Is DJ Live Streaming Worth It In 2024?
Twitch finally makes DJ's legal
Hi there Hot Cue Heroes,
I clocked up over 400 hours of streaming during and after the pandemic on Twitch. I even built a decent sized audience, met some awesome new friends and even made some decent revenue.
But then I almost completely stopped. And the reason why is not really something I’ve spoken about before.
However, some interesting things have been happening in the streaming space in the last few months - especially for DJs. This felt like a good time to revisit live streaming.
In this email I want to talk you through:
Why I gave up streaming
What’s changed in the industry since then
Is it still worth it for DJs?
My streaming story
When we were all stuck in our houses 24/7 during the pandemic, there was nowhere to dance and enjoy music with likeminded people.
Not only was this flipping boring, it was tough on mental health.
Twitch ended up emerging as a platform where DJs could do what they do best for a willing audience - and in some cases cover at least some of their missing salaries.
For the audiences - it was the closest thing to being in a club, without being in a club.
For me, it all started with a no-camera stream for a couple of my mates to kill some time on a Saturday night. Or maybe it was a Wednesday. There wasn’t really much difference back then.
Eventually, I turned my camera on and slowly built my own community over the coming months.
At one point I even dropped to a 4 day work week so I could dedicate a full day to smashing out bangers on Twitch.
One particular highlight was getting raided (where another streamer sends their audience to you when they finish) by Darude whilst dressed as Spiderman.
But then…
As clubs, and the world opened back up after the pandemic - the audience on Twitch dried up massively from the post-pandemic boom.
Like many others, my viewer numbers started to nosedive. But this wasn’t actually the reason I stopped.
The fact is - I ended up getting burnt out. And this wasn’t an uncommon story among other DJ streamers I knew.
If you’re having a bad day, feeling ill or just not in the mood to stream then unless you show up, people will go elsewhere. Miss a stream and it’s almost like starting your audience from scratch again the next time you go live.
YouTube felt like a better fit for me as a creator, so I shifted my focus there instead (and I’m 100% sure it was the right call for me).
But the landscape is a little different now. So I’ve been considering if I should incorporate at least some streaming back into my life.
What’s changed since then?
The legal and copyright status of DJs streaming on Twitch was always a bit of a grey area. But it was still the preferred platform for DJs due to the much more developed community features vs the more legally safe Mixcloud.
But this uncertainty always made it feel like a bit of a risky bet to invest too heavily in as a DJ wanting to build an audience.
As it turns out, Twitch had been covering the royalties in the background whilst negotiating with record labels - cheers Bezos.
Now they’ve come to an arrangement whereby DJs can legally play tunas from their (admittedly fairly large) approved music list by joining their new DJ program. The labels/artists will then get a slice of the revenue the streamer makes.
Twitch is also actively pushing the new DJ category (for now at least) which will hopefully help increase the potential audience available.
It all sounds pretty reasonable to me. And it legitimises the platform for DJs.
It’s not perfect though. Play anything not on that catalogue and you’ll get a strike. I’ve already seen some streamers getting hit with this when they play dubs or their own edits/remixes.
But despite this, I want to tell you why it could still be worth it.
The benefits
There were some massive benefits I got from streaming. And none of them were things I was expecting.
Deck time
I DJed more than I ever have in my life during my time as a streamer. Not a lot makes you a better DJ than simply spending more time actually DJing.
Now that I don’t stream, getting on my decks is a rare treat. Going live 3 times a week meant it was something that I got to do as part of my regular schedule.
That means when I do eventually get to play, I can be pretty rusty. It takes me a few tracks to get back into the zone.
Live streaming forces you to practice, often.
Safe space
I’m going to give you a bit of a truth bomb here. Most people watching DJs on Twitch do not care at all about your DJ skills. Sure, they might like the type of music you play but in 99% cases they do not care about how you mix it. It’s mainly about the community you form, and the bants.
In some ways this is a bit annoying if you pull off a sweet quad-drop and nobody notices. But it also means you can really push yourself to try new things without worrying too much about the audience turning on you if you mess it up.
Tech fails are also part of the live stream experience and culture. They happen all the time, even to experienced streamers. Rather than getting annoyed, the viewers tend to actually enjoy it when stuff messes up. Often, they can become memes on your channel.
This makes it the perfect place to learn to deal with these kinds of issues without panicking. This is a skill that will hold you in very good stead if you ever find yourself on dodgy club equipment.
Content creation
Creating content and making a name for yourself as a DJ are intrinsically linked now. I know many DJs resent this, but it is what it is.
I didn’t have a massive interest in being a content creator when I started streaming. But as soon as that first pair of eyeballs is watching what you are doing, you become one whether you like it or not.
Streaming can be a great way to try out new content ideas and get instant reactions from your audience. You’ll be surprised how much content for other platforms you can generate from a single live stream. There are also loads of online tools to help you automate this.
So is it worth it?
All that said, have the new changes to Twitch made me want to live stream again?
Well, not really. The reasons I stopped aren’t really addressed by new clarity in the legal status.
However, there are still some massive benefits. Especially if you just treat streaming as practice and fun. I think it’s especially great for newer DJs to cut their teeth and get the hours in.
It’s also nice to know that on the rare occasions I do hop on there that Twitch is trying to help and promote DJs on the platform rather than keeping them buried in the shadows.
Have the new Twitch changes made you more/less likely to stream on there?
I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can reply to this email or drop it in the comments.
And if you are new to live streaming you might want to check out my free* From Bedroom DJ to Livestreamer course that will help you get set up.
*with a free 1 month Skillshare trial
In other news
The last newsletter on key mixing seemed to hit a nerve with a lot of you. Thank you for all the emails - I can’t reply to everything but I do read them all
If you want to get comfortable playing on any kind of CDJ this is a reminder you can get 30% off the DJ Booth Battle Pack until the end of September with code: Y0NJM4MG
A quick question
I really do enjoy writing this newsletter. It’s a chance to cover some different topics than is possible in videos.
Primarily I cover Rekordbox. But, I also think it’s super valuable being aware of what other DJ software can do so you can switch setups easily.
Wanted to provide some input on the Twitch catalog.
1) Playing music not included in the catalog on stream does not necessarily mean you will have your stream taken down and a copyright notice. Take downs will only happen if the rights holder makes a DMCA takedown request, and the likelihood of that happening is really low
2) Twitch WILL take down streams if you play anything on the Restricted List. This is a smaller list of musicians that they have to negotiate the streaming rights with separately. It includes artists such as Madonna, Ed Sheeran, Prince, and The Beatles. IMO, many DJs will not run into issues with Restricted artists unless they are open format or Hip Hop DJs
3) The catalog is extensive, but not for EDM. I've played close to 300 tracks on Twitch since August 1, of which 63 are in the catalog. That's a 22% success rate. I play some fairly mainstream house music, deep house, organic house, and techno/hard groove. So far, I haven't played anything from Restricted artists and have not received any notices from Twitch.