Why we exclude streaming tracks by default

Crate Intelligence helps you find and fix the gaps and problems in your Rekordbox library data, so it holds up when you’re playing under pressure. It does that by looking closely at your library, focusing on the tracks you own: the ones backed by real files on your drive. Streaming tracks are handled differently, and this page explains why.

Streaming is growing, and it comes with trade-offs

Streaming is part of everyday listening, and it’s built into most of the main DJ software, including Rekordbox. It’s convenient, but it comes with trade-offs for performing DJs. A service might not have the version of a track you want, tracks can vanish from the catalogue, and a weak connection in the booth can leave you stranded. Club setups are often not capable of streaming, and many DJs prefer to own their music as files they control, which they take to gigs on USB sticks or play over Pro DJ Link.

If you’re thinking about which streaming service to DJ with, two guides are worth your time. Digital DJ Tips has a thorough, even-handed comparison of the services for DJs, and Crossfader’s guide is just as detailed, and good on how each one holds up in a real booth. Both weigh up sound quality, catalogue, price and how well each service works with DJ software.

What gets stored in your library when you stream a track

When you play or preview a track from a connected streaming service, Rekordbox adds an entry for it to your library. That entry is a placeholder: it points at the service rather than at an audio file on your computer. It doesn’t include much of the detail that’s stored for a track you own, the kind Crate Intelligence helps you find and fix. Mixed in with your own tracks, these placeholders also skew the picture: how big your library looks, which genres lead, and how many gaps show up.

How Crate Intelligence spots streaming tracks

Every track in your library has a location for its audio. For a track you own, that points to a file on your drive. For a streaming track, it points to the service instead, and that’s how Crate Intelligence tells them apart. It recognises all the streaming services Rekordbox supports.

Why the analysis excludes streaming tracks by default

Streaming entries build up as you browse and preview. Leaving them out by default keeps your Insights and Find & Fix focused on the library you’ve actually built and own, rather than on streaming placeholders.

This isn’t a judgement on streaming. Plenty of DJs play from streaming services. We exclude them by default because it works best for most people, and you can change it whenever you like.

How to include streaming tracks

To include streaming tracks in the analysis, open Settings and turn off “Exclude streaming tracks”. The analysis is built each time you import, so the change takes effect when you next import your library. After that, they’re included wherever possible across the analysis, in Insights, Find & Fix, Playlists and Trends.

See also: why we exclude sampler tracks (coming soon).