Top Dance Songs of 2012 Vol. 3 - a podcast by Keith a.k.a. K j A M

An interesting takeaway from 2012 is just how prevalent and frankly easy it has become for DJs to take it out of the bedroom and bring their work to the masses.  Seemingly, people are making a name for themselves overnight. Liam Keegan and now Cosmic Dawn come to mind (though there are plenty of others like Reidiculous and Funk3d).  If you’re looking into getting into the business check out How Hard Is DJing? Count To Four at Forbes. You might be surprised.



You will find that I used several Cosmic Dawn productions throughout this series more than any other. Much like Liam, he consistently delivers a meat and potatoes approach to his productions that cut out all the fancy blips and bleeps that others think is so cool, but really does nothing more than to distract the listener. I’d say the next step for this guy from the Netherlands is to start touring because that’s clearly where the money is. Hell, even an asshole like Deadmau5 is making millions by touring and has yet to deliver a worthy track or album that doesn’t copy everyone else. Which leads me to my next reflection…



Wanna know what the top DJs are making from touring? Check out Electronic Cash Kings: The World’s Highest Paid DJs. It’s no surprise to find Tiesto at the top of the heap raking in $22 million last year but some of the others may very well surprise you. Frankly, if a piece of human debris like Joel Zimmerman aka Deadmau5 can rake in 11.5 million then pretty much anyone can do it. Okay, not necessarily and if I’m being harsh on the guy, it’s only because of his appreciation or lack thereof his good fortune despite not really having any remarkable skills as a producer.  While you’re at it, you might want to check out Tiesto On World Aids Day, Retiring From DJ'ing And Learning To Trust His 'Gut'. After touring relentlessly for the past 20 years and producing some of the most iconic dancefloor grooves, Tiesto is finally hanging up his hat.



Without a doubt, the other big winner of 2012 is Beatport. Started in 2004 in Colorado, they have grown to be the single most influential EDM store for aspiring DJs and producers with a catalog of over 1,000,000 titles and over 8,000 independent labels and branches all over the United States, Berlin, and Japan.  Their global outreach has made them the most successful and relevant “online source for music” outside of iTunes. No doubt the big labels have taken notice and tried to muscle their way in, but Beatport marches to its own drums and doesn’t take orders from the major corporate entities. If Sony/BMG, Universal, EMI or Warner want to play, they play on Beatport’s terms. Realizing there is money to be had, the labels have taken a different approach to marketing certain talent like Zedd through independent channels and frankly, it’s starting to pay off. Thank you, Beatport for standing your ground and providing the world with a whole new way to discover artists that may have never been heard from.



As such, some of you may be scratching your heads over the inclusion of certain artists and songs in the Time Capsule series. It’s very simple; several of the songs included were massive Beatport songs and popular on alternative dance floors across the globe as well as on BPM radio here in the US. No doubt, you’ll be hearing more of these in my sets in the new year even though the artists don’t belong to any major label.



Finally, here is the third installment of Time Capsule 2012. I realize I’m a little behind schedule but I’ll do my best to get the final one out tomorrow before the stroke of midnight. Until then…ENJOY!

Album : Time Capsule 2012 v3

Artists : Various

Genre : EDM

Length : 01:24:24

1. Chris Brown - Don't Wake Me Up (X-Beats Mix)

2. Usher - Scream (Cosmic Dawn & Andy Reese Mixshow)

3.

Further episodes of Party Favorz

Further podcasts by Keith a.k.a. K j A M

Website of Keith a.k.a. K j A M