Computer file manipulator

It just doesn’t have the same ring as Disk Jockey or DJ.  However, that would be an apt description of the person who plays the hits on most radio stations these days.

It is mostly just drag and drop the next element into the play deck if anything needs to be done at all.

Technics SP-15 Turntable
Technics SP-15 Turntable

I remember when DJs actually jockeyed disks, it was a sight to behold.  Back in the day when everything was on vinyl except the commercials, which were on the cart, the DJ had his or her hands full.  Most of the songs were in the 2:30 to 3-minute range, so while the song was playing, the next song had to be cued up on the platter, the old song needed to be put back into its sleeve and shelved (most of the time), check the log to see what was on deck, pull the next commercial stop set, answer the phone and god forbid if the Program Director called on the hotline and it rang more than 3 times.  And hopefully, the head wasn’t too far away, that coffee went somewhere, after all.  While all that is going on, timing, audience interaction, hitting the post, and sounding fun.  In spite of what Howard Stern says, it was not easy.

Today, of course, if there is even a person in the studio, they may glance up at the computer screen every now and then to see when the next time they need to talk.  Otherwise, they would be engaged in talking on the phone with their girlfriend, texting, surfing the internet, or watching a baseball game on TV.