New York City
Aug 28th
My US Visa came through and I’ll be moving to New York City in September this year to DJ and continue my research with nightclubs. I’m writing this post for like-minded individuals, DJs, nightclub owners, promoters, or anything industry related to reach out to me!
If you’re in the United States, particularly the New York area, please post your name on the message board or contact me via this form. I’ll be working closely with a number of brands and I think there will be lots of opportunity for everybody to grow.
The Meaning of Darwin Vs The Machine
Aug 18th
A lot of people ask what the name “Darwin vs The Machine” is all about. In a nutshell, it pokes fun at the idea of how evolution has crafted us as a species over millions of years. Many of these traits we can control, but many we cannot. The Machine is a metaphor for modern-day society.
An example of one of our drives that we are hard-wired for is Sex. If you look at almost any industry from fashion, to music, to sports- members of the critical thinking population (in this case marketers) know that it can be used to drive sales.
My blog initially focused on how these hard-wired genetic traits can be manipulated in a nightclub setting to achieve specific results. I’m starting to focus on more topics than just nightclubs, because I see them every day of my life and love writing about them.
I watched a brilliant TED talk this morning using monkeys as an animal model for human economics. It discusses spending but there are clear implications for gambling. Gambling focuses on the same drives and systems that addiction does. Personally, I’m not much of a casino person. I’ve never understood how people will risk their money against a system in which they will almost indefinitely lose their money.
Take a look at this video, and see how both Monkeys and Humans make the same poor, irrational decisions when it comes to money, risk and resources.
Music’s Effect On Wine Tasting
Aug 15th
One of my corporate clients handles marketing for a number of German Wines in Ontario. During a consultation, we sat down to uncover what the best style of music to play during one of his wine tasting events to enhance the consumer experience.
Recent studies show that music acts as a primer during these wine tastings. Priming is a cognitive process that can be thought of as setting an environment within a brain, before the wine stimulus. It doesn’t affect which type of wine is preferred, but enhances the taste.
Additionally, in a controlled experiment where classical music is played in a wine cellar, consumers will spend more money per bottle. It’s hypothesized that the classical music sets an environment of sophistication, implicitly up-selling the customer.
In another experiment in a European supermarket, it was found that when French music was played French wines outsold German ones 5:1. When German music was played, they outsold french wines 2:1. The reason it isn’t more balanced is because French wines are closely tied with romanticism, which is a driving factor in purchasing wine.
Just a little more proof one the importance of music in a consumer-driven environment. On a non-musical note- the same bottle of wine priced at $90 tasted better than when it’s priced at $10.
The Most Beautiful Faces and Social Perception
Jul 28th
This is one post in a series outlining the evolutionary background behind stereotyping.
The researchers at Beauty Check pulled off probably one of my favorite studies of all time. They took standardized digital photographs of individuals and morphed together to create faces. They morphed the pictures to create 50/50 images. The resulting image was always better looking than either of the previous images. The conclusion? We consider “average” to be beautiful, many of the irregularities are ironed out. Average faces reflect a strong genotype, which our brains are hardwired to pick up on.
The pictures below show the originals, and the averages
Then, they took 64 femal faces mixed, 32 male faces mixed. Again, the average faces reflect a strong and diverse genotype. With average faces, irregularities become ironed out.
They also surveyed these people, asking them what characteristics the attractive and unattractive people had. The results are below;
I strongly recommend everybody checks out and reads through the beautycheck website for more information.
Fake Boobs, False Reproductive Signals and Cognitive Dissonance
Jul 21st
It’s no secret that women’s breasts trigger a sexual response in men, particularly among western civilization. Evolution has selected this trait as an indicator of sexuality. Although indicitave of multiple characteristics, breast development indefinitely displays that a woman has gone through puberty and is fertile.
These mechanisms built themselves up, and were selected for over hundreds of thousands of years. In the twentieth century, we add plastic surgery into the reproduction equation.
Our hindbrain, the unconscious and most ancient part of our mind is attracted to the fake breasts. The fore-brain, and most conscious part of our mind is also attracted to them.
What happens when the male wonders whether or not they are ‘real or fake’. It creates cognitive dissonance.
Somewhere in our brain, there is a conflicting opinion. The fake breasts are signaling strong reproductive fitness, yet part of our mind knows that it’s not a true indicator. The traits that they are promoted would not actually be passed on to the offspring.
Bateman’s principle describes how In primates, women are the choosier sex. One would expect men would try and ‘cheat’ their fitness with plastic surgery. However, the prevalence of plastic surgery incidents in women far outnumbers men (92%, unverified, 2008). This relates to a sociological concept, rather than an evolutionary one. Society’s overall view on beauty and how we guage it today is totally different than what it used to be.
As a result of this, “real or fake” decision making processes could trigger something totally different for men. I think if you asked most men the magic question, they would say “I don’t care if they’re real or fake.”
I postulate that the dissonace is created for an instant, and then skewed towards the idea that fake breasts are still just as attractive. Dissonance in this form, much like in music, creates a memorable or more lasting experience which is further perpetuated by modern day society’s view on body image.
In other words, society’s view on beauty in combination with cosmetic surgery triggers drives more powerful response than they would be able to create on their own.
I’ve noticed a higher prevalence of women with fake breasts in upscale nightclubs, compared to more underground ones. Perhaps women with fake breasts are looking to attract a different kind of mate, in a different socio-economic status.
Depending on the feedback on this post, I can post a lot more work on beauty, reproduction and nightclubs. Just leave your comments below!
Thanks For Your Support, Lots of Updates Coming Soon!
Jul 17th
First and foremost thanks for everyone’s support over the past few months during this blog launch! I’m pleased to announce some structural and stylistic revamps coming throughout the month of July. In addition to that, some very exciting international partnerships will be announced over the next couple of weeks. As I am only 1 person, I won’t be posting much new stuff for a few weeks. We should be back in business and stronger than ever some time in early August!
Please continue to recommend this website to your friends as well as our Facebook fan page! If you like any of the posts, please tweet them to help spread awareness.
The Cost of Producing Rock vs Rap, and Favouring Musical Stereotypes
Jul 5th
This is the second in a series of posts involved with some of the behind-the-scene Economics of the music industry. Particularly stuff that the general public wouldn’t normally know.
The last post considered the four most widely known genres to be Classical, Rock, Religious and Rap. Stereotypically, rock and alternative music is considered “white” music while rap music is considered “black” music.
One theory behind music is that it is an expression of the artist, their beliefs, their emotions and their interpretations on life. If music is a reflection of ourself, is this what we really sound like on the inside?
Partially, but lets go over the differences in technology and recording costs associated with putting together an album. A rock album can easily cost $500 000 worth of studio time. The chain of equipment just for the lead singer, from the microphone, to the pre-amp to the mixing board could easily cost over $8000. This is just to have the recording sound a certain way. Not to mention the cost of all the instruments. It’s not be uncommon for strings players to switch guitar and bass models in between tracks.
On the other hand, much 1990s hip-hop was produced using the classic AKAI MPC series samplers. This was essentially one instrument that would be programmed to create the sounds digitally and produce all of the drums and melodies involved in a musical arrangement. With a good sounding mic, the studio sessions suddenly became more affordable for members of this socio-economic status.
The cost of producing Rock was way more than producing Rap. As a result of this, it favored those in a certain socio-economic status. This is one of many factors that lead to completely different styles, in terms of both musical and lyrical content.
Notably, Classical and Religious music both fit the thesis, as they require more live sounding instruments, more expensive recording techniques and are both produced mainly by white individuals.
Stereotypes On Personality Traits Related To Musical-Genre Preferences
Jul 4th
This is a review of some research published involving stereotypes and music. More specifically, if fans of certain genre were perceived to have certain characteristics. They examine the strength of the relationship between these stereotypes, and truths as well.
Music can serve as a badge expressing one’s membership to a certain group or social category. It’s not unexpected to discover that we actually stereotype people based on what type of music they listen to. In a nightclub, music has an important role with mating, or “hooking up.” Two individuals on a dancefloor connecting with a certain strong, might posses underlying and implicit indications of compatibility.
Many genres and sub-genres were examined, the following were chosen as they were what the majority of individuals knew; alternative, blues, classical, country, electronic, folk, heavy metal, jazz, pop, rap, religious, rock, soul and sound.
And now for the data, and a few interesting points for each graph.
Classical music lovers are the least extroverted. Rap listeners are the least conscientious.
Rock and Rap listeners are the least conservative. Classical listeners are the most artistic.
Rap users on average use the most drugs, especially Marijuana and Beer. Classical listeners prefer wine and cocktails, but not many other drugs.
Essentially, as most stereotypes are, they had a small amount of truth associated with it- but were not consistently accurate or widespread among the individuals involved
Rentfrow, P. J., & Gosling, S. D. (2007). The content and validity of music-genre stereotypes among college students. Psychology of Music , 35, 306-326.
RSS Feed Now Working
Jun 30th
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Ortofon’s New S-120 Technology For DJs
Jun 28th
The new technology behind the S-120 and what’s patented has much to do with the new Asymmetric Suspension System. This allows you to operate at virtually any tracking force (VTF) allowing you to essentially skip tonearm and software calibrations if you need to. Tracking refers to the ability for the needle to sit in the groove and trace the groove details even at high volumes. When the DJ moves the record back and forth rapidly (such as during scratching), the volume of the signal increases and if the tracking limit is not high enough the stylus can jump out of the grove. The S-120 has a tracking limit which exceeds 120um (micrometers), which is higher than any cartridge in history. Tracking limit has everything to do with groove holding ability and just as much to do with sound quality.
There are two planes involved with tracking, the horizontal and vertical axis. Before the S-120, the two were dependent on each other. In the cartridge design process, by changing one you would affect the other. The S-120 allows them both to operate independently. Previous to the S-120, the addition of more tracking force (VTF) past a certain point would actually lower the tracking limit and would compromise the sound quality and groove holding of the cartridge. It could also damage the suspension irreparably.
Unlike any other cartridge, with the S-120, even when extreme tracking forces are used (even up to 10 grams), the tracking limit stays the same, leading to much improved scratch performance as well as superior sound quality. Conversely, the cartridge is able to track well at extremely low forces (as little as 1.5g) for the playback and preservation of collectable vinyl records.
The S-120 has a hot enough output and consistent enough signal output to minimize the need for tonearm adjustment and calibration to Serato Scratch Live’s scopes. While this isn’t an excuse to not set up your equipment to its fullest capacity, it can certainly come in handy when seconds count during a live performance.
So it’s a better product in every aspect of DJ’ing and a more durable one than anything else on the market. It’s approximately $299.99 USD per twin pack, which includes two cartridges, a brush and a hard case.
Check out my previous interview with Ortofon, explaining other really useful information for DJs without the S-120.
Special thanks to Louis Dorio from Ortofon for consulation on this article.
