In the online magazine pagesix.com, author Richard Johnson reports that Las Vegas is shutting the door on famous DJs. It is, he says, “the death of the DJ.”
Apparently, a new club called Intrigue will not be hosting DJs. “It will reach a point [in Las Vegas] where DJs are totally irrelevant,” says Sean Christie, COO of Wynn Las Vegas. Jessie Waits, a promoter in Las Vegas goes so far as to say this:
People who just want to see DJs don’t dress up, they don’t have style, they don’t even want to be in a nightclub – they want to see a concert. They’re not cool. Night clubs are cool-people clubs.
Wow.
Intrigue will not only not be hosting big-name DJs, the club will also not allow any social media within its walls.
So, here’s the thing. Although I understand the club owners not wanting to spend hundred of thousands of dollars to pay well-known DJs, I’m convinced they’re barking up the wrong tree.
Someone has to play the music. If they don’t want to hire famous DJs as a guaranteed way of bringing in the crowds, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with hiring lesser known DJs. In fact, that’s likely what they’ll do.
It’s all in the promotion. Advertise Intrigue as a classy place where you’re sure to hear a great DJ spinning magic. Doing it that way will promote diversity, and as an audience member, you should be exposed to different musical styles. That’s what I think makes for a great venue.
As for the whole banning social media bit. I think they’re truly off their rockers. That argument stems from a belief that human conversation and social media activity are two completely different things and mutually exclusive. I’m calling it here now. They are not.
It is entirely possible to communicate with the people around you and be active on social media at the same time. The two are, in fact, how communication happens now. Flip in on its head and you’ll see what Intrigue is suggesting is no different than telling people that they can only use social media and not talk to each other.
The way people interact with each other has evolved to include all ways of communication. Social media does not split us off from each other or make the way we interact somehow defective. It’s the opposite. The way we connect to each other is now more complete, deeper and more nuanced.
If Intrigue wants to succeed, the owners will plug in to the diverse ways that people interact with music and each other.
No, the DJ is not dead in Las Vegas or anywhere else, and the quality of human interaction has not come to a sad end.
Read the article that inspired my response here.
