The DJ industry is divided into two different worlds: the commercial world and the world of music enthusiasts. This becomes even clearer when talking about girl DJs.

For an industry that is notoriously male-dominated, Shanghai has quite a few female DJs, including stalwarts like Jane AKA DJ Siesta, who has been throwing DnB parties for 11 years. Several (both locals and foreigners) play in Chinese-style clubs across the country. Then we have international female DJs who are occasionally flown in from abroad to play bigger clubs. Ads often focus on a female DJ’s appearance, not her music. Come on guys, come and drool over the girl behind the decks.

DJ Mia is a Shanghai local who works at Udancecn.com and is a resident DJ at Shiva. She says there are plenty of venues welcoming girls who are happy to cash in on their looks. “You can play all around the world without knowing how to turn the EQ knob on the mixer,” Mia says. She’s not kidding. I’ve been to clubs where hot girls stand behind the decks pretending to DJ. It’s all an act but who can tell the difference?

There’s high demand for female DJs in China. A few years back, my agent managed five or six guys and no girls. One day, DJ Tantrum, a girl from the UK, joined the team. From then on she got most of the work. She was paid more, too, and told me she got double the money if she showed up to a set wearing short shorts and a bikini top.

She was a good DJ, but had also spent a couple of thousand on some professional photos, and it was the photos that kept the work rolling in. And if I wanted to steal back my gigs? “Get yourself a set of these,” she’d say, pointing to her chest.

Tantrum had the skills and “walked tall.” She did well, but she always insisted on playing her own kind of music. Mia, who recently turned down an all-girl DJ tour for a big liquor brand, agrees. She insists her music should speak for itself. If she’s wanted for her looks it’s OK, “but I refuse if they ask me to play anything I don’t want to,” she says.

There have been a couple of local “all-girl” underground parties recently in Shanghai. I thought it was unnecessary for the girls behind those events (all good DJs) to market themselves that way. But a friend saw it differently. There are simply too many good venues, promoters and DJs in town, she said. Girl DJs are still an attraction, they are somewhat rare and people want to check them out. If they fail to do their job properly, the crowd will eventually see through the facade.

Does it make any difference to you who is standing behind the deck? What do you look for in a DJ?