I stumbled upon this Russian dj on youtube. She has a few videos up with her mixing. She's got all the right equipment, she's spent a pretty penny, but she's pretty much a horrible dj. If you're a dj, you know what I mean. Piss poor beat matching, bad transitions, volume mismatches, and so on. And I'm sitting here, perplexed. Why broadcast how bad u are? I understand everyone starts out bad, that's a fundamental rule of this shit. But when I was bad I kept that shit to myself, NOBODY even knew I dj until I was good.
So, of course, I don't know how to act, and I commented, telling her yeah good tracks and she's pretty, but her DJ skills were lacking. And she replied that was just starting out and she was working on it. Again... unless she's trying to chronicle her journey as a dj, (I don't think she is) why broadcast her poor skills??
Then I noticed that she had a preface on one of her mixes about being bullied and being put down, and I kind of felt torn. Like, if u put yourself out there and blatantly do stupid shit, I feel u deserve the response u get. BUT, at the same time, I don't want to discourage anyone from pursuing their dreams. I just really feel if ur not good at something, don't advertise, don say you're a baseball player if u don't know how to swing a bat, don't call yourself a cook if u can't boil water, and DEFINITELY don't call yourself a dj if u cant blend two records together. I've been trying to make music for 20+ years, I don't call myself a musician, a producer, an engineer, or a mixer. I simply say I fuck with music shit, lol. And I'm DEFFO not about to put myself out there on youtube, and then call out people for bullying, when I did call for the attention.
I dunno. What u guys think?

 

Honestly, the way it looks, it's more about being too self-critical than anything else.
People do it for themselves first and foremost. They might feel like if they're not broadcasting, they're letting their effort go to waste (not the healthiest idea, but a common one). They might want to collect constructive feedback this way (although youtube is a bad place for that). Or they can be fine with what they have, and happy to entertain a less demanding audience.
They can of course also be narcissistic and not realizing how bad they are, but first, such people react agressively to criticism and second, in any of those cases, your ideas look like a toxic pride rather than being humble.
Music is not sports, you see. Orientating yourself at THE RESULTS here won't bring anything good or meaningful to the world, and won't make you or anyone else happier either.

 

I should add that in more substantial spheres, like say medicine, this would be a completely valid point, due to objective consequences.
But we're not talking about medicine.

 

Give her time to develop and refine her craft and eventually she'll be miming with the best of them.

 

without trying to be funny,

when taking things into consideration this is more about you than her. You struggle with your own insecurities and seeing her "do" her just like that, and then even according to you having the audacity to even complain about "bullying" when she according to you is not a dj really upsets you.

You have to much time on your hands my friend. and you are doing the same as every tabloid, rummage to find stuff that may be really irrelevant but upsetting.

i really detest the uncle-tom logic in people when they dismiss legit criticism of commercialized media saying "if you dont like it dont watch it". see, when its from a position of power from a corporation then its not that simple as "just dotn watch" since the as a branch easily impose their garbage on to you, directly or indirectly. they have such power as to establish garbage as an standar that you will have to digest.

She on the other hand is someone you simple shouldn't watch if you dont like, end of problem. Because she is not a in a position of power. she is just like most regular people trying to do something out of nothing, create something with the little she has, and using the tools of massification that are available to her. she is using the chain around her ankle in reverse so to speak.

And there you are, complaining about a fellow human being in the same struggle as you.

My tip, and answer to your question is: widen and re-prioritize your general view pal.

Cheers

 

The other comments have brought up points I've already thought about as well.

Now, I'll say this without offense: If after 20 years, you still don't have the self-belief that you are not worthy of any of those titles, then perhaps that's simply isn't something you want to pursue seriously. She, on the other hand, is putting herself out there in public scrutiny because she wants to be one, and that's admirable. She may not be a good DJ yet, but she's exposing herself and she can improve if she knows what positive criticisms to watch out for.

And in the case she doesn't improve, life goes on. You and other people who do not like her will simply not watch her and she will stagnate and probably find something else she's better at, or she'll improve and entertain her own audience. Your criticisms of her are valid with regard to her DJ skills, but she can still call herself a DJ. She might simply be an "amateur" or even "bad" at the moment, but that shouldn't discourage her from sharing. She even said that she's "starting out" so I don't know why you're so worked up about her response.

So, I think you're just overreacting. Just say your criticisms and move on.

 

I think it has little to do with djing, and more to do with the overall Social Media/Influencer "problem".

That "dj" probably would not upload a mix full of train wrecks. But since it is on a video, there is no undoing it. There is almost no quality control, other than Upload or Not Upload.

These people die falling off cliffs, and whatever else; posing for stupid pictures to put on Instagram. It shouldn't be too hard to imagine them trying their hands at djing. There were "fake djs" long before social media. But now they have a platform for amplification of whatever skills they have, or do not have. They just never used to get a chance to mix.

 

Slightly off-topic but "DJs that are shit but don't know it" is a thing and this thing here is the pinnacle: http://www.spectrumzero.com/dj_trainwreck/djtrainwreck_notepage.html

So messed up it's almost art!

 

Invite her over for a cup of coffee and offer her free tutoring as a DJ.

 

"I've been trying to make music for 20+ years, I don't call myself a musician, a producer, an engineer, or a mixer. I simply say I fuck with music shit, lol. And I'm DEFFO not about to put myself out there on youtube..."

In the end you answered your own question. Being afraid/thinking what others might think/thinking if it will be useful etc. is the worst enemy of creativity. She shouldn't be more like you but you should be more like her.

 

(Had to bring in BnB ref. again Bcauz its funny)

 

First mistake, you told her she was pretty. Never simp.

Second, you bought into people trying to monetize their past and use it as a shield for criticism.

Third, you wasted your time commenting on her video.


(For anyone triggered, my comment is only half serious. But using your past as a sob story and to deflect legitimate criticism, is disgusting. People who have been through real, horrific experiences, usually keep their lives private and don't try to milk their situation.)

 

Anybody at any time has the right to be critical of things they find in life weather it be on the internet or out at work or out on the streets. At any time you have the right to be critical and find judgement on things as if you are a tabloid writer. It's part of life. Now weather it is the point in time to be saying those things is different which is what the OP is asking. My two sense is if it wasn't for an antibullying fund raiser of campaign I say why not she is doing it to show off and since she is posting on the internet you are asking for people to come up from the depths and judge you. If it was for a pride rally you still have every right to judge. Now should you be talking down to gay people? That's entirely up to you if you don't want you inbox to fill up which is the digital equivalent of getting attacked by 30 gay men at a pride march in California for you own beliefs which is still illegal and the attackers would see some kind of jail time. The actual etiquette of the situation is deeper than "stop being judgemental in this moment of time in the human age". Free speech comes first. Even if they don't have that privilege in Russia.

Edit: In no way am I saying gay men don't have the freedom of speech, and in no way am I saying that I am a homophobe. Just that if they hit you they go to jail all the same.

 

Last edited: Oct 2, 2022

When you voluntarily make public what you do, you must be ready to receive reactions. The positives and the negatives ones.

That said, there are different are ways to criticize. If the person is a beginner, the best critic is a constructive one.
Maybe she speaks about people who simply insult her or say she's useless at DJing instead of give her advice.

As we don't have access to the details, it's hard to tell.

 

Last edited: Oct 3, 2022

Maybe she just wanted to put stuff out there, not necessarily to improve or anything, but of course people will comment on that.

I see it a lot, been tempted to do that, even here. People post stuff just to share, not for people to tell you how good or bad it is, or how to improve. Now i try not to do that unless that person explicitly asks for something.

I think some critique is expected, but that's me, some people might just not want it.

 

To me the really important things are to really relax your jaw and be super careful to cover your teeth with your lips.


Wait, "criticism" means what, exactly?.

 

i agree. and its hard to get the point of the post really.
Maybe the OP could have put some more effort into it and developed his take a bit further.

There is a lot that can be said about similar phenomenons, like the ups and downs about massification of access to public platforms, there is also a sort of lack of "respect" for real documented expertise, everybody thinks an opinion is the same as knowledge.

But all of that is not even scratched on the surface in the OP. Therefor the focus goes back to him and his reaction to "the dj"

 

There will always be someone at a better standard than you, just as there will always be someone of a lesser standard. That applies to every situation you can think of. Even world champions get beaten sometimes.
As someone who watches hundreds of videos to help me improve, I'm thankful for all those who post, whether they be great or crap.

If they are crap then I encourage, if they are great then I aspire to be as good if not better than them.

Bottom line is, you don't get to choose who posts what as long as they are not breaking any rules. The only thing you have to decide is whether to watch or not and if so, whether to insult or encourage. I always choose the latter even though I'm always up for receiving constructive criticism!