DJ libraries are one of the most sacred gems for DJs because within each library is a unique remix or single that separates a particular DJ from the rest of the herd. That being said, it is important for a DJ to have a well organized library because when a certain track is calling to be dropped at a moment’s notice the DJ doesn’t have time to scour his entire music collection. Whether a music collection is a few hundred songs or 10,000+ songs, this article is intended to help DJs get a grip on their music libraries.
Prepping Tracks
Before opening up Serato or Traktor, a DJ should get all of his music files organized into one central location on his computer or an external drive. It would be ideal if a DJ could have one laptop that is solely used for DJing, but most DJs don’t have that luxury. Therefore, there should be a boundary between tracks that are playable during a set and tracks that are played outside of the club (I doubt a crowd will be screaming for you to play your John Mayer album.)
A method I adopted many years ago was creating a separate folder within the music folder on my hard drive where I dump all the tracks I download for my setlists. This can be a difficult task if a DJ has a gigantic library so this may be something that should be started with individual playlists and then incorporated as new music is added to a library. However, it will become second nature to download a crate from our record pool and then unzip it into the special DJing folder.
Once all the music that will be used for DJing is in one folder, consider organizing the files within each folder by different attributes. Personally, I enjoy organizing my music by broad genres such as Hip-Hop, EDM, and Pop. (E.g: Dean William’s Crate > Hip-Hop > Mo Money Mo Problems.mp3) The broad genres work for my sets because some nights I play where the audience expects only Hip-Hop and some nights I am playing a rave that requires strictly Tech House. I will leave the genre folders alone until I import the music into my DJ software.
Use whatever classification that works best for the way you categorize music. If you are more comfortable organizing your music files by artist, then do so. The goal of organizing your system is to figure out which system best complements the way you play the music.
Important Note About iTunes: iTunes is a common tool that is utilized for listening to music and organizing music libraries. However, some DJs report various bugs when using iTunes libraries with Serato and Traktor, especially if you are using iTunes 12.2. That being said, this guide will continue without using iTunes libraries within the DJ software.
Traktor Library Management
All the files have been dumped into a centralized location and now the music can be imported into Traktor. This step will import all of the music in the DJ folder into Traktor’s Track Collection which holds all the information for each track. This collection can later be transferred to other computers, if required. Let’s begin by adding the DJ music folder to Traktor’s root directories list.
- Begin by opening up Traktor and then click the gear icon to open up Traktor’s preferences.
- In the left hand pane, click “File Management” and then “Add…”. Add the DJ music folder that was created in the last section.
- Click “Choose” when the DJ music folder is selected. Multiple folders can be added to this list if there is more than one music folder.
- IMPORTANT: In order to ensure that Traktor is updated when new music is added to the music folder check the box that says “Import Music Folders at Startup”.
- Close the preferences box.
- On the left hand side of the navigation window, right-click “Track Collection".
- Select “Import Music Folders” and the DJ music folder will be imported into Traktor. If it is a bigger library, grab a cup of coffee during this process. It will only take this long on the initial import.
Now whenever new music is added to the folder Traktor will add it to the Track Collection on startup. If new music is added to the folder whilst Traktor is open, be sure to repeat step 7 to import the newly added music.
Serato Library Management
All the music files have been dumped into a centralized location and now the music can be imported into Serato to be played in the club. This will import all of the music into Serato’s library to be organized into different crates to be used during a set.
- In Serato DJ, click on the Files button to open the Files Window.
- Navigate to the DJ music folder created in the previous section. Inside this folder will be all of the music files and any subfolders that may have been built.
- Click on one of these files and hit Ctrl+A for Windows or Cmd+A for Mac. This will highlight all the files to be added to the library.
- Then drag and drop these files into the "All" crate in the Crate section of Serato DJ (located to the left), and all of the music in the DJ folder will be in there and later can be organized into different sub crates.
- Subfolders that are dropped into the Crate section will make Serato DJ create crates out of them - the crates will have the same name as the folder and all the music within them will be imported.
When new music is added into the DJ music folder, be sure to drag the music folder into the All Crate section to import the new files. Any old files will not be duplicated. I recommend doing this the night before a gig to ensure all of the new music is in the right place.
Keeping a Clean Library
It is one thing to build a nice library with the perfect breakdown of subfolders but the management doesn’t really start until after the solid foundation is built. In order to keep a library organized, a DJ needs to take the extra steps to update his library regularly. Here are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to managing a library.
Incorporate a Genre-Tagging System
DJ PC3 of the Scratch Academy developed a genre tagging system that I have found helpful to incorporate into my library for multiple reasons. It keeps things organized, I can find a track easily on the fly, and I can find tracks that are related to the tracks I am playing by searching one or two keywords making it accessible when I only have thirty seconds to find another song to play.We will start by opening up our DJ software. Navigate to a library or playlist. For each track the Genre will be edited using the PC3 classification system.
- Top Level Genre - This will be something generic such as Hip-Hop, EDM, Rock, etc. This is just meant to be a starting point.
- [Time] - By decade, this will be a way for the DJ to pin-point the sound of the song.
- [Region] - This is meant to identify how the track will sound and can be helpful for touring DJs playing from city to city.
- [Subgenre] - Here is where we break down the track’s genre. (i.e. House, Deep House, Jumpstyle, Hardstyle, Crunk, Trap, etc.)
- [Production Quality] - This can be used to classify the track as being a professional or a bootleg mix. I use this space to identify whether a track’s lyrics are Clean or Dirty which comes in handy when I am playing for a more traditional audience.
- [Sound/Vibe] - Here we classify if a track’s sound is Deep (bassy, pitched down) or High (melodic, energized).
At the end of it all a track’s genre may look something like this:
The first handful of tracks will take a while to categorize before you become familiar with the system, but eventually PC3’s genre tagging system will become second nature whenever new music is added. The upside is that by using this system as instructed, a DJ's library will become more accessible and a track can be found based on a few keywords even if the artist or title can't be recalled. DJs should edit the system according to how they think about music.
Commenting on Tracks
Another helpful trick for my library is utilizing the comment section. In both Serato and Traktor, there are comment sections for each track. Here is where vital notes about a track can be stored which will help a DJ remember when (or when not) to play it.
For example, when I make a comment on a track I will always say something like “chill vibes” or “rager”.These notes probably don’t make sense to most people, but they actually help jog my memory as to what the music sounds like and when would be a good time to play it. Try creating comments on tracks when practicing. Ask questions about each track: What does the track do for the listener? How does it sound? How does it make the audience feel?
Making It a New Habit
A DJ’s library doesn’t organize itself. It is a time investment that requires to be kept up to date. That is why getting into the habit of organizing and cleaning the library is vital to a DJ’s performance. I try to take a couple hours each week to sit down, grab a cup of coffee, and listen to music. As I listen to and download new music, I will organize it into my library and fix tracks that don’t have a specific space in my collection. This is a common routine I practice on Sunday mornings and it has helped me out tremendously when I go to the clubs to play a set. A DJ should find the time in his schedule to do some library maintenance regularly.
All in all, a DJ is only as good as his skills to spin tracks, but having a super organized library with a smidge OCD is what can help bring a DJ to the top of his game. It will truly make a difference when the club is screaming for that specific track and it is make or break time for the DJ.
Dean William can be found gallivanting about the clubs of San Francisco. He's on Twitter: @deanithon.