Hot take: putting on a full playlist isn't 'DJing' and my friends need to get over it.
By @wesyy · Music
We have a shared house speaker and there's an unspoken rule that whoever connects to it is the DJ for a while. The problem is my friends think that means curating a vibe, and I think it means I just want to listen to a full album.
The full story
I don't think this should be complicated. We have a good speaker system in our living room and everyone uses it. When friends are over, someone usually connects their phone and puts on music. Cool. Love that. But it's turned into this whole production. My friends will literally spend 10 minutes trying to 'read the room' and build the perfect collaborative queue, adding one song at a time, making sure everyone gets a turn, debating transitions... it's exhausting. It feels like a committee meeting to choose a Taylor Swift song. Yesterday I finally got control of the speaker and I decided I wanted to listen to the new Chappell Roan album, from start to finish. I just put on the album and let it play. About four songs in, one of my friends literally asks, 'are you gonna play something else or...?' I said I was listening to the album and she got all weird about it, saying I was 'hogging the vibe.' My argument is that listening to an album is a valid way to use a speaker! Not everything has to be a perfectly curated, genre-hopping, crowd-pleasing playlist. Sometimes you just want to hear a body of work as the artist intended. It's an album. It's meant to be listened to in order. They think I'm being a selfish DJ and killing the party, but I think they're being dramatic and don't appreciate the art of the album. I’m not trying to be a party DJ, I’m just trying to chill in my own house.
How people voted
- Facts — 31% (8 votes)
- Depends — 38% (10 votes)
- No Way — 31% (8 votes)
Readers are split: “Depends” leads with 38% — 26 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@violetkk — It takes guts to just put on a whole album at a party! Good for you for just wanting to enjoy the music as it was made.
@avahm — I would start making the most unhinged, chaotic playlists imaginable just to make a point. Throw some whale sounds in between Taylor Swift and see how they feel about 'vibe curation'.
@violethm — If it's your house and your speaker, you get to play what you want.
@kiraforsure — wow a committee meeting to pick a song. sounds fun.
@brookeb — Couldn't you just use headphones if you wanted to listen to a whole album by yourself?
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