Apple Music Tips to Keep Emcees Ahead of the Game
The microphone is live, the lights are dim, and the room buzzes with anticipation. As an emcee, your voice is key, but the right music can transform the energy in the room.
Apple Music isn’t just a streaming app—it’s a powerful tool for walk-up songs, background music, and dance breaks. While these tips will help you stay in sync and master the vibe, nothing compares to having a seasoned professional in the booth.
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Watch the short clip below to see Will Gill in action at various events.
The Power of Strategic Curation: Building Bulletproof Playlists
Preparation is 90% of the job. You cannot afford to be scrolling through millions of songs while trying to announce the next keynote speaker. Your playlists need to be organized, accessible, and purpose-built for specific moments in your run of show.
Organizing by Vibe and Event Phase
Don’t just dump good songs into one massive folder. Create specific playlists that correspond to the flow of an event. A seasoned emcee thinks in energy levels.
- The “Walk-Up” Folder: Create a folder specifically for walk-up stingers. These should be high-energy tracks that hit hard immediately. You don’t have time for a 30-second slow intro.
- The “Bed” Playlist: This is your safety net. These are instrumental, mid-tempo tracks that can play underneath you while you talk. Think lo-fi beats or light jazz depending on the crowd. They fill the silence without competing with your voice.
- The “Energy Rescue” Kit: Every event hits a lull. Keep an emergency playlist with upbeat hits like Earth, Wind & Fire or Bruno Mars to quickly lift the mood.
Utilizing Desktop for Deep Organization
While you will likely run the event from an iPad or iPhone, do your heavy lifting on a Mac or PC. The desktop version of Apple Music allows for “Smart Playlists.” You can set rules—for example, “Songs added in the last month” with a “BPM greater than 120.”
This keeps your high-energy playlists fresh by automating music discovery. These Smart Playlists sync seamlessly to your mobile devices.
Mastering Technical Features for Seamless Transitions
Nothing screams “amateur” like three seconds of total silence between songs. As an emcee, you need the audio to flow continuously to maintain the illusion of a seamless production. Apple Music has built-in features that mimic professional DJ software transitions.
The Magic of Crossfade
If you are not using Crossfade, you are leaving energy on the table. Crossfade overlaps the end of one song with the start of the next, eliminating silence.
To enable this on iOS:
- Go to Settings.
- Scroll down to Music.
- Toggle on Crossfade.
For emcees, a setting of roughly 4 to 6 seconds is the sweet spot. This is long enough to blend the tracks but short enough that you don’t lose the impact of the incoming song’s intro. This simple toggle transforms a playlist from a jukebox experience into a curated mix.
Sound Check and Volume Normalization
Have you ever played a track that was whisper-quiet, turned up the volume, and then had your ears blown out by the next song? That is a nightmare during a live event.
Use the Sound Check feature in your settings. This creates a consistent volume level across all tracks. When you are holding a microphone and managing a crowd, you don’t have a free hand to ride the fader constantly. Sound Check ensures that your background music stays in the background and your stingers hit at a predictable level.
Offline Reliability is Non-Negotiable
Venue Wi-Fi is notoriously unreliable. You might be in a hotel ballroom with a firewall or an outdoor tent with zero signal. Never rely on streaming during a live performance.
Always download your playlists to your device. Go into your event playlists well before the gig and hit the download arrow. Turn off “Lossless Audio” to save space, or keep it on for high-quality sound systems. The key is to have the files physically on your device so the show goes on even if the internet goes down.
Leveraging Apple Music’s Curated Content
Sometimes, the client wants a specific genre you aren’t familiar with. Maybe it’s a “Yacht Rock” cocktail hour or an “Afrobeats” dance break. You don’t need to master every genre if you use Apple Music’s expert playlists.
Browsing ‘Essentials’ and ‘Deep Cuts’
Apple Music’s editors are some of the best in the business. For any artist or genre, search for the “Essentials” playlist. This is a shortcut to the biggest crowd-pleasers.
If you are emceeing for a niche crowd that knows its music, look for the “Deep Cuts” playlists. Dropping a lesser-known but highly respected track can earn you serious credibility with the audience. Use these curated lists as a starting point and add the best tracks to your event playlist for full control.
Using Apple Music Radio for Discovery
When you are off the clock, use Apple Music 1 or the genre-specific radio stations to find new material. Shazam is integrated directly into the Apple ecosystem. If you hear a great transition track on the radio, add it to your library instantly. Keeping your library fresh prevents you from playing the same five songs at every event for three years straight.
Engaging the Crowd with Interactive Features
The modern emcee interacts with the audience, and technology can help bridge that gap. Apple Music has rolled out features that can turn passive listening into active participation.
Using Lyrics View for Singalongs
Late at night, the crowd often sways and sings along to classics like “Sweet Caroline” or “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Tap the “Lyrics” icon (the quotation mark bubble) on the “Now Playing” screen. This brings up time-synced lyrics that scroll in real-time. If you are comfortable, you can even prop your iPad up and use it as a makeshift teleprompter to lead the crowd. It ensures you never fumble a verse, giving you the confidence to lead a massive group singalong.
Apple Music Sing: The Instant Karaoke Machine
Introduced recently, “Apple Music Sing” allows you to lower the volume of the vocals on millions of tracks. If you are hosting a more casual event, like a trivia night or an office party, this feature is a goldmine.
You can instantly turn a standard track into a karaoke backing track. This slider lets you adjust vocals, perfect for hyping intros or encouraging audience participation, without needing costly audio software.
Staying Current: Never Miss a Beat
An emcee who plays dated references feels out of touch. While classics are essential, weaving in current hits shows you are relevant and paying attention to culture.
New Music Daily and Release Radar
Make it a habit to check the “New Music Daily” playlist every Friday. You don’t need to like every song, but you need to know what they are. If a new viral hit drops on Thursday, and you have it queued up for your Friday night event, you look like a superstar.
Following Tastemakers and City Charts
Apple Music offers “City Charts,” showing top 25 songs in over 100 cities worldwide. If you’re traveling for a gig, like a conference in Atlanta or a wedding in Miami, check the local charts.
The vibe in New York is different from the vibe in Los Angeles. Playing a local hit can instantly endear you to a hometown crowd. It shows you did your homework and respect the local culture.
Collaborative Playlists for Client Input
One of the biggest friction points for event hosts is misinterpreting the client’s musical taste. “Upbeat” means something very different to a 20-year-old than it does to a 60-year-old.
Apple Music now supports collaborative playlists. Create a playlist titled “Event Name – Suggestions” and share the link with your client. Allow them to add 10-15 songs they absolutely love.
This serves two purposes:
- Data Gathering: You get a concrete blueprint of their taste. If they add 10 country songs, you know where to steer the vibe.
- Client Satisfaction: They feel involved in the process. When they hear their specific request play during the event, they feel heard and appreciated.
However, maintain editorial control. Tell the client these are “suggestions” to help you understand their vibe, not a rigid setlist. You are the professional; you know when to play what.
Managing Your Library like a Pro
As your career grows, your library will become unwieldy if you don’t manage it. A cluttered library leads to panic in the DJ booth.
Star Ratings and the ‘Love’ Feature
Be binary with your music. If a song works, “Love” it (heart icon). If it kills the vibe, remove it. Use the star rating system on the desktop app to grade your tracks.
- 5 Stars: Absolute bangers. Always work.
- 4 Stars: Great songs, need the right context.
- 3 Stars: Good filler/background music.
You can then create Smart Playlists based on these ratings. A playlist defined as “5 Stars” + “Genre: Pop” gives you an instant hit list for any generic party situation.
Custom Metadata
On the desktop app, you can edit the metadata of a song. Use the “Comments” field to leave notes for yourself. You might write “Great for CEO walk-on” or “Long intro – start at 0:15.”
While these notes might not display prominently on the mobile “Now Playing” screen, you can create Smart Playlists based on comments. If you tag 50 songs with “Gala Dinner,” you can generate a playlist instantly by searching for that comment tag.
The Emcee’s Backup Plan: Redundancy
Technology fails. It is a fact of life. While this article focuses on Apple Music, a professional emcee always has a backup.
Ensure your Apple Music account is logged in on at least two devices—your primary iPad and your phone. If the iPad freezes, you should have your phone plugged into a backup channel on the mixer, ready to fire.
Furthermore, consider exporting your crucial playlists. Apple Music tracks can’t be exported to MP3, but apps like SongShift can sync your playlists to Spotify or Tidal as a backup.