Should DJ's Be Considered Artists?

The dj's of today that are true dj's, not mixtape only dj's, mp3 pirate dj's, cd burning and cd mixing dj's that have come to prominence, but true dj's, are artists in their own right. Some of the biggest artists in the biz either started out as dj's or either are dj's today. Some of the biggest producers in the business are dj's.

Ludacris, Jermaine Dupris, Dr Dre, Andre 3000, Biz Markie, DJ Toomp, Teddy Riley, Dilla, DJ Screw, Boy George, etc..... Slice and myself even have a lot of credits on albums as either producers, writers, scratchers, remixers, etc...

It seems everyone is a dj these days. They have so much software and hardware out there that allows you to match up the bpm's of a record without even having to know the music or what songs you are playing as long as the bpm's match. Now how is that spinning? I saw a guy in the Gap at Saw Grass Mills Mall here in Florida and I swear the guy was dancing all over the place, had the whole store rocking. I walked over to see what he was spinning, but he had the Serato system that is actually mp3's that are being played and the computer keeps time for him. All he was doing was calling up mp3's, nothing more. So those are not artists, just pretenders.

My opinion is that if you have not originally worked with vinyl, and real turntables, you are not a true dj. Some may dispute that, but it's just my opinion.

When a dj is in a club/festival atmosphere, either does a remix on his/her own, or is hired to create a legal remix of a song that is a completely different song from the original with the exception of possibly the lyrics, then he/she should get full credit of that song that he/she created as remix producer, garnering royalties, publishing, etc..., because it is a total and completely different song than the original, vice the vocals (if any. So they are artists just from that description alone.

When you have dj's like DJ Tiesto with a laser light show, packing stadiums and arenas all over the world, with no performing artists to open up for him, and it's just him, the turntables, and the crowd, that just lets you know that dj's have transcended beyond the norm for dj's and have catapulted into full blown artists. We are talent just like musicians, singers, writers, performers, and should be treated as such.