Can you feel it? The information behaviour of creative DJs

Abstract

PurposeThis paper investigates the information behaviour of creative DJs, a group previously not considered from the perspective of information studies. The practice of DJing is a musically creative process, where a performance can draw on a vast range of music to create a unique listening and dancing experience. The authors study what are the information behaviour processes involved in creative DJing and what roles embodied information play in DJing practice.Design/methodology/approachFrom a set of semi-structured interviews with 12 experienced DJs in Scotland, UK, that were subjected to inductive thematic analysis, the authors present a model of how DJs undergo the process of planning, performing and evaluating a DJ performance.FindingsFrom this study, a model of creative DJs’ information behaviour is presented. This three-stage model describes the information behaviours and critical factors that influence DJs’ planning, decision-making and verification during the pre-performance, performance and post-performance stages, with particular emphasis on DJs’ performances as a rich site of embodied information interactions.Originality/valueThis research provides insight into a new activity in information behaviour, particularly in the use of embodied information, and presents a model for the information behaviour of creative DJs. This opens the way for future studies to consider minorities within the activity, the audience as opposed to the performer, as well as other creative activities where physicality and performance are central.

“Knowing these stories”

“…Lavranos et al (2015) note that musicians consult a wide variety of information sources across media. Munro et al (2023), in a study of the information behaviour of creative DJs who could be considered part of a UDM scene, confirmed that DJs too consulted a wide range of resources when planning sets. The study also highlighted the importance of embodied information (the audience's physical reactions) to the DJs' decisions about what to play in the moment.…”

“…In this spirit, I designed my research to elicit insights from participants about the relationship between social context information behaviours and their experience in the UDM community. Over the past two decades, information behaviour researchers have paid increasing attention to leisure pursuits, documenting how people engage with information related to the pursuit of the hobby itself (Hartel et al, 2016), such as, in the present context, finding events or learning to DJ (Munro et al, 2023). To my knowledge, my results provide a first-of-its-kind look at how participants in a leisure pursuit encounter and find information about the social context of their hobby.…”

Information sculpting

“…This reworking is often referred to as bricolage, a form of sculpture that is based on the "creative reassembly of already-significant elements" (Lee, 2020). Such mixing and remixing is a widespread phenomenon (Navas & Gallagher, 2014), in which material is transformed, reused and reconstituted to deliver new values, often through participatory processes (Munro et al, 2023).…”

Information seeking behaviour in music conductors’ repertoire selection

“…Information behaviour and information seeking behaviour research within the field of music is quite limited; there is, however, a growing interest in the field, e.g., recent publications such as Bronstein and Lidor (2021), Lugović (2022), Munro et al (2022), and Nwokenna et al (2022). At the time of writing, publications connecting music repertoire selection (further referred to as repertoire) with information behaviour or information seeking behaviour did not emphasise all aspects of repertoire selection.…”