Are DJs "artists?"

No. Absolutely not. Don't feed such silly narcissism.

pop music pretty much died when when they started to pretend that DJs were something

No.

A DJ is to art as DJT is to genius.

No, DJs aren't artists. They are in fact curators of art by creating playlists. Just because you put on some silly hat, or cover your face with a mask or head gear, jump around and shout "throw your hands in the air! Wooooooh!" doesn't make you a performance artist. That makes you just a common club animator.

Only if they, you know, compose their own music and mix it and create interesting ways to present it. Otherwise, no.

DJ Nana is a true artist.

NO, no, one thousand times no!

Only as much as a bartender is.

The only way a DJ is an artist is if he creates his own songs or does remixes of other songs, but that's not really his main profession as a Disc Jockey.

I'm an artiste!

DJs that create their own music are producers. Producing is an art.

For those that dont create their own music, i.e. produce, I believe curation, song selection, mixing and timing can elevate the practice of DJing to an art, but only in the cases where theres a certain dedication, technique and talent level. Its the same way cooking can be an art but most people that cook are not artists.

And a "curator" is NOTHING!

Mixing, if done well, can be a form of performance art.

No, R14. Just no. The scope of that activity is simply far too small to even approach art. You describe a nice skill to have. End of story.

My partner's DJ nephew is in his early twenties, outgoing and good looking and made more than a quarter million dollars last year. We help him with his investments as he wants out sooner rather than later because of hearing loss due to his work. Pretty sure he sees this as a business only.

But! But!...

The current use of 'DJ' can include a considerable amount of music creation, singing, writing and production, too.

Here's DJ Richard Morel, nowhere near a Technics deck.

So DJ is his second job, R18.

Some are very talented.

Are video artists real artists? Are painters and sculptors who use helpers artists? Are singers who don't write their music artists?

Your question is an interesting one, OP

I am a DJ. I am what I play.

(Therefore, I am an ARTIST)

I'd say no, butt my DJ friend considered himself one - something about controlling the energy of the room by choosing what to play and when to bring the energy up or down. Maybe back then when if a DJ was shit, house heads would sit on the dance floor in protest but I think today's audiences aren't discriminating and just want to jump up and down, that's what it looks like when I see clips of shitty EDM events.

[Bold] Swedish DJ Avicii Dead at 28!!! someone post a thread!

.......

They are compilers

[quote]I'd say no, butt my DJ friend considered himself one - something about controlling the energy of the room by choosing what to play and when to bring the energy up or down

That’s a skill and a talent, but is it art? Does all talent=art? I don’t think so.

Dear lord that is actually profoundly sad R24 I loved Avicii. His early remixes are still on my smartphone.

Ex-porn star Ricky Sinz is a DJ now. He's covered in tatts so I'd say he is an art object in and of himself.

Lots of porn guys move to DJing, like Tristan Jaxx.

R18, I LOVE Rich Morel's music! He's a cool DJ, too, and a bit of hunk.

[quote]DJs that create their own music are producers. Producing is an art.

No Dear, Producing is not an art, it a skill.

Cooking is also a skill not an art. Sure a great Chef is better than a house Frau, but again it is someone who has mastered a skill. That's way they are called Maestro, Italia for Master Cook.

Grafitti is a nuisance.

Some of them are artists. They write and produce their own music. Others just play other's music, but some of them are very talented with the sound that comes out of speakers, so in that sense, I believe they are artists. Then, there are those who just play "play" (looking at you, Parisite Hilton - not artistic at all).

DJ Avichii is what is wrong with electronica. He was in the Progressive House market, which is NOT progressive at all. It is the total opposite. Corny AF.

"some of them are very talented with the sound that comes out of speakers, so in that sense, I believe they are artists. "

Sorry, you're wrong. The "sound that comes out of speakers" - how awkward - is called music, and it's created by songwriters and musicians and singers. You know, the "artists."

Though some would say that even a brilliant musician is not an artist, as R31 says, rather someone who's mastered a skill.

R35 The sounds - as awkward as that is - can be manipulated in a way that is NOT on the original tune they are playing. Sometimes a DJ is so skilled at this that is it artistry. How awkward to argue about something that is so obviously black and white to you.

Oh please r36.

R37 I KNOW the majority of people here are old, so I won't take offense to your inability to understand what some djs do. Most gays have the worst taste in music anyway. I can't change that. Enjoy your Janet Jacksons!

"I KNOW the majority of people here are old,"

Yes, we enjoyed Paradise Lounge, Studio 54, the early Black Parties, the era of classic disco when DJs actually played records.

But do go on with your attempt at smug superiority, junior.

Oops, Paradise Garage. The Alzheimer's is catching up!

There is a level of artistry in choosing songs and mixes to create a rise and fall of energy and sounds.

[quote]Some of them are artists. They write and produce their own music.

Just because a person makes something that does not make him an artist.

I think people are confusing creativity with artistry.

R34 it isn't house either, not at all

R42 There are many categories of house. You don't know what the fuck you're talking about. Progressive House is a genre and that is what corny Avichii played mostly. Avichii was primarily known as a Progressive House dj. You should probably stick to your Janet Jackson remixes.

They all think they’re artists but they’re mostly crazy narcissists.

The DJs like Zedd, David Guetta, Marshmello, Calvin Harris, Diplo- sure. They produce and create music.

The guy at a club who make a playlist, transitions between two songs and maybe adds a few scratches for color? No. That's like calling your mother an artist for curating a family photo album. Creative? Yes. Artist? No.

They may produce and create music, which makes them possible artists, depending on how good they are.

But while they're doing that, they aren't DJs. They're record producers.

Oh just shut up r38. Even for you that is a stupid post.

Exsqueeeeze me . . . DJs who are music producers are artists, particularly those who are classically trained musicians:

"They all think they’re artists but they’re mostly crazy narcissists."

.......................which is why, as the years go by, their survival rate will continue to approach that of gay porn "stars."

First of all R43 it's Avicii, not "Avichii". Second, fans of progressive house would flatly reject the idea that he was part of that genre. Avicii actually started producing deep house (back in the Laidback Luke days) and rose to fame with the cheesy "Big room house" style that became synonymous with EDM, and was first popularized by the Swedish House Mafia. Avicii's "Levels" is a classic example of that sound.

Some DJs are artists but they're definitely not musicians. Though some musicians are DJs. Art exists in many forms and it doesn't need to be sophisticated to be art.

R38 falls back on the ‘ you’re old ‘ stance in an attempt to justify his vapidity.

You’ll understand when you’re ‘ old ‘ and chuckle at your naïveté.

r31, r35 et al condescendingly and falsely insists as the self appointed authority on art that music production is mastering a technical skill rather than the art that most sane people recognize that it is. In many ways todays producers are actually recognized as more responsible for more of todays hit songs than the featured vocalists that are referred to as "recording artists". No matter how snarkily and patronizingly you try and put it, calling people dear and what not, music production is not merely a technical skill, it is an art.

True R53, in what world composing and producing music isn't art?

R52 I wasn't trying to, and don't need to defend my vapidity.

I'm merely pointing out that you're most likely too old to know what is going on in music these days. Most people stop listening to new music after a certain age. A fact that is very evident on DL music posts.

I don't listen because it's new, I don't listen because it's crap.

R56 Dinosaur moans.

Back in the early days of hip hop (70s and 80s), actual DJ's who mixed and spun live, created something new and unique out of existing records. That was ART.

Simply mixing songs together on an ipod or pressing play? not so much

r58 It's way more complicated that that, and if it's done to a high standard where it becomes a new creation then I think it is art. I'd compare it to a visual collage or multi-media artist. Despite what the marketing is, it's really not a performance art per se. All of the creation is done behind a console or in front of a keyboard. If the mix is good enough, people don't appreciate it because it is so seamless.

DJ Shadow was a master at this. (The song below was all different samples) So were the Dust Brothers and Hank Shocklee (one of the most under-rated producers in hip-hop IMHO).

Once the money came in, including organized crime, the scene and the music quality went to hell.

Let’s see: they don’t sing, they don’t act, they don’t play a musical instrument or read music, they don’t perform, and they don’t write songs. But they ALL think they’re artists.