Keith Brady surveyed more than 200 DJs for his dissertation about opinions towards music technology.

Browse any forum dedicated to discussions on DJing and you’re sure to find heated arguments about whether digital DJs are ‘real DJs’ or not, or about the importance of manual beat-matching.

Keith Brady, a.k.a. DJ Kaz, has written a comprehensive study on the attitudes of DJs toward new and old technology. It’s 52 pages long and jam-packed with useful information(including a short history of DJ-ing) and data he gathered via interviews and an on-line survey. The questions in his survey were answered by more than 200 DJs and he interviewed six performers, including our very own Moldover. His entire study is available to the public here.

Here is Brady’s summary of his dissertation:

A hot topic often debated in the DJ community revolves around what technology DJs use. The argument of digital vs. analog has been often argued over the last decade. In this dissertation a better understanding of why Djs are moving towards their current technology is carried out. Over 200 Djs were surveyed and six in depth interviews were conducted. The results are a summary of the views that Djs have and a conclusion is reached. Many Djs feel that with using more modern technology such as autosync that the DJ should better themselves in other areas such as effects, looping, etc. A general view among most Djs is that beat-matching is essential in order to be respected by the DJ community, a skill that should be mastered by all Djs. The topic of controllerism is also discussed.