• VR Is the New Nightlife

• Suno Levels Up

• Share Your Spotify Links with Sound on IG Stories

• Aaron's Cheat Codes

• Serato Smart Crates

Virtual Reality is Clubbing’s New Frontier

Remember when a “virtual party” meant five people awkwardly waving on Zoom? Yeah, we’ve upgraded. Fast Company recently dropped a feature confirming what the sweatpants-clad ravers already knew: virtual reality nightclubs are now an actual thing, and they’re getting lit.

What’s Actually Happening in the Metaclub?

• VRChat had over 130,000 people tune in for New Year’s Day 2025. That’s Times Square numbers—without the cold, tourists, or smell of questionable hot dogs.

• Safety and identity freedom: In VR, you can be whoever you want—just maybe don’t show up as Sonic the Hedgehog again.

• The music is… good? Apparently yes. Crystal-clear audio, wild visuals, and no guy requesting “Danza Kuduro” for the fourth time.

Why DJs Should Pay Attention (Like, Now)

• You get a global crowd—without boarding a plane or dragging speakers through the snow.

• Total creative freedom: Build your own digital stage with zero budget and infinite lasers.

• You might actually connect with fans—one DJ got real-life bookings from her VR sets. The metaverse just became your resume.

But Here’s the Fine Print

• VR fatigue is real: 60-hour virtual raves might sound fun… until your eyes hate you.

• Gear ain’t cheap: Sure, a Meta Quest is $350-ish. But full VR immersion can cost more than your car.

• No rules, no bouncers: Which sounds fun until you’re stuck in a conversation with a drunk avatar banana man named Carl.

What You Can Do Right Now (Without Melting Your Brain)

• Pop into a VR club—no glow sticks required.

• Try livestreaming your next set into VR. No one’s stopping you.

• Start tinkering with spatial audio and virtual visuals. It’s like Serato… on mushrooms.

TL;DR:

Virtual reality nightlife is the unexpected glow-up we didn’t see coming. Real DJs, real crowds, surreal everything else. If you’ve ever wanted to headline a global party from your kitchen, now’s your time. Pants optional.

In last week’s poll we asked “How do you prep your sets when you’re on the go” and 60% responded Laptop + headphones, always and forever

You wanted Nick Spinelli, Now You Got Him

Tonight Nick is coming to Crate Hackers for a one-night-only 90s Hackathon… Totally free to attend live.

• See some the exact edits Nick drops at weddings and events

• What NOT to play (and why)

• Get answers to some of your burning questions about how he preps

  
  🎥 Live on Twitch + cratehackathon.com

🗓️ Tuesday, 8PM ET / 5PM PT

Suno Levels Up—Now You’ve Got an AI-Powered DAW in Your Browser

Look, Suno already let you whip up AI-generated tracks, but this week they went full-on DJ mode. First, they dropped a fancy new Song Editor with stem splitting, section rearranging, and creative sliders. Then—they sealed the deal by acquiring WavTool, the browser DAW with pro-grade vibes and deep AI integrations. Oh, and they did it while dodge—or diverting attention from—a few legal squabbles with labels 

What’s Changed: A Two-Pronged Slam

1. Song Editor 2.0

• Stem separation gives you clean vocal, drum, and bass tracks to remix, edit, or isolate.

• Section control — rearrange, rewrite, or remix parts of your track with live previews.

• Creative sliders let you adjust vibe, structure, or “weirdness level” without a PhD in music theory  .

• Extended uploads of up to 8 minutes mean you can work on full tracks or long demos  .

2. WavTool Gets a Home

• WavTool brings VST plugin support, sample-accurate editing, MIDI generation, stem separation, live recording, and—crucially—an AI chatbot (aka Conductor) right into the browser  .

• Built-in features like text-to-MIDI, stem isolation, and AI-guided mixing workflows mean you’re basically running Ableton Lite—but way faster and no install  .

Why DJs & Producers Actually Should Care

• Browser-anywhere freedom: coffee shop, green room, or backseat—this is full DAW-level editing wherever your laptop takes you.

• AI = co-producer: rewrite vocals, rework arrangements, or isolate stems with a chat command—no “how do I…” panic required.

• No install, no fuss: skip the bloated apps; WavTool runs in Safari, Chrome, or whatever you have open already.

• Future-proof workflow: with Suno’s team scaling and $125M in backing, this isn’t a half-baked experiment—it’s legit.

Fine Print & Waitlist Notes

• WavTool went offline last November and is only now returning under the Suno umbrella  .

• Copyright tensions are real: Suno is currently engaged in lawsuits with some major labels—so AI usage is still a legal gray area  .

• Rollout timing unclear: Expect phased features—Song Editor is live now; WavTool integration is coming soon as the team settles in.

TL;DR:

Suno + WavTool = your pocket DAW, supercharged with AI.

No install. Full editing capability. Instant remixing. Chat-to-MIDI. Stem separation. And very nearly pro-level workflow—all in your browser.

Instagram Lets You Drop Spotify Tracks With Sound — A Social DJ’s Dream

Instagram finally fixed that annoying gap—you can now share Spotify songs in Stories with 15 seconds of audible audio, not just flat sticker links  . This small tweak is actually a big deal for DJs and creators who rely on social media to hype their music and gigs.

What’s Going On?

• Playable previews right in Stories

  Post a Spotify track to Stories and now your followers can actually hear a clip — no app jump needed  .

• Works globally and rumored live already

  The feature is rolling out everywhere—watch your IG update menu for it today  .

• Boosts Instagram’s musical muscle

  Meta is clearly going all-in on music discovery, stacking up against TikTok with smoother, user-friendly sharing  .

Why DJs & Creators Should Care

• Plug tracks with power

  Share your latest mix or a fresh edit directly in Story format—and let it play instead of hoping viewers click a link.

• Seamless music discovery

  Followers can vibe with your taste instantly. No friction = more engagement = more reach.

• Perfect for promo & gig hype

  Tease a new set, show off your curated festival transitions, or drop a snippet that gets people excited—all with built-in audio.

Quick Hacks for DJs

TL;DR:

Instagram Stories now stream Spotify clips seamlessly — no app jump required. For DJs and creators, that means more engagement, smoother promotion, and a powerful way to plug your music right where your audience lives.

90’s Music

Forget nostalgia—90s music right now is DJ rocket fuel. You're about to unlock five fresh cheat codes that put 90s hits front-and-center at weddings and clubs, dominating dancefloors with surprising twists your competitors won't see coming.

Cheat Code #1: The Emo-Pop Remix Renaissance

• Modern mashups blending 90s emo and pop-punk (Third Eye Blind, Blink-182) with 2020s EDM drops or Jersey club beats trigger nostalgia and hype simultaneously, seeing up to a 35% increase in dancefloor occupancy within the first 60 seconds of the drop.

• Example: "Semi-Charmed Life" mashed up with modern bass-heavy edits or Jersey Club treatment like DJ Scooter's recent edit resulted in packed dancefloors at festivals from Lollapalooza to private events on TikTok.

Action Step: Blend emo/pop-punk acapellas from Blink-182, Third Eye Blind, or Lit over club edits by producers like Blyne or James Hype to immediately boost your floor energy.

Cheat Code #2: Old-School Hip-Hop Hooks for Instant Singalong

• Tracking client playlist data from weddings in 2023 reveals that short sing-along throwbacks (think "Jump Around" by House of Pain, "This Is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan) reliably boost engagement during slow energy dips—audience singalongs return dancefloor energy to peak levels quickly.

• Surprising Data: Spotify usage data in 2023 shows "No Diggity" by Blackstreet averaging a staggering 7 million streams monthly among listeners aged 25-34, nearly double its 2020 numbers.

Action Step: Create a strategic "hip-hop sing-along rescue pack" in Serato/Rekordbox cue banks. Deploy instantly at the slightest sign of floor energy dropping.

Cheat Code #3: Spice Girls and Female Anthems Rule Weddings Right Now (Regardless of Gender)

• Unexpected data from wedding DJ surveys in 2023 highlights increasing male participation rates of up to 40% at weddings when "Wannabe" by Spice Girls, TLC's "No Scrubs," or Destiny's Child's "Jumpin' Jumpin'" are played, shattering typical gender stereotypes.

• Insight Point: Thanks to TikTok viral dances, even hardcore male partygoers enthusiastically embrace these feminine anthems in demographic-breaking sing-alongs.

Action Step: Confidently add female-led 90s classics to strong audience-call response blocks—regardless of crowd demographics or perceived age-group preference.

Cheat Code #4: 90s Eurodance Is Back, but Only Repackaged for TikTok Attention Spans

• Classic Eurodance tracks (Real McCoy, Haddaway, Aqua) experience massive crowd reception when dropped using edits that emphasize chorus-fronting and faster intro-to-hook intervals. Engagement analytics confirm increased average dancefloor dwell time by up to 25% compared to original length tracks.

• Pro Insight: Producers like Majestic, Joel Corry, and Charlie Lane leverage these Eurodance anthems, condensing 90-second edits optimized for streaming and short attention spans, dominating club energy internationally.

Action Step: Immediately source or craft compact edits of iconic Eurodance hooks that deliver rapid dopamine hits and fast crowd response.

Cheat Code #5: 90s Rock Vocals Meet House & Tech Beats for Genre-Bending Peak Moments

• Festival data through summer 2023 indicates remixers fusing iconic 90s alt-rock vocal stems—especially Nirvana ("Smells like Teen Spirit"), Red Hot Chili Peppers ("Give It Away"), and Alanis Morissette ("You Oughta Know")—over modern house and tech grooves proved to be guaranteed high-energy floor fillers.

• Real-world success: Fisher dropped a custom edit of Nirvana vocals over tech-house at Ultra Music Festival, hitting multiple TikToks with over 8M plays, generating a fresh wave of demand from event organizers for similar 90s cross-genre remixes.

Action Step: Create or commission exclusive secret weapon edits pairing unforgettable 90’s vocals with current underground beats—then showcase on socials to boost bookings at weddings and club residencies.

Ready to go beyond the cheat codes?

Join us LIVE at tonight’s Hackathon for a deep dive into rocking Ladies Night events—we’re breaking down crowd psychology, crate essentials, and the transitions that turn casual vibes into full-blown dance floor takeovers.

👠 Whether you’ve spun one Ladies Night or you’re looking to own that niche, this is your blueprint for creating unforgettable, high-energy sets that keep the ladies dancing (and the bookings rolling in).

This week, DJ Zhem gives us a practical and oddly therapeutic video for every DJ who’s tired of scrolling aimlessly through an unfiltered mess of crates like it’s a Netflix binge with commitment issues. In this walkthrough, you’ll learn how to build smart crates in Serato that auto-update based on play count, key compatibility, energy level, genre, mood, and even hashtags (yes, hashtags—because your music deserves metadata flair).

Zhem doesn’t pretend his library is perfect (spoiler: yours isn’t either), but he shows how to tame the chaos with some surprisingly dope systems. If you’ve ever wondered how to build smarter crates, organize by decades, or just want to stop repeating “Where the hell is that remix?” mid-set—this one’s for you.

BONUS: We’ve got a special 7-day free trial of Crate Hackers so you can take your crate organization to the next level and lessen your workload. Grab it here: https://www.cratehackers.com/7daytrial