The Twitch DNB DJ Revolution
Twitch, which was officially formed in 2011 (and became a household name in 2014 after a live Pokemon game went viral) is an off-shoot of a live stream format originally known as Justin.tv. It is home to thousands of gamers all over the Globe, both as players and as viewers. More recently however it has become a major platform for many DJ’s, both well known and not so well-known, particularly during the pandemic.
House music legend David Morales streams every Sunday in a marathon session known as the Sunday Mass, often with well over 500 viewers showing, and that’s just those that are logged in. Our own DNB DJ’s John B, Marky and L Double to name but few stream at various points in the week to bring a little bit of club life not just to the comfort of our own homes, but also onto our mobiles and devices as well, effectively bringing the rave to the train, the bus, or practically anywhere else you might happen to be.
While still mostly popular with the gaming community, some DNB DJ’s (and almost every other genre you could think of) have also discovered in Twitch an exciting new way to play fresh music, satisfy their need to entertain, connect with a crowd and for some, continue to earn an income from music while the pandemic prevents them from working.
There is an ever growing community of DJ’s within Twitch who are building loyal and committed fan bases, and this extends not only to music, but also merchandising, and I would assume also potential DJ bookings once the pandemic allows.
Beta Records label boss and long time Twitch streamer John B saw the potential of the platform early on, and has been streaming since 2020. He is also a gamer and uses the space to explore that avenue as well as playing DNB. He has invested large sums of time into creating his own visuals for the streams, and there is probably no DJ in any genre that could compete with the stunning graphics that he spends so much time working on.
Make no mistake though, this thing is global. There is a strong South American contingent coming out of Brazil, Europe is absolutely on fire and the USA and Canada are giving the rest of the world run for its money.
There is a channel points system within Twitch that allows viewers to earn points linked to viewing time. These points can be redeemed at any point once enough have been accrued, with various options available for different amounts, favourites being rewinds, daft dances or impromptu chats or discussion. The other thing worth mentioning is the ability to request set visuals to change live on screen when prompted with ! commands in the chat, or to change lighting in the studio that is rigged into the system. It’s another direct link to the way the stream plays out.
Europe hosts the likes of Cryptoshell and Tmocs from Holland, and Helmahof from Austria, America hosts Miss Jackalope from Las Vegas, Canada, Etown Junglists and DJ Moases, and then there’s the growing UK scene. As well as John B, there is Danny Wav, Widdzy, Ytimid, and a whole host of other VJ’s, including Guddah, who has built a steady reputation over the last 16 months, not least by hosting marathon 24 hour sessions for charity. His last session raised over £2500 for the charity he supports, culminating in a live beard shave, encouraged by a very enthusiastic and extremely supportive chat. At last count there was something in the region of 300+ DJ’s playing DNB on Twitch across the globe, and these are just the ones we know about!
This is all part of a community that values its viewers just as much as it’s DJ’s. Streams are often listened to by the ‘lurk at work’ crew, and when all is said and done, this is a pretty cool way to get through the working day! The other amazing thing about this is that you just never know who is lurking in the ‘audience’. Twitch is an open platforms and just the other day Etown Junglist mentioned on a live stream that an extremely well known House music producer dropped in and left some strong words of encouragement.
One of the ways that streamers grow their viewers is through Stream Teams. A partner can set up a team, adding other streamers to their crew. The Team’s Page features whichever member is currently online, so it’s a great way to discover new DJ’s, (see our UBB section) and find other streamers that the Partner recommends. There’s a few Drum and Bass specific teams, United By Breakbeat being the newest, with already over a hundred members. It’s been set up by Guddah and other key players, to help promote Breakbeat-led music on the platform.
Other forms of music already have big players streaming every day, and during Lockdown so did Drum and Bass – however finding DJs who play Trance or House music has been much easier. One of the initiatives started by Ytimid is a campaign through UserVoice to petition Twitch to create a Drum and Bass tag – this could be used by DJ’s to enable viewers to more easily find DNB on the platform. Right now, finding that incredible Jungle DJ can be a bit tricky – so more than 500 people have already added their voice to the campaign, with more being added every day.
Twitch offers Affiliates and Partners a revenue share – this means that it’s possible to earn through streaming on the platform. Streamers can take 50% of Subscriptions (£1.98 for a month) as well as tips through ‘Bits’ donations, Pre-roll advertising (and interstitials, although most DJ’s choose not to switch this function on), as well as any revenue shares through gifting platforms like ko.fi or merchandise. The recent Twitch Data leak revealed that while Gaming Streamers can earn huge figures, there is also a solid wage to be made by DJ’s on the platform too, with many earning upwards of USD$25k in the past 12 months – the supplemental income during the pandemic in place of DJ Fees certainly has helped the likes of John B continue to focus his career in music.
Ever one to break boundaries, John B has been experimenting recently with the possibilities of broadcasting live from DJ gigs, and only recently aired his sets from Leeds and Germany to followers across the Globe. The twin experience of DJ’ing to a live crowd as well as to his Twitch followers looked exciting to say the least, and there is definitely untapped potential there. For those of whom live gigs are not a possibility, bringing the live experience into the home with the added experience of being able to chat to both the DJ and chat crew is something that holds much potential.
In a nutshell, Twitch is the place to be right now. You can build your weekend around certain DJ sets if you can’t get out to see live music, you can ‘work and lurk’ throughout most days, as there is most likely always someone around the world playing tunes, giving your working day a much needed boost. Best of all, you can check out our ever growing list of DJ’s in the Twitch DJ Links and Stream Schedules pages on the site. This is being updated weekly as more discoveries are made, and there is also an opportunity to discover and join the various Discord servers, in particular UBB (United by Breakbeat DNB Collective), and the UBB Stream Team channel, which also has a space within our Twitch section.
If you’re not addicted to Twitch within a week of trying, I’d be pretty suprised!
Many thanks to Ytimid for the help putting this article together, and to all of the Twitch DJ’s and chat crew who I have had the pleasure of conversing with over the last year. This thing is definitely not going away, so we’ll see you in the chat soon!
Hit this link and add your vote for a dedicated DNB tag in Twitch!
