Jon Jolly

As a part-time Mobile DJ, tagging and organising my music library is very important to me. I’ve previously spent hours changing incorrect track information and I currently have around 12,000 songs in my iTunes library. Playlists are essential to manage all the songs and I rely on Smart Playlists to filter genre, new songs, decades, etc. In the same way, giving a rating to each song is also vital so I can easily filter your Arcade Fire from your Aqua.

Now I realise that rating anything is a subjective experience based on the taste of the reviewer so not everyone will agree with my decisions. A good example is the website metacritic.com where they give music, movies and games an average rating out of 100 based on cumulative reviews from known publications. However, I recently realised that even the seemingly simple 5 star rating has hidden depth that can be used in a variety of ways to produce very different results.

For example, some people might only have music in their library that they enjoy or appreciate (probably a lot of people). Therefore 1 star could represent a casual liking of a song, while a 5 star equates to a passionate auditory experience which few songs ever attain. This approach would be similar to the four star rating in Halliwell’s Film Guide, helpfully explained by Chewing Pixels:

all films by default receive a zero star rating. Only exceptionally interesting and important films manage to receive a one or two star rating with a tiny handful (just over 1%) of the 23, 000 odd films covered receiving the maximum recommendation of Four Stars.

For me however, a song in my library always starts as a 3 star by default. This is the middle ground and a safe arena which the majority of tracks fall into; not great but not terrible, just OK. Anything below par becomes a 2 star or, if woefully inadequate and pathetic, a 1 star. In contrast, anything that rises above the norm and stands out becomes a 4 star, with particularly inspired compositions receiving the full 5 stars. Any track that has no stars is classified as not yet rated.

I currently have 408 5 star rated tracks. A random selection includes:

• Arcade Fire - Windowsill
• Daft Punk - One More Time
• Lupe Fiasco - Daydreamin’
• Gorillaz - Dare
• Bloc Party - The Prayer

So how do you rate your music and what’s in your 5 stars?

I found this great cartoon on someecards.com that sums up my part-time business: puredisco.

Just a shameless plug to remind you all that if you need a DJ for your event or celebration, pureDisco are available! We’ve got a great track record locally for providing fun-filled evenings, so spread the word and keep us in mind!

I’ve finally managed to find useful DJing software that works seemlessly with itunes (both playlists and purchased music)! It’s versatile, beatmatches and most importantly is amazingly stable so the system doesn’t crash! In fact, it’s perfect for mobile DJ’s. I just need a mac to run it on now…

Have a look at the new ipod mixing desk. A great idea, but no pitch control. Maybe a serious contender in a few years!

Well December is nearly over and I have but one gig left this year. Luckily, it is for the very nice Chris Seaton and should be good fun!

This month has been manic, with 6 School Discos, 3 Christmas Parties, 1 Wedding and a Partridge in a… OK you know the rest.

Have a good New Year everyone. Let me know if the DJ is any good!

It’s been such a manic 2 months! It seems everyone wants a party/disco and I’ve been spinning the tunes every weekend since 22nd May. Youth Events, Weddings, Birthdays, Fundraisers, Anniversaries… you name it. And all this is on top of a full-time job, so this coming weekend I am doing absolutely nothing! Having said that, not much happening in September…