Mark Ronson Reads the Dance Floor

Legendary music producer, Mark Ronson, got his start in producing from a background as a club DJ. Ronson, the producer originally most famous for his work on Amy Winehouse’s most prolific album, was asked how specifically he would DJ a great club event and his answer impacted me. 

Keep in mind that when Mark was coming up as a DJ in New York, it was before smartphones and the idea that you were one text from a friend away from leaving for a “better” party. As a result, Ronson describes the magic of setting up and playing to an empty room that slowly filled up ultimately to a raging party and him progressing the music through the night. He offered that his strategy was to “DJ for one group of people.”

Whether it was a group of girls or a small team of Bboys, he would notice if one would leave the dance floor to get a drink or to go to the bathroom. He would internalize this as him not “killing it enough.” Using this real time barometer helped him make fast adjustments in real time to keep the party alive. 

Naturally, I heard this and smiled. Here was a creative music person looking for and finding a feedback loop that would help him make adjustments faster in an effort to ultimately present as a better DJ. This, of course, is much more effective than if he waited until he got home each night to reflect as to whether the music was good (or not) at the party. Doing so would mean he’d have to wait until the next party to make adjustments in the DJ booth. That would be specifically too slow of an interval for development to be a world-renowned DJ. 

Can you think of a Mark Ronson-esque barometer hidden inside of your work arena for real time feedback?