DJs are skilled musical manipulators who use great ears, the latest software, and a spot-on feel for musical tastes and trends to build rousing dance sets for live audiences and create altered versions of tracks by other artists.

What Does a DJ/Remixer (Studio or Performing) Do?

Originally, DJs were hybrid curator-performers who would select and play sets of the day's hottest records on turntables—the eponymous "discs"—and use complex analog techniques to tweak the music as it played. DJs still do all of this today—although the analog techniques have largely been replaced with digital software—but they also have a new medium: the remix. Today, remixes are released as standalone recordings, granting songs with slowing sales the opportunity to be revitalized in a new genre. While some DJs focus almost exclusively on setlist-building and nightclub performance and others are more production-oriented, most do a combination of both.

The traditional live DJ setup includes a mixer, two turntables, a sound system, and headphones, but a plethora of digital tools are now available to supplement this. Performing DJs may mix music on the fly, or use looping, effects, and other techniques to change the sound or structure of a track. Often, they create a seamless and thrilling flow by manipulating intros and outros, matching tempos, keys, and audio levels, and generally smoothing out transitions.

Remixers, by contrast, create entirely alternate master recordings of existing songs. They might add or subtract elements such as voices and instruments, as well as change the chord structure, dynamics, pitch, tempo, equalization, and other aspects of a song. A clever or masterful remix can turn a tepid track into a global hit, or bring a record to an audience it otherwise wouldn't have reached. Remixers are often producers, as well. 

Work Life Balance

Live DJs work at night, often into the wee hours of the morning. Before becoming a regular fixture at a club or creating a professional arrangement with a party planner, most work hard to secure one or two gigs a week while working day jobs for additional income.

Remixers make their own hours, although they have to work around deadlines when creating on commission. As a day job, a remixer might work as an assistant producer, mixing engineer, or mastering engineer, among other related fields.

Community

Club DJs are performers: charismatic and able to move a crowd of strangers with the force of their personality and their passion for music. Remixers are open, curious, and creative enough to grasp the possibilities contained within a song. Live DJs and remixers alike benefit from strong communication and networking skills, although the live DJ scene is particularly social.

Finding Work

DJs are hired for one-off or weekly shows by nightclub bookers, talent buyers, and event planners. They also frequently play festivals. Remixers are also freelancers, contracted on a per-project basis by record producers, record labels, and recording artists.

Live DJs who are just starting out often work for free or for drinks, happy to have the chance to cut their teeth and test-drive their skills in a public space, with the goal of developing a following and then advancing to bigger rooms and larger paychecks. Some find regular work with event organizers who provide DJs for weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, and corporate and other special events.

Professional Skills

• Music mixing (live and studio)
• Music editing software
• Music production
• MIDI
• Sample libraries
• Live performance: stage presence
• Great ears
• Networking

Interpersonal Skills

Club DJs are performers: charismatic and able to move a crowd of strangers with the force of their personality and their passion for music. Remixers are open, curious, and creative enough to grasp the possibilities contained within a song. Live DJs and remixers alike benefit from strong communication and networking skills, although the live DJ scene is particularly social.

Industries

• Film, Video, and Television
• Technology
• Video Games
• Advertising
• Artist Services
• Music and Audio Tools
• Radio and Streaming Music
• Recording Industry
• Health and Wellness
• Theater
• Live Music
• Opera
• Dance
• Orchestra, Chorus, and Band
• Education
• Arts Administration
• Journalism
• Church and Worship

Top US Cities for This Role

• Los Angeles
• San Francisco Bay Area
• New York City
• Boston
• Nashville