Open Format DJs

Open format DJs. You’ve probably heard the term thrown around in conversation. But do you know what it means? How do they stand out from your usual DJs? Should you consider exploring the option of being one?

Well if your answer is yes, then this blog is for you!

Before we jump into it, let’s start with the basics.

What Is Open Format DJing?

An open-format DJ also known as a multi genre DJ is someone who performs a mix or set based upon any given format of music of many genres, rather than just one single genre like House or Techno. In general when someone is looking for an open-format DJ, what they really want is a DJ who spins a mix of hip-hop, R&B, classics and chart music and also underground music.

Where Do Open Format DJs play? 

An open format DJ is perfect if you want more than one type of music, want someone flexible to play towards what your friends/patrons are dancing to (and away from what they’re not dancing to) to make sure they’re having fun! An open format dj often performs in various places & occasions like bars, wedding parties, corporate events, radio festivals and the list goes on and on.

Advantages Of An Open Format DJ

Well being an open format dj you explore a lot of music. You have a deep knowledge of a lot of different ages and genres of music. You don’t restrict yourself only to one genre. Also an open format dj can mix music within and between genres if it suits the dancefloor, which means that you can play a lot of music that people normally wouldn’t dance to if you played the whole 4-5minute song like a traditional DJ.

So Is Open Format The Next Big Thing?

A lot of DJs shy away from playing commercial music for many reasons and that means open format DJs are in demand, and money can be made!Firstly, it’s actually a lot harder to mix correctly than DJ friendly genres like house music, with its long intro and outros. Radio edits are harder to mix together and require the use of many skills like turntablism, looping, sampling and more to make a creative transition sound good between two chart songs. If you can master this skill and play for an audience rather than yourself, you can make some good money being an open-format DJ.

Tips For Open-Format DJing

Practice quick & smooth transitions between different genres. Open-Format djing requires quicker transition. Quick transitions help keep the momentum going, even if there is a tempo drop.

• Be Creative
  Old school with new music, acapellas, remixes and even making your own edits of tunes. People love a different take on a popular and well known track. It keeps the music interesting for the audience and gets people on the dance floor. It will certainly show off your skills too.
  
  
• Segment Your Sets
  By this I mean split sets by 15 minute intervals of specific genres. This will certainly help support the above point about transitions. I feel this would certainly give a better flow of music in a mix and also give you a break from doing quick transitions all throughout the set.
  
  
• Backup Your Music Library
  As you will likely be playing longer sets than a genre specific dj set, it’s without a doubt worth backing up your songs onto another USB drive, USB pen or even CDs.
  
  
• Read The Crowd
  Some DJs share their opinions about this a lot, even if they aren’t Open-Format DJs, it seems to me that DJing all genres would play a bigger part in your DJing. Over time you’ll likely get to know what each crowd is like and what songs people are likely to react well to. So make sure you read the crowd, play some bangers and get the crowd singing and dancing.

Some Famous Open Format DJs

One of the highly skilled open format DJs is A-TRAK. With vast knowledge of and experience he first gained recognition in the turntablism scene before being picked up by Kanye West. Also in our own local circuit we have brilliant open format DJ’s like Clement, Akhtar & Karthik Gopinath.

If you’re keen to explore life as an open format DJ, then you might want to check out our DJ Courses, here at TheMusic’scool. Our expert faculty will guide you through the fundamentals, preparing you to play any genre of music.