⚡ TIMESTAMPS ⚡ 0:00 Intro 2:20 Is this advice for you? 4:15 The root of the problem 5:11 Our biggest DJ library tip.. 5:39 Back everything up 6:07 Write down your strategy 7:54 Find track locations 12:21 Keep it on ONE computer 14:20 Relocate lost files 15:44 Delete unwanted tracks 18:30 Tidy up metadata 18:49 DJ community chat
Doing your Rekordbox course prompted me to do all you talk of in this video. It taught me that you really can’t move forward to well organised music library unless you have the fundamentals sorted first. Phil and Ben have been fantastic in helping me achieve this. Many thanks. John 🎉
Was really surprised to learn how difficult/impossible it was to have a DJ library across two computers! Really having good luck with organizing my library on desktop and synching to Rekordbox mobile on both iPad and iPhone with the FLX4. I can edit my library on any of the devices and have the edits reflected everywhere. It's so nice to leave the laptop at home and have the large iPad screen to work with. FLX4 plus 9th gen iPad came in at under $1000. I hope we can see some more coverage of the mobile app, would love to be sure it will keep being supported and developed!
i thought having 2 laptops be hard work but i got 2 different serato programs and everything swaps with out any hassle also serato is much easier to clean up playlists and organise new ones thats just me tho, ive never bothered trying recordbox
Boy am I glad i followed your music library tips in my first Dj course as i have a comprehensive system that I follow like religion - download new songs-run thru platinum notes - fix metadata- get artwork if needed - fix the year to be date it was released - fix Genre if needed - then add into Serato and analyze files ! No more issues and No Mess at All !
Great video brethren! I am OCD about my music files as I was with my vinyls. I’ve been digital since 2006. Serato and iTunes. iTunes was my main library where I organized my files. Edit and retag info, etc. What I loved about it was the columns available. Year. Genre. Time. Kind. BPM. Album. Artist. Etc. I have in many occasions done sets strictly on these different columns. When I download new music I immediately click from DL folder and then delete it as it’s in my iTunes/Music library now. Then I would analyze them in Serato and all is fine how I like it. Now with Music I love that I can use multiple laptops and not worry when I add new tracks. Each laptop will have the new track and info. I have a couple master externals that copy the whole libraries. PET PEEVE!!!! I can’t stand when I jump on a DJ’s set on request and their library is a complete mess. From track titles & artists to not being properly categorized in genres. I take pride everytime a DJ buddy of mine easily navigates my library because last thing you should worry about on the spot DJing is trying to Rosetta Stone a library. Kudos to the best school on the net! -Dj Cool CH (Miami)
In most DJ software you can show the file path as a column, this allows you to sort your files by location and helps spot files in different locations.
same here. my hard drive got corrupted for some reason and it was wiped out. I then ran Recuva to recover music files and got almost half of them back but was dumped in one folder
This video was such a sigh of relief! I do have some questions related to my issue.. How do you avoid duplicates when managing music files? I deleted my music.library, and my songs disappeared until they were redownloaded from the Cloud. Now, I’m getting duplicates when I search in Finder and click on a file-it opens and creates another copy (duplicate). I just want to keep all my music on my laptop without it disappearing. I know iTunes (Music) auto-organizes files by artist in the Media folder. Where is the best place to store my music? I prefer organizing by playlist or year. What’s a good way to organize files for that purpose? My head hurts 😅
The 3 2 1 approach to backing up is great but. …External hard drives are so spacious and affordable now it is easy to save many many tracks but the same doesn’t apply to cloud storage which could cost £10 £20 or even £30 per month ad infinitum. That in itself could be a reason to purge yourself of old unused tracks. Less is more n’ all. 😊
What’s the best way to handle the metadata, does it automatically stay with the music file in master or is saved as a separate info in the system your using tractor,engine etc.. Also is there any particular file type that is more flexible or better at metadata?
Omg. This came at the right time. Hmm. I’ve been using Serato and I’m happy with my playlists. Maybe a bit large in some genres but meh. The problem is I want to start prepping for rekordbox. Specifically in export mode to setup some cue points and put playlists on a usb. 🤦🏼♂️ So getting em all in one folder and getting rid of duplicates had been time consuming. I did start separating them into folders, but after watching this, hmm, idk. I still have way too many files left. Most of which I wouldnt DJ with anyway. But I don’t necessarily want to get rid of the tracks. I just don’t want em with my DJ tracks.
On a MacBookPro, my internal SSD is only 1TB and don’t have space for my Serato files, so have to use external storage. (We all know Apple charge the earth for storage.) I’m using a fast 256GB SD card, in the MBP card reader. NonUSB cables to fail. Works for me, but I’m not under any pressure yet as I’m not doing gigs.
@@digitaldjtips I also take a lot of photos, so keep my itunes, Serato and photo files externally. My MBP only has about 250gb space left for working files.
IME a lot of problems are caused by people not using the software correctly, and/or being so stuck in their way of "organising" rather than using the software to do it.
I’ve been watching loads of content on this channel in starting DJing as a hobby. I’ve gotten everything broken down at this point: I will be getting a FLX4, headphones I’ll either go with a budget Pioneer or Audio Technica, and I’ll stick to rekordbox just becomes it comes with the controller. Where I’m stumped is the speaker selection. Portable options are pretty expensive for even just one. My question is, is it worth it to spend way more on a speaker than on my controller? I have no intentions on doings gigs (at this point). I just want to mix at home or at small parties or family cookouts. I was thinking about the Minirig 4 but I’m US based so that’s tough. Any tips? This is the last thing I need to finish my beginner setup. Thank you for the amazing videos and reviews. I look forward to learning more!
Mackie has decent speakers for the situation you’re describing. They have battery operated ones also. Alto has some that are budget friendly. All these speakers are 400$ or lower
External drives for me. I download and manage all my music and videos on my home PC and DJ on MacBooks. I format all external drives to exFAT so they can be read and written to on either operating system. Since the databases are stored on the external drives, everything shows up on either computer. Cue points, crates, etc, all available on the PC and the Mac’s. I never trust any computer’s internal drive so having all your music there is just bad in my opinion. If anything ever happened to your DJ computer, your music is now gone too. If you have use an external to store your music, you’re better off. Just my preference.
It just astounds me how people don't understand this basic computer stuff: file management. It's easy. But then I remember our phones hide the file system from the user. I'm 38 and worked with DOS and Windows 3.1 as a kid. It all comes naturally to me. But apparently people really don't understand computers. 🤷♂️ It's sad that computer literacy is so low. Most 'computer troubles' I see on DJ communities are PEBCAC. It's not a problem with the software, it's a problem with the people.
![Global DJ Census 2025 🌐 $20k DJ Gear & Course Giveaway [+ 5 key industry stats]](/img/n.gif)
⚡ TIMESTAMPS ⚡
0:00 Intro
2:20 Is this advice for you?
4:15 The root of the problem
5:11 Our biggest DJ library tip..
5:39 Back everything up
6:07 Write down your strategy
7:54 Find track locations
12:21 Keep it on ONE computer
14:20 Relocate lost files
15:44 Delete unwanted tracks
18:30 Tidy up metadata
18:49 DJ community chat
Doing your Rekordbox course prompted me to do all you talk of in this video. It taught me that you really can’t move forward to well organised music library unless you have the fundamentals sorted first. Phil and Ben have been fantastic in helping me achieve this. Many thanks. John 🎉
Was really surprised to learn how difficult/impossible it was to have a DJ library across two computers! Really having good luck with organizing my library on desktop and synching to Rekordbox mobile on both iPad and iPhone with the FLX4. I can edit my library on any of the devices and have the edits reflected everywhere. It's so nice to leave the laptop at home and have the large iPad screen to work with. FLX4 plus 9th gen iPad came in at under $1000. I hope we can see some more coverage of the mobile app, would love to be sure it will keep being supported and developed!
Rekordbox's cloud is a good, if expensive, solution
@@digitaldjtips Haven't looked into cloud yet actually 🤔I've been using free versions of RB desktop & iOS and sync over wi-fi
i thought having 2 laptops be hard work but i got 2 different serato programs and everything swaps with out any hassle also serato is much easier to clean up playlists and organise new ones thats just me tho, ive never bothered trying recordbox
Boy am I glad i followed your music library tips in my first Dj course as i have a comprehensive system that I follow like religion - download new songs-run thru platinum notes - fix metadata- get artwork if needed - fix the year to be date it was released - fix Genre if needed - then add into Serato and analyze files ! No more issues and No Mess at All !
Glad to hear it!
Great video brethren! I am OCD about my music files as I was with my vinyls. I’ve been digital since 2006. Serato and iTunes. iTunes was my main library where I organized my files. Edit and retag info, etc. What I loved about it was the columns available. Year. Genre. Time. Kind. BPM. Album. Artist. Etc. I have in many occasions done sets strictly on these different columns. When I download new music I immediately click from DL folder and then delete it as it’s in my iTunes/Music library now. Then I would analyze them in Serato and all is fine how I like it. Now with Music I love that I can use multiple laptops and not worry when I add new tracks. Each laptop will have the new track and info. I have a couple master externals that copy the whole libraries. PET PEEVE!!!! I can’t stand when I jump on a DJ’s set on request and their library is a complete mess. From track titles & artists to not being properly categorized in genres. I take pride everytime a DJ buddy of mine easily navigates my library because last thing you should worry about on the spot DJing is trying to Rosetta Stone a library. Kudos to the best school on the net! -Dj Cool CH (Miami)
Glad you've found a solution that works for you, that is the main thing
Phil is a wise man I like how you interact with people you make your point across, but you don’t make people feel they wrong
Thanks!
In most DJ software you can show the file path as a column, this allows you to sort your files by location and helps spot files in different locations.
This is a great tip, thanks for adding it.
👍 no problem, watching now, sorry I missed the live stream. Thanks.
As someone with 27,000 songs (33,000 including all the stupid duplicates) these tips are great, but I'm still so overwhelmed with the task 😂
Bit by bit!
It’s a pain but well worth while. Good luck!
I feel you😂😂😂
27,000 songs???? Do you listen to most of them?
same here. my hard drive got corrupted for some reason and it was wiped out. I then ran Recuva to recover music files and got almost half of them back but was dumped in one folder
I use itunes for organising music, but I should frankly work with the library more. it's so easy to lose info when converting files.
IT is indeed
great vid Phil!!
Thanks
Apologies as this question is off topic but do you know of any upcoming Engine DJ updates? Many thanks enjoying the new book 👍🏻
Keep an eye on the site...
This video was such a sigh of relief! I do have some questions related to my issue..
How do you avoid duplicates when managing music files? I deleted my music.library, and my songs disappeared until they were redownloaded from the Cloud. Now, I’m getting duplicates when I search in Finder and click on a file-it opens and creates another copy (duplicate).
I just want to keep all my music on my laptop without it disappearing. I know iTunes (Music) auto-organizes files by artist in the Media folder.
Where is the best place to store my music? I prefer organizing by playlist or year. What’s a good way to organize files for that purpose?
My head hurts 😅
The 3 2 1 approach to backing up is great but. …External hard drives are so spacious and affordable now it is easy to save many many tracks but the same doesn’t apply to cloud storage which could cost £10 £20 or even £30 per month ad infinitum. That in itself could be a reason to purge yourself of old unused tracks. Less is more n’ all. 😊
Very true!
Beatport sometimes deletes songs or and artist will remove the release
Yes
@@digitaldjtips still angry about the first song I ever bought on there getting mixed, just sitting in my collection all grayed out
Also when you have multiple tracks.. you might have track qued up ..loops etc on one music app bit not on the others...
True
Does Digital DJ Tips school offer a course on using Lexicon software?
We do not, sorry
What’s the best way to handle the metadata, does it automatically stay with the music file in master or is saved as a separate info in the system your using tractor,engine etc.. Also is there any particular file type that is more flexible or better at metadata?
Stays with files (title, artist, artwork etc), waveforms, cues, loops etc stays with software
@@digitaldjtips Any recommendations for managing metadata in a simple way? Any software that helps with this task?
I mostly use tidal because it's easy but I thought I lost all my plalistcwhen I did the integration with dj pro
Hi. Is it beneficial to have multiple folders of say genre or just one dedicated folder with all songs?
One folder
sort by play count and start there ... 😳😳genius idea !!
Yes!
Omg. This came at the right time. Hmm. I’ve been using Serato and I’m happy with my playlists. Maybe a bit large in some genres but meh. The problem is I want to start prepping for rekordbox. Specifically in export mode to setup some cue points and put playlists on a usb. 🤦🏼♂️ So getting em all in one folder and getting rid of duplicates had been time consuming. I did start separating them into folders, but after watching this, hmm, idk. I still have way too many files left. Most of which I wouldnt DJ with anyway. But I don’t necessarily want to get rid of the tracks. I just don’t want em with my DJ tracks.
Have a separate, non-DJ library
On a MacBookPro, my internal SSD is only 1TB and don’t have space for my Serato files, so have to use external storage. (We all know Apple charge the earth for storage.) I’m using a fast 256GB SD card, in the MBP card reader. NonUSB cables to fail. Works for me, but I’m not under any pressure yet as I’m not doing gigs.
"Only" 1TB? That's an awful lot of music even if you only use 300-400GB for it.
@@digitaldjtips I also take a lot of photos, so keep my itunes, Serato and photo files externally. My MBP only has about 250gb space left for working files.
Turn your mp3 external hard drive into a RECORD STORE and do it like if going shopping for wax that’s what I do now
DJ engine takes too long to load on my Numark mixstream with my flash drive, (200 GB music)
I’ve been using iTunes for god knows. I’m looking to upgrade on a new laptop. How do I transfer my music to the new one?
How do get to play list know thar I tunes is in the mix now
recommended programs for find and delete dulicates
IME a lot of problems are caused by people not using the software correctly, and/or being so stuck in their way of "organising" rather than using the software to do it.
That's true!
Always have an order in music
Good advice
I’ve been watching loads of content on this channel in starting DJing as a hobby. I’ve gotten everything broken down at this point: I will be getting a FLX4, headphones I’ll either go with a budget Pioneer or Audio Technica, and I’ll stick to rekordbox just becomes it comes with the controller.
Where I’m stumped is the speaker selection. Portable options are pretty expensive for even just one. My question is, is it worth it to spend way more on a speaker than on my controller? I have no intentions on doings gigs (at this point). I just want to mix at home or at small parties or family cookouts. I was thinking about the Minirig 4 but I’m US based so that’s tough. Any tips? This is the last thing I need to finish my beginner setup.
Thank you for the amazing videos and reviews. I look forward to learning more!
Get a gaming 2.1 system meant for computer gamers, best value for money, good bass, no latency
@@digitaldjtipsThanks for the reply! Any recommendations for this type of speaker? Perhaps one tested by the DigitalDj team?
Mackie has decent speakers for the situation you’re describing. They have battery operated ones also. Alto has some that are budget friendly. All these speakers are 400$ or lower
@@djdubbs313 thank you !
External drives for me. I download and manage all my music and videos on my home PC and DJ on MacBooks. I format all external drives to exFAT so they can be read and written to on either operating system. Since the databases are stored on the external drives, everything shows up on either computer. Cue points, crates, etc, all available on the PC and the Mac’s. I never trust any computer’s internal drive so having all your music there is just bad in my opinion. If anything ever happened to your DJ computer, your music is now gone too. If you have use an external to store your music, you’re better off. Just my preference.
That’s fine as you clearly know of what you’re doing 👍
It just astounds me how people don't understand this basic computer stuff: file management.
It's easy.
But then I remember our phones hide the file system from the user.
I'm 38 and worked with DOS and Windows 3.1 as a kid. It all comes naturally to me.
But apparently people really don't understand computers. 🤷♂️
It's sad that computer literacy is so low.
Most 'computer troubles' I see on DJ communities are PEBCAC. It's not a problem with the software, it's a problem with the people.
My poor dad is the same
why when I do a search for a song on my computer it can't find it even when my hard drive is connect?
Could be lots of reasons, but if you’re searching for the artist or title and that doesn’t appear in the filename that is probably it
Djay pro library is the worst of any top dj software especially on the iPad .
Why?
Correct me if I’m wrong but on the iPad , you can’t search files on an external hard drive ? Where as with deejay on the Mac you can.
use a nas ^^
👍👍👍👍👍