worldDJ.com - the international online community - (note: only useful if you are online)

i have been looking for the international equivalent of www.inthemix.com.au and think i may have found it.. www.worldDJ.com is a 'members only' site (membership is free) claiming to be comprised of underground electronic artists/DJ's, producers, distributors and of course, clubbers. when my.uq decides to work i will be able to complete my 'free membership' and hopefully find some gems from the site worthy of adding to my blog! (on the technical problems note, my personal computer has also packed up, and so has the computer lab at union college - my unfortunate residence - and so i will be queing to use the ss&h ezones well into the forseeable future..)

im tempted to have a rant about the unreliabilty of networked computers but i will resist since it has little to do with dance music and technology, except of course that it means i will be listening to NOTHING until my computer is fixed. this is because not only is most of my music is stored on my computer, but also because i rely on my computer to be my cd player (college rooms = small), so even the music that i have on cd (which i would generously estimate to be about 1/8 of my collection) are about as useful as drink coasters until my computer decides to work again.

i am sure i am not the first person to be frustrated by their utter dependance on computers and the internet for their daily existence. i guess this serves to demonstrate that without the humble computer, the dance music fan is effectively crippled; cut off from all current news and events, unable to indulge in some bedroom culture, and isolated from all forms of online community (its hardly appropriate to bring my cd's down to the ss&h library..).

In closing i would like to explore the notion that the existance of the online dance community could in fact have both a uniting and segregating effect: uniting those who have access to a computer, and separating those who dont. in effect, it is creating an 'elitist' online dance community, and drawing a very clear line between the 'haves' and 'have nots'. the 'have nots' would simply not be able to participate in the online community, and this probably has an impact on definitions of cultural capital; those who can get the latest news online are at a clear advantage over those who have to wait for news to be filtered through street press or rely on the accuracy of word of mouth.