Hey all, recently got myself the Denon Prime 4 Plus and loving it - but got lots to learn lol - have signed up to the beatport streaming £15 a month - which appears to be awesome - but have just discovered you are not able to record your mixes - which seems pointless!! I know this will probably be to do with Copyright etc.
Does anyone recommend any other approach? or what your preferred source of music is and being able to record (without having to buy mp3s)
Cheers Colin
Hey Colin! Yes, this is a super annoying limitation with streaming services, but as you guessed there are ways around it. Basically you need to record the audio output to a separate device rather than using the inbuilt recording feature.
There are standalone devices to do this, e.g. Reloop Tape 2 but they’re not hugely cheap
I use a cheap USB audio interface and plug it via a lightning to USB adaptor into my iPhone, which allows me to record using whichever app I want, then upload to Soundcloud etc.
Hey,
Thanks for the email response.
So I can go ahead and use my USB adapter plug into my laptop and use Audacity?
I’m assuming I won’t get “done” for copyright or anything if I upload to Mixcloud??
Cheers
No, you should not be recording someone elses copyrighted material. Especially if you’re only renting it.
Even if you bought tracks, copyright still applies. You only have the right to play them, not to record, and certainly not to distribute the recording by uploading it somewhere.
It’s been that way for many decades.
The tracks are not “yours” even if you buy them.
Yup, cable to laptop into Audacity would be perfect for recording.
Good overview of legal DJing here - How to Legally DJ: Uploads, Remixes, Permissions (UK, US, EU)
Strictly speaking you can’t upload to Mixcloud. Realistically nobody is likely to care. Your call as to where you sit on this spectrum.
It’s a catch 22 situation. The outcome of a record company or label trying to take legal action against any DJ using their music would be embarrassing. Any half decent Lawyer would take the case on pro-bono then wipe the floor with them.
Think about it, they are providing music that was designed to mix (empty beats at the start and finish, for dance music), they are then making it available on a streaming service that has been included on a ‘DJ controller’ or in ‘DJ software’… what Jury on the planet would side with a greedy corporate record company who want people buying their music, and rely on DJs and other means to promote it.
As far as recording that mix externally, how the hell would they ever know you used streaming music to record it? that you didn’t purchase it? Where do they think the outputs of the DJ unit go to? A lot of DJ units have ‘record out’ connections yet they still have their streaming service available in Serato/VDJ/RB etc… they are getting paid and the streaming company are getting paid, it would make zero sense to start going after people who are literally paying their wages.
I’m confused by this, isn’t the sole purpose of Mixcloud to upload your mix? I get what your saying about the rental service that people like Beatport provide, but if you bought them, I’m sure it’s absolutely fine to upload onto that platform. That’s what I do and I’m certain thousands of others do too.
It’s technically against copyright law, but nobody will ever enforce it because the negative impact of silencing DJs is greater than the rewards of trying to charge someone with breaching the rules.
Ha! I never knew that.
The whole thing is a complete joke, back in the day you used to buy White label records, even in HMV on the high street. They would say ‘for promotional purposes only, not to be distributed or broadcast in public’ or something similar… but they were literally pressing 500 copies to send out to record shops and DJs so they would play them and generate interest.
Some examples of mine:
Soul Central - Strings of life, bought 3yrs before it was released, unofficial bootleg at the time, never an issue.
Junior Jack - Thrill me, 2yrs before release, name stamped on it by Junior Jack himself, played by DJs the world over.
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean (Bushwacka remix)… one of the original white label copies sent out, nobody from Motown records ever went after DJs, Bushwacka himself or anybody else for owning and playing it.
Yeah, it’s seems like the legalities are very ‘grey area’. I’ve had no issues uploading my streams with other peoples music.
By the way, I also have that Bushwacka remix on vinyl 
Has a red centre on the vinyl, used to love dropping that track towards the end of my mixes.
I think mine might be black one side, white the other. Bought it after Morillo played it in our local club, from HTFR online.
That’s a good response, but the UK licenses held for public performance of music in venues specifically excludes use of streaming services (or it certainly used to last time I looked).
Mixcloud do pay (some) copyright fees - basically because so many people ignore copyright and upload to their site, so it’s easier for the rights holders to get their money from the site than individuals. Same thing with YouTube.
TBH I think any posts offering workarounds or telling people to just ignore copyright should be flagged and edited or removed, as it doesn’t do the poster(s) any favours and I’m sure Denon wouldn’t want to be seen promoting that kind of activity.
Further more it, in many cases, also differ from country to country, depending on the specific national copyright society.
I haven’t used them for years but last I heard the old owner had declared bankruptcy and it was sold. He was meant to be a big of a player, fancy sports cars etc.
Not read all the replies, but you absolutely can record. You just need an audio interface. Go from the master / record or both out on your mixer. Which ever you have or prefer … And record directly into the DAW of your choice. Simple.
One of my mates used to work for PRS pre-COVID, I’ll ask him about this one.
I recall an interesting legal issue with HTFR a good free years ago, where some hard to find records weren’t actually as hard to find as htfr were making out…. Due to htfr cutting their own duplicates and copying the labels then selling their cut duplicates, as originals , allesgedly
