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Instagram was roasted at “the first ever Instagram approved DJ set” on Monday. Brooklyn artists Donwill and Jean Grae produced the event after Page Six reported on Instagram’s crackdown on DJ sets that stream over the platform due to music rights. The company posted a set of guidelines last week that reminded users it has …
Instagram was roasted at “the first ever Instagram approved DJ set” on Monday.
Brooklyn artists Donwill and Jean Grae produced the event after Page Six reported on Instagram’s crackdown on DJ sets that stream over the platform due to music rights. The company posted a set of guidelines last week that reminded users it has a library of generic music and sound effects available for free that won’t violate copyrights.
“Why would you need any Beyoncé . . . or Rihanna?” joked Donwill as he and Grae spun tunes by the artists in Facebook’s free library — like Brent Bourgeois and Secret Agent 23 Skidoo.
Grae described the catalog as “car-commercial songs” during a hilarious set that had listeners saying the DJs should have their own “SNL” spot.
“There was also this reggae song with fake patois accents and an Azealia Banks knockoff,” Donwill told us. “There was even a baby crying . . . and footsteps of a person walking . . . It’s music that’s perfect if you’re scoring a video, but not for people to listen to and dance to. Why would you recommend that you use this material to play at a party?”
DJs including Questlove have been leaning on alternative platforms such as Mixcloud and Twitch after Instagram began shutting down their sets during the pandemic.
“A lot of us have no gigs, no incomes. We’re not being paid. We’re just playing music for people out of work, who are stressed out and on social media anyway,” Donwill said. “Why not have something to ease the tension?”
Questlove has argued DJs are providing essential services.
