Shout out to all the crabs in the house! In this article we are going to talk about how to setup a local DJ crew using digital technology. But we not talking any kind of DJ crew, we are discussing the 21st century Afroasiatic style of DJing using a hybrid of digital/physical identity and presence.

This article is an extension and deeper dive from a previous article where we suggest Black college students skip the DNC Nine, formerly the Divine Nine, that sold out to the Democrat Party, and create their own school clubs relevant to the 21st century.

We ran numbers and saw that a networked DJ clubs among offer a new exciting level professional and entrepreneurial benefits than joining a fraternity and sorority. But we are looking beyond college and for young adults who want to find their space in the music scene and create their own collective to spread the vibes and make money doing it.

We want to spotlight a successful DJ collective out of India that branded themselves as Crab Culture for this article. Let’s get into it.

Background of Crab Culture

The Crab Culture collective out of India, probably got their reference from a EDM music video from Noisestorm called Crab Rave. It is a mix of both men and women DJing and we see this a lot in Asian DJ groups while it’s mostly EDM frat boys here in the West.

What we noticed about them is they have a revenue model. We saw other DJ collectives in Asia having a similar business model, but when you look at African-American DJs, they throwing rooftop parties and doing it all for virtual clout and views. Not smart.

What you want to do is do it like the Crab Culture. You want to focus on a revenue model that you control instead of waiting for YouTube to sent you a check or demonetize you for a copyright strike.

Let’s talk about those business revenue models which is tie-in marketing and product sponsorship. But most important, notice both sides get to win in this arrangement.

Jazz House in a Pizza Shop

Here you have one of the DJs of the collective performing a mix show at the Dome pizzeria in their kitchen. He is wearing an apron to show he is immersed with the workers who are putting in work, making the pizza dough, likely early in the morning. This is intentional and smart marketing.

What you are seeing are not the customers who may not consent to being filmed; you seeing the workers doing what they do – make pizza. That gives you an insight of the business. Notice the different camera angles.

For the DJ collective, don’t think he is there alone – in these settings someone from the crew is running the multiple cameras on OBS and changing the viewpoint. The audio engineer is making the sound is flowing into the system. In some videos you may see them approach the DJ and start turning knobs to make sure the levels are right for the recording.

In this kind of deal, you work with a business to DJ in their backroom and promote their business while the business is opening – this is better than doing a DJ set with regular customers.

Fastrack Sponsorship

The Crab Culture crew have done a tie-up with Fastrack Watch, an Indian Watch Company and they performed this set to promote the Ruffles line. This is the kind of sponsorship you can do with not only a product line, but wear logos and have logo placements like a NASCAR driver. Have their stickers on the back of the DJ laptop for example or have small signs near the controller facing the viewer.

I seen other tie-up such as Mini Motors with Deus Ex out in Bali on YouTube. I don’t know if you need a lot of views, I think what you need is culture and a clean brand. You guys are pushing feel good mixes, got a global audience, and you start working leads in both the local community and major brands to have placement sets in your video channels and in your marketing promotions.

For example, you can do a DJ show at an local arts festival, passing out stickers, scan QR codes to check out the YouTube channel and other social media, and get on the email list when you going to do a set to invite people out. That’s how you get really bigger in the space.

Chill House Café

This is part of the “Crab in the Kitchen” like the pizza set we discussed earlier. Notice on this set, they are appearing to be serving customers and not in the backroom. She is playing instrumental jazz house music. What I don’t see is a small section to hand out stickers of the crew and other marketing material to check out the YouTube channel.

You want to have these small freebies around but you can also sell them as an additional revenue. For example, our AI artists will be having pop-ups at cafes and other venues and we will have a store that sell t-shirts, stickers, posters, and more. This is the mindset I want your DJ crew to have and not just there blending tracks.

Focus on Digital + Physical + Commerce

We are beyond the DJ Crew just to smoke, dance, and hookup. We are suggesting to go Afroasiatic and adopt the success DJ crew models we seeing in Asia. The goal now is to make revenue to support the movement.

The reason why is because this collective can be a springboard to launching your crew into their own breakout projects and become alumni. That in turn bring in a new generation who respect the DJ crew alumni and follow in their footsteps and legacy.

Let’s sum up the DJ crew model. Create a brand with a badge, like Crab Culture did with the crab. Create a digital world with recorded sets, AI-generated crab-based cartoon and skits for social media, release tracks to be mixed using Suno and keep the bpm steady to have original mix tracks instead of risking copyright strikes.

In the real world, sign promotion deals to DJ at a restaurant in their backroom to provide music for the line cooks and market both you and the restaurant. Then start looking at product line promotions to promote brands and products. Charge to wear a hat with their logo, have signs with their logo in the background or a t-shirt with their brand on it.

Another thing I didn’t mention is do micro-festivals where the whole crew is the lineup and you get sponsorships and even local car dealers bring their cars for display – could even do a motorcycle or car show meetup as well. Have a Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter festival that big enough to bring in all your digital fans and people coming in from around the country and world who listen to your crew DJ on YouTube.

This is how we going to get our claws into making real money as a DJ crew and collective. We are in a new era, a new world now and money is to be made doing what we love. Think next level as you create that DJ crew and realize the opportunities out there beyond just looking for attention and a following.