let’s thrash it out! 🔥🎧

‍