I’ve had the same question put to me. But there is no answer that the pragmatic money-minded fan/DJ is going to be satisfied with. I just reply: “Because I love back injuries and I want to be broke.” It’ll shut em right up.

Another question could be: “Why in the hell do you want to stay in a dark room for 6+ hours listening to blaring repetitive music?” It’s an irrational love. Then again, what kind of love is not?

1) Two other opinions worth reading around the topic of digital DJing:

http://www.bodytonicmusic.com/words/2009/oct/28/column-donnacha-costello-1/ – Donnacha Costello talking about the risk of digital DJs destroying the linear nature of music (with looping and so on) just because they can, often leading to boring results.

http://planetary-folklore.blogspot.com/2010/01/2010-random-assessment.html – Kirk Degiorgio essentially saying everything will be fine

2) It’s great to see such vibrant discussion around this topic (and great that LWE is one of the few places which inspires such discussion) – it seems to have matured a bit from the kind of “laptop DJs r gay!!1″ attitude of a few years ago Things would be boring if everyone agreed – and I think you could argue that the laptop vs. vinyl thing might have led to some awesome music that might not have happened otherwise by forcing DJs/producers on both sides to up their game – e.g. DJs like Richie Hawtin taking tracks apart and combining them in new ways (cliche example I know, but whatever you think of his music, I think you have to agree it’s technically impressive!), and on the other side people like Levon Vincent releasing music with the vinyl-only, underground thing in mind (which I’m sure has influenced his sound) and some of the awesome vinyl-only DJs who’ve managed to stay completely relevant in this day and age just by playing bloody fantastic sets that they’ve poured their heart and soul in to – I reckon the whole laptop thing could have put the fire in some of their bellies to really step it up and not be complacent, to prove their worth. Maybe, anyway

@Thomas Andersen – wise words, I feel somewhat the same (I did buy a few vinyl records when getting into electronic music but most of my collection is CD singles – I was in to trance/progressive when I got really in to music so it was easy to get most of it on CD – and realised the potential of digital DJing quite early on).

The attitude you refer to (which makes me cringe a little too) is understandable though – people have invested a lot of time and money in assembling a vinyl collection and learning to mix on records, so seeing the barrier to entry of that skill (arguably) being lowered by digital DJing is bound to rile some of those people, and inspire a confrontational attitude to laptop DJs. I’ve personally seen a few people who were very anti-laptop having their attitudes turned around (at least somewhat) after seeing me play and having a go on Traktor, and realising that I put in just as much effort as them, if not more, in collecting and categorising music and DJing – to the point where one staunch vinyl supporter went out and bought a MIDI controller to incorporate Traktor into his sets after a party where we both played – so there is hope

@Sean Cuddy: I can understand you saying this in the context of DJs downloading music illegally, where the music ceases to have any value (I used to do this years ago, before I realised it was actually making me a worse DJ as I had no connection to the music and no idea what half the stuff actually was!), but I have to disagree if we’re talking about laptop DJs who buy their music at online stores. Digital music isn’t especially cheap (e.g. some exclusive tracks cost up to £2.50 per track on Beatport!) and the cost of an EP/single is often comparable to buying it on vinyl (at least when I used to buy vinyl about 9 years ago – perhaps the price has risen now – although digitally you have the luxury of only buying the mixes/tracks you are interested in). I see no reason why shopping online for mp3s rather than vinyl should lead to a lack of quality control, the costs are equivalent and there is actually the potential to have access to a greater selection of music than vinyl jocks – so there could be more chance of finding “that” special track that takes your set to the next level!

Such technologies like serrato and ableton can also be very good and enjoyable in the right hand but i have found that time and again vinyl djs often play better sets simply as vinyl often forces you to select better tracks. When you are paying up to £10 per record, you have to select better records, and forces many to look past the latest catch and look to tunes with a more timeless quality. I have often felt that many digital djs dont do this. In effect vinyl encourages quality control.

“And I do it because I grew up with these places”

This quote is pretty essential to me on this topic as I cringe every time someone says something to the extent of spinning vinyl is being more “real” than playing digital files.

How can playing vinyl be more real to me when I grew up in a home with no vinyl records & in a country with very few record stores? To me it’s almost the reverse thing, like if I’d start switching to vinyl I’d feel like a “poser” as it’s not been part of my culture at all.

Everything I know about electronic music I’ve learned online and from a few friends with knowledge. Without the Internet and mp3′s I wouldn’t have become obsessed with music and become interested in DJ’ing and sharing good music, regardless of format.

Nah man… this has been said for years and years… and its yet to happen. We’ll mark your words and then laugh in 20 years when the DJs with the most cred continue to spin black wax and the posers keep clicking / controlling on mac books…

vinyl is on it’s slow progression towards obsolescence like 2″ tape, vhs, and audio cassette. the main reason to keep vinyl around is for the effect it gives: fat sounds, hot levels, warmer sound. once you get that effect bounce it down to digital and GIVE it to EVERYONE. you will only be better off for it. get a day job and give your art away. this is how you become a successful artist in the 21st century. mark my words.

I bought Traktor Scratch back in March this year and i love it – especially used in conjunction with a xone 1d. However the sheer volume of tracks I now have is almost overwhelming and I’ve always found it difficult to categorize and navigate a digital collection – you don’t have the same visual access to your entire collection, allowing you to identify specific tracks by cover alone, or even the edge of a cover.

I have continued to buy dubstep on vinyl because it’s integral to dubplate culture and the heritage of the scene, but have now begun to pick up bits of techno that feel “worth it”, or “an investment” on vinyl.

At the risk of sounding like a cliche, the main motivation to this has been levon vincent. I’ll be buying much more stuff on wax, AND digitally in 2010.