What is a DJ pool, and is it legal?

What is a DJ pool?

A DJ pool is a catalog of tracks made for DJs, available by subscription. You pay every month, you listen, you download the files you want and you play them in your software or on decks.

What sets it apart from a regular music store is the shape of the files. A pool doesn't just offer the version you hear on the radio: it offers the versions a DJ needs to mix. A beat intro so you can beatmatch the track, an extended version, a version without swear words for a wedding, the vocal on its own for a live remix.

The idea isn't new. The first record pools started in the United States in the mid-1970s: record labels dropped off their promo records there, DJs came to pick them up and reported back on what worked in the club. One of the most famous, the New York Record Pool, was founded in 1975 by local DJs, including David Mancuso. Today it all goes through a website, but the idea hasn't changed: the music reaches DJs in the form they need to play it.

What a pool gives you that streaming doesn't

Streaming platforms are perfect for listening. For playing out, they have three limits.

• You don't own the files. With streaming, the track depends on the venue's connection and on the deal between the platform and your software. With a file, you play offline, from your laptop or from a USB stick plugged into the club's decks.
• The DJ versions aren't there. A mainstream platform has the original version, sometimes the radio edit. Intros, clean and dirty versions, transitions between two tempos: you find those in pools.
• The useful info is missing. A good pool gives you the BPM, key and genre of every track, and writes them into the file. You save the time you'd spend analyzing and sorting.

In the Nocti Pool catalog, 36% of tracks are something other than an original version: remix, edit, mashup, acapella, transition or flip.

• Original11,006
• Remix2,470
• Edit2,334
• Mashup1,027
• Acapella217
• Transition194
• Flip137

Each version is explained in detail in the guide Extended, radio edit, intro, clean, dirty.

What about buying track by track?

Buying single tracks is still the best way to support an artist or a label directly, and to own a specific release the day it comes out. Lots of DJs do both: they buy the niche releases in their style, and use a pool for volume, current hits and reworked versions.

The difference comes down to three things:

1. Price per track. A subscription gives you hundreds of downloads a month for the price of a few purchased tracks.
2. Versions. Intro, clean, dirty and transition versions are rarely sold one by one.
3. Sorting. A pool sorts by genre, BPM and key, and highlights what gets downloaded most. In a store, that work is on you.

Are DJ pools legal?

The question is mostly on your side: what are you allowed to do with the files? Here's what to keep in mind.

• Playing in public is about the performance, not the download. In France, the organizer or venue declares the event to Sacem and pays the performance royalties. In the UK, venues are licensed by PRS for Music and PPL; in the US, by ASCAP, BMI or SESAC. As a rule, the DJ has nothing to declare for a gig at a venue that's properly licensed.
• Depending on the country, the copies a DJ makes can also require a license. That's the case in the UK or Germany, for example, where specific licenses exist for DJs who play from copies. Check with the music rights organization of the country where you play.
• The files are for your use as a DJ. Sharing them, reselling them, re-uploading them or posting them as-is on a platform isn't allowed. A mix posted online falls under the rules of the platform that hosts it.
• A legit pool is easy to identify. It shows who runs it (name, company number, address), its terms of sale, and a contact so rights holders can ask for a track to be taken down. Be wary of a site that doesn't say who it is.

How to choose a DJ pool

We run Nocti Pool, so we're not neutral. Here's the checklist we suggest you apply to every pool you compare, ours included.

1. Are your genres really covered? Don't just look at the weekly top chart: open the genres you play and check how deep the catalog goes.
2. Do the versions you need exist? Intros and clean versions if you play open format or weddings, extended if you play clubs.
3. Are the files in good shape? Format (MP3, WAV), audio quality, readable file names, complete tags.
4. Is the data reliable? BPM, key and genre should be accurate and written into the file, otherwise you're redoing the work.
5. Can you listen before you download? Previews you can play without an account save you from buying blind.
6. Do the quota and price work for you? Count how many tracks you actually download each month.
7. Is canceling easy? You should be able to do it online, without a phone call or a letter.
8. Do you know who runs it? Legal notice, terms of sale, contact.

Frequently asked questions

Are DJ pools free?

Rarely, at least not entirely. Some artists give away free downloads of their own tracks, but they're scattered and rarely in DJ versions. A pool is a paid service; on Nocti Pool, you can play the previews without an account, and downloads come with the plans.

What's the difference between a DJ pool and a streaming service?

Streaming is for listening, a pool is for playing. A pool gives you files you keep, in versions built for mixing, with the BPM and key already filled in.

Is it legal to play DJ pool tracks at a gig?

That's what they're for. Performance rights for an event are handled by the organizer or the venue (Sacem in France; PRS for Music and PPL in the UK; ASCAP, BMI or SESAC in the US). In some countries, there's also a license for the copies the DJ makes: check the rules in the country where you play.

What's included in a Nocti Pool subscription?

A number of downloads per month that depends on the plan, MP3 on every plan and WAV on the higher plans. The details are on the pricing page.