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Complete Beginners Guide to DJ Pools

When I first started DJing I never heard of DJ Pools. Thankfully I did learn about DJ pools very quickly because it turned out to be an awesome place where I could search, discover, and download music to DJ with.

No more ripping Youtube music or downloading MP3s on sketchy websites that filled my computer with malware and viruses. It was a time-robbing activity that led to poor-quality music, which led to poor quality DJing.

Are you a beginner DJ looking for a different way to get your music than ripping YouTube or downloading Mp3s? This article is your doorway to a good-quality music library.

What are DJ Pools

DJ Pools are online platforms where DJs can go and download music. Because DJ Pools work directly with record labels, artists, and producers, the songs you’ll find within the DJ Pool are always the latest tracks. Most DJ Pools will also have a wide range of older music for you to download.

DJ Pools are often used by artists, producers, and record labels to promote music. They want to know how people react to their fresh new tracks. So they send them to DJ Pools and let DJs and entertainers use their unreleased music.

Some artists are looking to get a name for themselves and try to get discovered by the bigger audiences by sending their unknown music to these platforms.

What Type of Music Can You Download in DJ Pools

DJ Pools do not just have the newest tracks available, they also have older tracks and even old-school tracks available.

The collection of songs depends on which DJ Pool you’re subscribed to. All DJ Pools are very different from each other and all have their specific genres and specialties. For example, Hip-Hop DJs would probably sign-up with a different DJ Pool than EDM DJs.

DJ Pools are built for DJs. Not only do we have access to a very wide range of tracks, old, new, and unreleased, but we also have access to amazing remixes and special edits.

The most important reason for you to sign-up for DJ Pool right now, if you’re a beginner DJ, is access to all the song edits.

If you’re a complete beginner, you might not know exactly what I’m talking about right now.

In short, these song edits are extended versions of the songs you want to download. Extended versions have an extra intro and outro added to them to make it easier for you to blend two songs together.

Not only will you have access to extended versions of songs but also acapella’s and all kinds of other versions, so you can pick the best version of the song for you to DJ with.

Yes, DJ Pools are very legal. DJ Pool platforms are PRS and GEMA compliant and follow their licensing rules. To not make this too complicated; this means that they can legally offer all their music in their music collection for others to download.

What Can You Do On DJ Pool Platforms

Let me list all the features that most DJ Pools have so you can get an idea of what these platforms have to offer.

  • Discover new music by searching hundreds of playlists.
  • Easily create your own playlist or DJ set by filtering different moods and genres
  • Save your songs in crates so you can collect songs and download them later
  • Search and filter by song key and BPM
  • Download samples and acapella’s
  • Download extended, short, radio, clean, dirty versions of songs
  • Always the latest songs available

Downsides to DJ Pools

Though DJ Pools are great and they’re absolutely worth giving a try, they are not perfect.

One thing I’m bumped out about is that sometimes they don’t have the songs that I would really like to download. I don’t know why they wouldn’t have these songs because the genre of the particular song that I am looking for is all over the place.

I resolve this problem by just downloading the song on iTunes. Unfortunately, iTunes doesn’t have these great song edits and I’ll have to do with the commercial edits of the song.

Another thing that might cause a problem is when you’re an open format DJ like I am.

While most DJ Pools offer a range of different genres they so have their own favorite genre or multiple genres that they focus on.

The problem with this is that you’ll have to sign up with more than one DJ Pool to get most of the music that you want to download and DJ with.

What Do DJ Pools Cost

DJ Pools are subscription-based. You’ll have to pay monthly or yearly to use their services. I’ve gathered all the subscription prizes of the most popular DJ Pools and put it all together.

DJ PoolPrice range monthlyPrice yearly or other
BPM Supreme$19.99 – $29.99 n/a
DJ City$25$125 (6 months)
Digital DJ Pool$20$190 per year
ZIPdj$25 – $50$420
CrateConnect$22 (30 days)$55 (90 days) – $99 (180 days)
Price of various DJ Pool subscriptions

The DJ Pools mentioned above are not all DJ Pools but will give you a good estimate of what a DJ Pool subscription will cost you.

Free Alternatives to DJ Pools

Paying a monthly subscription of at least $20 is not for everyone. Especially when you’re not sure if a DJ pool subscription is something that could benefit you as a DJ.

You have a couple of options when you don’t want to pay or don’t want to pay that much for a DJ Pool. Let’s go over the different options.

Soundcloud

SoundCloud must be one of the world’s biggest online music platforms.

Soundcloud is in some ways just like a DJ Pool but with some very important differences. Soundcloud is more of a social creative community where everyone gets to upload their music.

On SoundCloud people can connect with artists and share their music personally. This creates a very diverse, open, and social platform.

While SoundCloud is free, you also subscribe to SoundCloud Go and SoundCloud Go+. These versions have more features to offer and are both add-free, in contrast to the free version of SoundCloud.

If you want to check out SoundCloud, simply go to SoundCloud.com and sign-up. At the moment you can sign-up with a 30-day free trial for SoundCloud Go+.

Your SoundCloud library can be directly integrated with all popular DJ software like Serato DJ and Rekordbox. So you can access your SoundCloud library directly from your DJ software.

Tidal

Tidal is a music streaming service that also seamlessly integrates with most DJ software like Serato DJ and Rekordbox.

The most popular streaming service at the moment that you probably know is Spotify. Unfortunately, you can’t stream Spotify on your DJ software, but Tidal is a very good alternative.

While DJ Pools often don’t offer free trials (only 1-month discounts), Tidal does offer a free 30-day trial. After that, you can pay for a subscription for $9.99 or $19.99.

Sign up for Tidal’s 30-day free trial.

Which DJ Pool is Best for You

Subscribing to a DJ Pool is not as easy as it sounds. There are so many options these days and you don’t want to choose the wrong one and waste money.

I’ve compiled a list of DJ Pools and their main genres. It doesn’t mean that other genres are not available, it just means that they will most likely have the widest range of music in those genres.

You can check out my DJ Pool reviews for more in-depth information about the DJ Pool:

DJCity

DJcity specializes in club and radio music for DJs, including hip-hop, house, R&B, Latin, trap, twerk, deep house, reggae, and dancehall. They do offer other popular genres but the ones mentioned are their main focus.

BPM Supreme

  • Hip-Hop
  • Rap
  • Dance Music

Also a good collection of:

  • EDM
  • Techno
  • House
  • Old Skool
  • Pop

ZIPDJ

  • Pop
  • Latin
  • Dance
  • Rock
  • All types of urban music (r&b, hip hop, reggae)

CrateConnect

  • Hip Hop
  • Rap
  • R&B
  • Afrobeats
  • Dancehall
  • Reggae & Soca

Club Killers

Club Killer’s main focus is Trap and Hip Hop

Franchise Record Pool

Rap, RnB, and Reggae

Music Streaming Services Genres

Beatsource LINK

Beatsource is a great source of electronic music. House, deephouse, techno, bass, trance, and dance. Pretty much all electronic dance music and subcategories. If you’re into Electronic Music this is a good choice.

Beatport LINK

Beatport LINK is a lot like Beatsource but Beatport is more geared toward the latest electronic music and not so much geared toward the discovery of music like Beatsource.

Tidal

Tidal offers almost all genres that you can think of. If you’re an open-format DJ, Tidal is a great addition to your music sources.

SoundCloud

All music genres

Are DJ Pools Worth the Money

I don’t have to think about this much, they are definitely worth the money. I can’t see any downside to subscribing to a DJ Pool.

Yes, it does cost a little money but you’ll be able to download great quality music and awesome song edits. It will make your DJ experience so much more fun and easy.

DJ Pools are also worth the money because they will save you a lot of time. You’ll be able to download songs very quickly with just one click of a button.

Music streaming services are a great alternative, especially Beatport LINK and Beatsource LINK are great sources of electronic music.

SoundCloud is awesome when you want to share your own remixes as well and have a great social community to go along with it.

You might also like this post: Where DJs Get Their Music (Full Guide with Cost Overview)

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