Nick Spinelli has officially joined the Beatsource crew as a curator of wedding DJ content. As one of the most successful wedding DJs on the East Coast, Nick has pulled from his experience and expertise to deliver Beatsource subscribers with exclusive wedding playlists for DJs. We caught up with Nick to learn more about his DJ career and curated crates.
How long have you been DJing, and how did you get your start?
I’ve been DJing for 16 years — exactly half my life. When I was 16 years old, I worked at a restaurant/banquet hall making salads. The house DJ there was looking for an assistant to help him with weddings, and the owner of the restaurant recommended me. I started out as a wedding DJ, so that is 100% my foundation. But I also got into clubs later in my career after I turned 21, so I guess you can say I’m a wedding/club DJ?
What are the differences in how a wedding DJ programs and performs as opposed to a club DJ?
Weddings have a way more diverse crowd in terms of age compared to clubs. As a result, Wedding DJs have to play a larger variety of music and program it in a way that will keep everyone on the dance floor. Wedding DJs have to have an extremely deep bag. Every wedding crowd is different, so playing the same songs each weekend isn’t really an option.
What has your experience been like in building your DJ library throughout the years?
I DJed my first wedding on my own when I was 17. Being a very young DJ, people often assumed that I didn’t know about older music. I was determined to prove everyone wrong. So I spent the last 15 years building very detailed crates for every possible situation.
How do you see Beatsource changing the way you acquire and manage your music collection?
Being a wedding DJ, I’ve always had an insanely bloated hard drive full of music because when I get a request for a song, I want to make sure I have it. Beatsource gives me access to a library of millions of songs, so now, I don’t have to have a 4TB hard drive anymore. I was able to reduce my music down to 300 gigs and utilize beatsource to stream a song if I get a request on the fly that I don’t have. On top of that, Beatsource’s curated playlists are super clutch for discovering new music. They legit do the digging for you!
What advice can you offer to young DJs getting aspiring to become a “working DJ”?
Practice. It’s cliche, but one day you’re going to get an opportunity to DJ somewhere, and you have to be ready. And when these opportunities start rolling in, prepare your ass off! There’s nothing worse than running out of music to play.
What do you say to those who claim streaming is not acceptable for wedding DJs?
The internet is widely available almost everywhere. And with Beatsource’s Offline Mode, you can store the important songs offline, like the first dance, so you never have to worry about not being able to play it.
What advice can you offer to DJs in terms of managing their music library?
I highly recommend having a deep, diverse crate system for every scenario. This keeps your sets different and allows you to be prepared for any crowd. Do not DJ off the top of your head. It limits you to whatever you can remember.
What can we expect to see in the wedding playlists for DJs you’ve curated for Beatsource?
Everything. It’s hard to put into words the amount of blood, sweat, and tears I put into these playlists. I spent half my life working on them, and I can assure you they will be incredibly valuable to any DJ at any experience level.
Last thoughts?
I’m so excited about these playlists. I hope they unlock a pandora’s box for any DJ who’s looking to get into weddings or looking to freshen up their wedding sets. These lists will take you to a whole new level.
Check out some of Nick’s curated wedding playlists for DJs:
