Create. Remix. Play. Inspiring DJs & music producers has been our mantra since day one, and this is most evident through our numerous education collaborations with music institutes across the UK.
Demand for electronic music production and DJing courses has been steadily increasing over the past few years. Such courses are now more widely available than ever before, especially since DJ decks have been recognised as a formal instrument by examination boards and can be included in the GCSE curriculum. With interest in DJing starting from a younger age, and Further Education courses in music production & DJing becoming more and more popular, Bop DJ is the obvious place to support education institutes. As the largest retailer of DJ equipment in the UK, we can ensure their students have access to the latest industry-standard equipment.
Over the past decade Bop DJ have worked with many education institutes. We provide a simple, efficient & cost-effective service that ensures universities & colleges – along with the students this will inevitably benefit – have a future-proof DJ & music production suite that reflects the current state of the DJ industry.
One extremely successful collaboration has been with Leeds College of Music (LCoM), who arguably now have the highest spec DJ teaching suite for Education in the country, if not Europe.
Back in early 2018, we were approached by Jez Pritchard & Alex Halliday from Leeds College of Music. It was natural for LCoM to approach Bop DJ for advice on getting fully equipped for their new electronic music course. Their main campus is located within walking distance of our flagship store in Leeds, a large proportion of Bop staff are LCoM alumni & we have nurtured a thriving partnership with their DJ society.
When we were approached, LCoM were in the process of starting their FdA Electronic Music Production course, which included DJing modules, and were opening their very first state-of-the-art DJ suite. Our Sales Manager, Andy Sowerbutts, headed up the project & scheduled an initial visit with Jez & Alex to ensure they were fully up-to-speed with the latest equipment. He then formulated a list of equipment to ensure that LCoM students had access to a wide selection of brands & hardware which would give them the option to learn every format of DJing & music production. As Jez said himself: “There is much more interest from students in creating their own tracks to DJ with and less emphasis on mixing other people’s music. They are increasingly keen to incorporate CDJs, record decks and Ableton Push into their work.” This has been noticed by several major brands who are aiming to increase their level of educational support to facilities such as LCoM.
Once the equipment was finalised and the strict LCoM budget was maximised to its full potential, Andy contacted all the brands LCoM had chosen so that we could offer the most competitive pricing across the UK. Whilst liaising with brand reps, Andy also curated several ongoing partnerships between LCoM & their chosen brands. These led to workshops & guest tutorials by product specialists – including those from Pioneer DJ, Roland DJ & Ableton. Jez confirmed the positive effect these had during a recent feedback session: “The Masterclasses from Sam Shepherd (Pioneer DJ) were extremely well received and his advice and consultation has been really useful for us.”
We have also provided a high level of after-sales care. Once the products were delivered, our technical support team and staff from the Leeds shop offered advice on setting up the DJ suite and software. Furthermore, Charlie Oliver, our Product Marketing Manager, gave guest seminars on the Introduction to Vinyl Mixing & Turntablism to FdA students. These further encouraged our partnership with the Music College: “The students really enjoyed the guest sessions from Charlie Oliver (who is one of our alumni) and it was really nice to be able to let him build on his previous experience as a student at LCoM.”
Working with LCoM was an extremely successful project, and we do believe their DJ Suite is now the best in the UK! The great feedback from this partnership showed that both parties were extremely happy with the result. This is the latest in many successful relationships between Bop DJ and the education sector. We have successfully evolved into an established education provider and continue to work with many education institutes of different sizes across the UK. We look forward to continuing to help inspire students nationwide.
At the end of our recent project, LCoM Management stated: “Bop DJ have been very helpful and we are extremely pleased to be associated with them. They not only gave a generous discount as a supplier, but also provided additional aftercare support which added real value to this project. We look forward to continuing to work with them in the future”.
If you work in education or would like more information on how Bop DJ can support you, please contact our sales team on 0113-276-5507 or info@bopdj.com