The LC6000 PRIME provides a secondary area of audio when paired with other Denon media players. The Denon DJ website explains that the pairing “streamlines track selection workflows and expands creative capabilities without the need of a computer.”

The LC6000 PRIME runs via USB and features an 8.5-inch capacitive touch jog wheel with a full-color screen.  A “smooth” 100mm pitch fader accompanies lights near the top, bottom and center to notify DJs of zero position and sync direction.  Eight color-coded performance pads line the bottom of the device, adding more buttons for hot-cueing, looping and beat slicing. A fully rotational knob controls music library navigation, and a touch strip provides individual track browsing (“Needle Drop”). Reinforced “Cue” and “Play” buttons give DJs long-term protection from damage due to excessive tapping.

The LC6000 PRIME’s versatility also extends to multiple DJ software platforms like Serato, Virtual DJ, and Algoriddim djay Pro.

Denon’s Engine OS powers the LC6000 PRIME and also provides access to streaming millions of songs via Beatport, SoundCloud and TIDAL.

Denon is a Japanese electronics company founded in 1910 by American entrepreneur Frederick Whitney Horn. The company helped develop the CD-ROM format alongside Sony in 1984. The DN-2000F, Denon’s first twin-deck CD player, was released in 1993. In April 2014, inMusic Brands acquired both Denon DJ and Denon Professional from D&M Holdings.

The Denon LC6000 PRIME retails at $699. More information is available on Denon DJ’s website.

Pioneer’s latest offering of their flagship CDJ line recently received a massive makeover, introducing more features and smoother functionality. Tribe XR allows users to upload music and access streaming service SoundCloud for more selections. Paired alongside the DJM-900, a club-standard Pioneer DJ setup is ready to use within the in-app environment.

Tribe XR boasts a growing online community, allowing users to explore new music and meet other members through customizable rooms. Their virtual “DJ coach,” DJ Hapa, hosts weekly masterclasses covering features of both Pioneer DJ products in great detail. Beatport LINK compatibility for streaming Tribe XR performances is included. A $4.99/month subscription plan called “Tribe Plus” unlocks live support from experienced teachers along with advanced lessons and tutorials.

San Francisco-based Tribe XR was founded in 2017 by Ozan Serim, Kevin Lowe and Tom Impallomeni. The software platform provides immersive virtual reality music lessons.

Tribe XR is available for $30 on Oculus Quest; the program works with popular VR headsets like Steam VR and Oculus Rift. More information is available on the Tribe XR website.

Serato, Pioneer DJ, Native Instruments and Denon DJ are a few of the brands that offer SoundCloud DJ integrations. The service costs $19.99 a month, and SoundCloud claims that it’s “the largest catalogue of any offline plan at a lower price than the competition.” The Virtual DJ and Algoriddim integrations also offer in-app track data, and they plan to introduce more tools for DJs in the future.

SoundCloud’s Second Chapter

SoundCloud’s journey to financial success has not been a swift one. Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss founded the company in 2007, but it hemorrhaged money for the first decade of its lifetime. When The Raine Group and Temasek Holdings purchased a dominant share of the company in 2017, Ljung stepped down as CEO to make way for former Vimeo CEO Kerry Trainor to take his place.

Trainor’s tenure has seen SoundCloud add value to its subscription service and amass more paid users as a result. In 2019, the company posted double the revenue ($200 million) and a narrower net loss according to Music Business Worldwide.

More information on SoundCloud DJ can be found in this blog post.

Image credit: Brandon Erlinger-Ford