There are at least 46 million reasons to become a DJ. At least, there are if you can join the elite ranks of the industry. That’s because DJ powerhouse The Chainsmokers earns an incredible $46 million through DJing performances and streaming royalties in a single year. It was their popularity at clubs, festival appearances, and a multi-year residency at Wynn in Las Vegas that earned them that kind of cash. DJs who are just getting started aren’t going to see those kinds of numbers in their bank account. Yet there is a huge demand for their musical talent around the world at various clubs, festivals, and events. The global pandemic didn’t slow down the demand for great DJs, either. While the live music industry lost more than $9 billion in ticket sales, DJs were going strong online. Business Insider recently wrote about DJs moving their performances to online and virtual venues with huge success. Not even social distancing can slow them down.
It’s not the money and fan follow that leads most people to pursue their dreams of becoming a DJ, though. It’s a love of music, mixing, and creating powerful live performances that draws them to this career choice. Because being a DJ is so much more than hitting the play button. It’s about helping people experience music in a new way and giving them a live performance they’ll never forget. Ready to start living out your DJ dreams? Online courses can be the perfect way to learn more about the equipment, skills, and business acumen you need to be a successful DJ.
Ready to learn directly from some of the biggest names in the music industry? Here are ten of the best online classes for becoming a DJ and where you can find them.
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Skillshare | Visit Site |
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Udemy | Visit Site |
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Creative Live | Visit Site |
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LinkedIn Learning | Visit Site |
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Digital DJ Tips | Visit Site |
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DJ Courses Online | Visit Site |
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Masterclass | Visit Site |
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Crossfader | Visit Site |
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YouTube | Visit Site |
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Point Blank Music School | Visit Site |
Young Guru, a Grammy-nominated audio engineer, leads this online DJing course. Once you’ve completed this course, you can check out other DJing courses from Skillshare including The Basics of Serato DJ and DJing with Traktor 101: Navigating Your First Mix. He teaches participates the ins and outs of what you need to do to make your live performance a successful one. He also covers what to do before and during an event to make sure you have everything covered.
Price: Free with a two-month trial, after that it’s $19 per month
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This is an in-depth online course with over 11 hours of instruction. Ross Palmer teaches the class, coming into it with over 13 year of experience working as a DJ. There are four sections to the course. The sections start by introducing some tools you’ll need to create an engaging show then move onto more advanced DJing techniques.
Price: £199.99
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There is a lot of value for money in this course. DJ Hapa leads the course, bringing over two decades of experience to the turntables. He offers 13 video lessons totaling over five hours of content, introducing students to the fundamentals of building your DJ set. Those wanting more can take the Scratch DJ Academy Presents: Intermediate/Advanced DJ Strategy as a follow-up.
Price: $20
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This course comes from DJ and author J. Scott Giaquinta. He’s an EDM producer with more than two decades of experience in the music industry. With this course, he imparts his decades of knowledge to students by covering a comprehensive rage of DJ skills. The course comes with an exclusive sound file so you can work along with the videos in the course. Giaquinta also covers skills to make live performances more dynamic, including alternative controllers.
Price: Free (with a one month trial) or $25
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There are nine modules in all, covering both practical and flashier tips and tricks. This course promises to deliver a five-step formula for success in your DJing career. The course offers advice on what equipment to buy and how to build and organize your music library. Later modules cover classic DJ techniques as well as tricks developed especially for the digital age.
Cost: $179 for three months (total of $537)
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One of the biggest draws of this course is the teacher. DJ TLM is a DJ and producer with 25 years of experience and a YouTube channel with more than 100,000 subscribers. This course offers a good coverage of topics for beginners, including an explanation of some of the most important functions of your equipment. DJ TLM covers the basics of scratching and the importance of song selection before offering tips on how to promote yourself as a DJ. That’s something other courses lack, but information that those just starting out will sorely need.
Price: $19 a month (with annual and lifetime membership options)
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Armin Van Buurren teaches this DJ course on Masterclass. As a DJ, he delights more than 41 million listeners each week on his State of Trance radio show. Through the course, he teaches his methods for sampling, mixing, and recording vocals. He also shares tips for DJing a set.
Price: $15 a month, billed annually
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Price: $125
Crossfader is a Serato DJ certified institute, so they know what they are talking about when it comes to this brand of DJ software. This beginner course covers everything you need to know about using Serato. It includes mixing, EQ control, using effects, and mix-up mashing.
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Price: Free
There are a lot of DJ tutorials on YouTube, but the quality of the information really varies. If you want solid advice from someone who knows what they are doing, head to Laid Back Luke’s channel. With over 280,000 subscribers, he’s one of the most popular YouTube DJs around. Along with vlogs and videos of his live performances, there are currently over two dozen free tutorial videos on his channel.
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Voted the world’s best music production school by readers of DJ Mag, this London-based school offers classes around the world. Those ready to fully commit to their DJ education can look into the Music Production Complete Master Diploma, a 2-year program offered by the school.
Price: £680 (or about $866)
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