Digital Break

Is this the future of clubbing? Software currently exists that can take songs bought from the internet and, using algorithms, blend them together with a result that can be compared to that of a professional dj. It is marketed as an alternative to the mix tape which could be played anywhere from your mp3 player to a party. Millions of cds are bought every year that give a professional dj's choice of music in this format and it allows the consumer to become the prosumer and put their choice of tracks together in this way without the time consuming acquisition of the necessary skills. Go to MixAlbum.com to find out more, link bar. If we look forward 10 years we see that a technological replacement for the live DJ is quite possible using the principles in this application. A robotic DJ would be able to perform every task that a DJ does now. What does this mean exactly? What does a robot need to be able to do? (Apart from turn up late/pissed wearing a yellow polyester shirt and proceed to insult the host by propositioning his girlfriend) Are DJs just glorified jukeboxes? The answer is no. Even the lowliest wedding DJ needs to tailor his choice of music to the event he is playing. A superstar jock is paid good money to encourage an audience of (largely) well informed and critical music lovers to shake their booties on the dancefloor. Whether this counts as skill or talent is one thing, replicating it in a mechanical device is quite another.