At this year’s Time Warp event in Germany Richie Hawtin built on ideas first explored during 2008’s Contakt tour, testing a custom version of Traktor Pro with a new background application that allows for real time broadcasting of all tracks played during a DJ set.
The new application, developed in-house by Bryan McDade at Hawtin’s Minus label, works as a conduit between Traktor and the online messaging utility Twitter. Minus and Native Instruments worked closely together to optimize the Traktor software for this special use.
The Twitter DJ application utilizes feeds from an updated version of Traktor’s standard broadcasting technology to send 30 second updates during Hawtin’s set of what’s currently playing to a designated Twitter account, allowing anyone following the Twitter group to obtain a unique insight into how a DJ builds the atmosphere and dynamics of a set, track by track, and in real time.
The track information is freely accessible from any Twitter configured personal mobile devices (even from the dance floor) and archived online on the Twitter page.
However, the real potential comes to light when considering the benefits for performing rights societies: “By providing the necessary information to track what is really being played in clubs, the Twitter DJ application would not only drag the likes of GEMA, PRS and SOCAN kicking and screaming into the 21st century, but make sure the real artists get paid instead of performance payments simply being carved up between the Madonnas and U2s of the world."
Not everyone is raving about Twitter DJ. James Lewin thinks Hawtin’s robo-tweets are a snoozefest and gives him some good advice about how it could be improved.
In case you wanna see Richie doing his Twitter sets, his next broadcast is scheduled during his DJ set at the INOX Festival in Toulouse, France on May 16 from 3 am - 7 am.
Tune in: twitter.com/rhawtin
