|
Launched as a DJ ONLY record subscription
club in February 1983, DMC is without doubt the founding company
of DJ culture. Fuelled by a team of people with twenty years commitment
to the DJ industry DMC is manned by managers who either come from
a DJ background or are passionate for dance music. It is widely
recognised that DMC was at the forefront of the DJ/Club Culture
movement which began in the 80's.
DMC's founder Tony Prince began life
as a jockey and then became a singer before becoming a UK club
DJ and eventually a top UK radio personality. If you'd like to
read about his first career moves, read this: http://www.manchesterbeat.com/
In the beginning DMC invented the word 'megamix'
to describe the art of DJs mixing records into a none-stop medley.
It really began
in 1981 when Tony Prince
started to play DJ mixes on his Radio Luxembourg programme. The
show eventually
became
known
as the 'Disco Mix Club Show'. DJs around Europe heard what was
happening, Prince was inundated with their individual mixes and
they came from
all over Europe.
And so it was that mixing tracks into cool, short medleys as a
production format was established for the very first time and Radio
Luxembourg was an impressive vehicle to broadcast the art with a
UK and European audience in excess of 50million listeners! This
was in a day and age when the UK still had a handful of radio stations
and only thye BBC and Radio Luxembourg broadcasting nationally.
Whilst late 1981 was the point when this brand new art form was
created the rest of the story continued when Prince and his wife
Christine launched DMC as a way for DJs to produce mixes and for
their colleagues to play them. DMC became the world's first licensed
DJ ONLY record label.
In February 1983 when DMC was launched the Princes put their savings
into a magazine which they produced to accompany the monthly mixes.
They called the magazine Mixmag and, more than anything it was this
publication which pointed DJ's in the right direction inspiring
them to be creative and campaigning for club managers and owners
to employ quality DJs instead of the cheapest record player in town.
DMC also campaigned for better sound systems and politer bouncers
(but you can't win 'em all!!!). The DMC label, exclusive to DJ subscribers,
still continues to release monthly remixes and mixes created by
DJs for DJ members. Taking an average of 8 individual productions
each month for twenty years, DMC has distributed no less than 2000
individual DJ productions.
DMC also managed or aided many of the founding DJ mixers and brought
their mixes and remixes into the public sector. Suddenly the DJ
became the centre of attention, the real focus in dance music and
subsequently their earning power and creative boundaries were opened
wide and the world became their oyster.
DMC was also the company who first took DJs and fans on holiday
together to IBIZA as far back as 1986 with a company they formed
called 'Nightlife Holidays'.
Other feathers in DMC's corporate cap include the creation of The
World DJ Championship which gave birth to Turntablism, a brand new
music artistry which has turned the record player into a musical
instrument. DMC staged an event which saw Public Enemy, Run DMC,
James Brown and Janet Jackson sharing the stage at London's historic
Royal Albert Hall with the world's greatest exponents of DJ art.
Carl Cox, at the start of his career, entered the DMC/Technics DJ
Championship. Dave Seaman was the editor of DMC's Mixmag magazine
and launched Stress Records for DMC. Sasha and John Digweed were
just two of the many DJs who were signed to this top 80's house
label. Jr.Vasquez career as a remixer was kick-started on DMC's
remix service and the world's premier DJ, Paul Oakenfold, received
his first front cover feature in DMC's Mixmag as did many other
icons.
It is true to say that every major DJ who turned the tables in
the decades 80's and 90's, was first featured on the front page
of DMC's dance music bibles MIXMAG or UPDATE or had their first
public mix released on DMC's Mixmag Live - the world's FIRST DJ
mix series to hit the public sector!
The DMC organisation's commitment to exposing and inspiring DJ
art and DJ talent and to raising DJ standards, was a world-wide
effort with branches in 40 nations playing their part. Whilst "Mixmag"
in the UK drove the tribes of fans to appreciate great DJs and great
music, "MIXER", DMC's American publication, planted big
DJ seeds across the USA's traditional rock driven industry. As the
world opened up to club DJs who no longer needed to talk into microphones,
so jocks learned that, 'have record box will travel' as a new breed
of DJ saw no international boundaries and their world-wide appearance
fees expanded beyond their wildest dreams. Better still - this wasn't
a Brit or a US DJ thing - this was for everyone because it was about
great mixing - not about personality.
With 40 National branches and offices in London, Slough and New
York, DMC arrived at the 21st century still wired positively continuing
to inspire the world DJ population and indeed to uncover new talent.
The DMC WORLD DJ CHAMPIONSHIPS now feature three annual events and
in 2002 DMC worked with the UK's Luminar Leisure to launch the DMC
YOUNG DJ OF THE YEAR (full reports on all DMC events can be found
here on DMCWORLD).
DMC were again first to bring on a totally new concept in mixes,
a chill-out after hours mix series which was named 'BACK TO MINE'.
One (New Order), was even reviewed as 'BEST MIX EVER' in the British
rock rag NME!
Today, via DJPAGES, DMC plans to change the way DJs market themselves
and the way record labels communicate with them and the way fans
discover the world's great DJs. Whether it be a 16 year old in a
bedroom in Poland or a House DJ working a top London club or a hip-hop
DJ from the Bronx, they can all be found by surfing their site.
DJPAGES will be DMC's main concentration for the next few years.
We want to see a world-wide network of DJ charts featured on prime
radio around the world. We believe DJs and radio Programme so watch
these pages!
Sorry about all this banging of our own drum but new fans need
to know exactly what DMC stands for and there've been a lot of beats
gone down in twenty years. A big welcome to DMCWORLD.COM. the web
site for the world-wide Dance Music Community, the DJs, the labels,
the artistes, the producers AND THE FANS!
And bring on DMC - decade three!
|