Twitter DJ App Tweets The Songs You Play

NNative Instruments’ Traktor Pro, which revolutionized the art of mixing, could now be about to have a profound effect on the relationship between a DJ and their audience, as well as the world of performing rights by making sure each and every artist, large or small, is properly compensated for the use of their work. All with the help of Richie Hawtin (who gained worldwide popularity under his Plastikman alias), a legendary minimal techno musician, DJ, and founder of the Minus record label.

Hawtin’s latest brainwave is Twitter DJ allowing for real time broadcasting of all tracks played during a DJ set. Developed by Bryan McDade, it works as a conduit between Traktor and the online messaging utility Twitter. Minus and Native Instruments reportedly worked closely together to optimize the Traktor software for this special use.

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The Twitter DJ application utilizes feeds from an updated version of Traktor’s standard broadcasting technology to send 60 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. This concept is also a significant step towards helping smaller independent record companies and artists to gain further recognition and free promotion when their releases are played as digital files.

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. If record sales are slowing down and performance is now the key area where artists can achieve financial stability, better solutions need to be found and a workable structure put in place as soon as possible. We hope that our Twitter DJ application is a step forward in the development of these types of systems.“

Minus and Richie Hawtin have made the Twitter DJ application for free: it can be downloaded from via twitter-dj.com, together with the installation guide and instructional video.