I have been using djay Pro for a while now and love how versatile it is but I am struggling a bit when it comes to organizing my playlists for live sets. I usually mix a variety of genres, and sometimes I find myself scrolling endlessly during a performance trying to find the right track.
How do you all manage your music libraries effectively in djay Pro: ?? Do you use specific folders, Smart Playlists or maybe a tagging system to quickly find tracks: ?? Also, any tips for prepping playlists for different events or moods: ??
I would love to hear your strategies for keeping things efficient and smooth during live sets. I want to spend more time mixing and less time searching !! I have already searched on the forum for the solution to my query and found this thread https://community.algoriddim.com/t/playlist-organization-on-djay-ipad-python-certification but couldn’t get enough solution and tips.
Thanks in advance for your advice I know this community always has great insights !!
Hey @danieljosee
I mix on iOS,
-iOS devices are synced w iTunes|Music via Mac.
-Smart playlists created on Mac
-Smart playlists are dragged to iOS.
These smart playlist have many rules that the user will need to create one time per Smart playlist.
Example.
I use the Mac version with all music transferred to “My collection” in djay to organise playlists etc.
Smart playlists for genre, bpm, colour and rating.
With djay’s limited library management you then have to get creative.
I use the comments section for sub genres, the grouping section for different occasions and situations.
You can fit many variations into each section if you abbreviate
AB for afrobeat, JF for jazz funk, WU for warm up, EON for end of night etc.
You can then create smart lists to include the abbreviations and other variables which helps to narrow searches.
I created a word document with all abbreviated variables to help me when tagging.
It’s a laborious way initially but once done it makes new additions easier.
The related feature is also very good on the Mac, whenever you find tracks that go well or want to use together be sure to relate them in the track info section. Djay promotes your preferred tracks to the top of the match function which is always handy.
There’s a ton of good advice on digital dj tips’ digital dj lab which you can get a trial of for £1 or at least you could a while ago. Definitely worth checking out.
I make several dj playlists on Tidal and stream directly from them.
When making a live set, there’s no genre or sub genre. Only good music and bad music, that goes well or not together. So it’s easy to put a lot of good music in those playlists and have fun.
This is also a natural workaround for the non-cloud syncing issue, once i make track management inside tidal’s.
Actually, i only use dj pro’s library for checking previous sessions. Feature missed is being able to “last added” sorting option on tidal’s playlist inside Djay.
Hi @daniel_curley,
I’m working in a similar way, and I agree—it’s a bit cumbersome, but we make it work.
One question I have: how do you handle the transfer to “My Collection”? My current method is to manually drag tracks from the iTunes directory into djay’s “My Collection” before every gig and then wait (…, yes that can take quite some time).
Do you have a more efficient way of doing this, or is this just the nature of the process?
Looking forward to your insights!
I completely understand the challenge of organizing playlists for live sets, especially when mixing multiple genres. Here’s how I approach it:
iTunes/Apple Music as the Central Hub
I use iTunes/Apple Music as the main platform for managing my music collection and playlists. This method offers several key advantages:
Software independence:
Your library and playlists are not tied to a specific DJ software. This makes it easier to switch to another platform in the future without losing your time and playlist organization.
Advanced filtering and sorting:
iTunes/Apple Music provides extensive filtering options compared to djay Pro. You can sort and filter on many more variables compares to DJay.
Smart playlists:
With smart playlists, you can set detailed rules to automatically populate playlists with the right tracks based on your criteria (e.g., genre, Year, Key, BPM, or even specific keywords in the comments).
Benefits of this workflow
Smarter playlists:
Your can add new music only to one source and playlists become dynamic and always stay updated with the right tracks as you add new music.
No Tool lock-In:
You’re not stuck with a single DJ software. If you decide to switch, your playlists and organization stay intact.
One drawback
A downside of this approach is that you need to manually transfer your updated library to “My Collection” in djay Pro before every gig. While djay allows direct integration with iTunes/Apple Music, I personally prefer working this way for better control over my library and playlists.
Personal experience
After working this way for years, I’m still very happy with this system. It gives me flexibility and saved me countless hours of scrolling and searching during gigs and updating playlist and I feel confident knowing my playlists are always ready for any event or mood.
I don’t have to transfer my library because it resides permanently within djay.
I use Tidal for streaming services and the files utility for my own files.
I just add tunes to my collection by dragging them or adding to a playlist wherever i buy or favourite them.
Hey @DJ_Big_Blender
I’m not sure what I am missing. Why transfer this at all and not have DJay look into the iTunes folder in the first place. I’d like to understand why transferring the music to my collection works.
I use iTunes to do everything you just explained with Smart playlists.
The reason I use smart playlist with an iTunes is so that every time I purchase or upload a song, it will automatically go into their appropriate playlist. I don’t have to do a thing. DJay then looks inside of that very folder without transferring anything
Yes, I know. I use iTunes for all these rules as well. However, my next step is to drag the entire DJ-Playlist directory in one go from iTunes to ‘My Collection’. This works perfectly! It creates a copy of the same nested iTunes playlist structure in DJay.
The added advantage is that it allows me to make adjustments and cherry-pick the right playlists I want to use for a certain dedicated event, organizing them in a separate folder. This final step isn’t possible when relying solely on the iTunes integration.
Hello, I have also been using the Itunes/Apple app and it works very well for me, using smart lists. However I just started using the My collection file because I can edit the metadata so much faster. So far my issue is that it seems as if Djay smart lists does not seem to allow to make playlists using “or” filters. It only seems to have “and” filters, so for example, I can choose a genre in my smart list but if I want to add a filter for comments, the playlist will only include songs that correspond to both filters at the same time. Is there an option somewhere, similar to Itunes/Apple music, where your.smart list can have the "or"option to include songs that correspond to any of the filters?
I see a few comments on here around dragging music from local “iTunes” to My Collection.
The one thing I’m not sure on, is say you fall out of love with a song and remove it from iTunes - or even delete from hard drive. It’ll still appear in My Collection wouldn’t it, just unlinked?
So I’d struggle to see the benefit (outside of further cherry picking and colour smart filters) of not just using iTunes?
That’s a really good point. AFAIK, Djay Pro doesn’t verify your library at startup like other DJ software, so you don’t know something’s missing until you try to play it. And, you can’t just choose to remove missing songs from your library.
This makes it seem that just DJ’ing from your iTunes/Music.app playlists is a better way. Still, I’m thinking it’s best to add songs to the Collection so the grids and cues are saved in the Djay Pro databases.
I had been using Apple Music (former: iTunes) for arranging my playlists, since I left Traktor. With Trakor, I just arranged playlists inside of Traktor.
When moving over to DJay Pro, I needed to find a way to move my library over to DJay. Tried a lot of tools and converters, spent hundreds of hours. Itunes seemed to be the best way to create a kind of “universal library”. That was like 5 years ago.
Since its availability I have started using Lexicon DJ as my main collection and management tool. I must say that this is by far the best library management tool I have been using so far. I wish it has been available for DJay earlier, would have saved me a lot of time.
It imports my collection from iTunes / Traktor / DJay … (and more).
After working on playlists, tags and tracks, I can just export to DJay and have everything ready to use. It writes directly in the DJay collection.
After a gig, I can re-import my collection from DJay to Lexicon, to update the history and play counts.
I can just recommend having a look at Lexicon - and no, I am not paid for this. I have bought my license for Lexicon and it was good spent money.
Lexicon also watches selected folders, so new tracks automatically appear in an incoming tracks list, ready for tagging.
With custom tagging options, it extends the possibilities of track and playlist organization far more than other software.
Another benefit is the ability to export to most other DJ softwares, so it seems to be a good way to built one master-collection. Let’s just hope that @Christiaan keeps the software up to date for many years.
Sorry if this seems like an advertisement post. I am just a happy user.
It’s a piece of software that really helps, provides great workflow and hits the nail on the head.
, yes that can take quite some time).
