My Tags and Advanced Tagging

Your own labelling system — searchable in real time.

My Tags turn a library into a searchable instrument. Filter by 'peak time + 8A + builder' in two clicks.

+40 XP

// WHAT IT DOES

My are coloured labels you stick on tracks. You can create your own — Peak Hour, Warm Up, Closing, Vocal, Instrumental, Tool, Classic, New — and apply as many as you want to each track.

Once tagged, you can filter your library in real time during a set. Need a peak-hour driving track? Filter by 'Peak Hour' and 'Tool' — your library shrinks from 5000 to 50 in one click.

Tags survive export to USB, so they work on CDJ-3000 and CDJ-2000NXS2 just like in rekordbox. You filter on the deck the same way you filter on your laptop.

Think of it like → Tags are like Spotify's mood playlists, except you control the moods and the same song can sit in 6 of them at once.

▸ WHY YOU CARE

• Searching by artist/title at 2 a.m. is slow. Searching by mood and role is fast and matches how DJs actually think.
• Tags let you re-purpose the same track across multiple roles. A track can be both 'Vocal' and 'Closing' and 'Classic'.
• On CDJs, the tag filter is one button press away. You can refine selection without losing the current track's view.

// SEE & HEAR IT

Bass · Sub Pluckdrag →
Lead · Acid Sawdrag →
Pad · Glass Choirdrag →
Keys · Soft Rhodesdrag →

▸ HOW IT WORKS

▸ Signal flow — watch the dot

▸ SIGNAL FLOW

Glowing dot = your signal travelling through Live.

▸ LISTEN FOR

• Whether your tags actually describe how you think about music. If you never filter by 'Genre = Tech House' but always by 'Mood = Dark', drop the genre tag.
• Tracks that don't fit any tag — usually they're library bloat you should delete or you need a new tag.

▸ WALKTHROUGH (5 steps)

1. DO: Open rekordbox → Preferences → My Tag → set up categories: Mood, Role, Energy, Vocal.
▸ LISTEN: Save. Categories now appear in the lower panel under any track view.
2. DO: Pick 20 tracks you know well. For each, apply 1-3 tags.
▸ LISTEN: Don't over-tag — 2-3 tags per track is plenty. More than 5 dilutes the signal.
3. DO: Switch to the My Tag view (View menu).
▸ LISTEN: Tracks now sortable and filterable by your categories. Click 'Peak Hour' — only those tracks appear.
4. DO: Combine filters: click 'Peak Hour' + '8A'.
▸ LISTEN: Library shrinks to peak-hour tracks in 8A — your transition pool for one specific moment.
5. DO: Export to USB. Plug into a CDJ-3000. Press My Tag filter on the deck.
▸ LISTEN: Same filtering on the deck as in rekordbox. Find tracks under pressure without scrolling.

▸ COMMON MISTAKES

✗ Creating 30 tags. You'll abandon the system within a month. 4-8 well-defined tags max.
✗ Tagging by genre when you already have a genre column. Tags should describe role/mood/use, not file metadata.
✗ Tagging in batch with no listening. Use the cue point view to skim each track for 15 seconds before tagging.
✗ Skipping the tag workflow until 'later'. Later is during a set, and it's too late.

// QUIZ (QUICK)

Question 1 / 40 correct

rekordbox My Tags allow you to

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