Do EDM producers have to be DJs to perform live?

Not at all. A software like Ableton Live, has the "Live" part of its name exactly because of its dual purpose. It can and is widely used for both producing AND performinig. read more

A live performing producer dj is essentially all of the above & can play all, some or elements of their own previously recorded music, other peoples previously recorded music or any combination of those"live", either as a direct copy, or an interpretation that suits any other given scenario. read more

I perform live shows as a DJ every now and then as a hobby, as well as produce dubstep and house music. I mainly do MIDI and live mixing. There are many people who say DJ's don't do anything, and music producers do even less. in my experience, those who are in rock, alt, etc bands do more than edm producers, however they do it as a group. read more

If you do the first, you're a DJ. If you do the second, you're also a DJ. People think it's easy to just put on records and it's like"pressing play." It's not. You have to both know your BPM's, beatmatch live and improvise a lot all the while reading your crowd and playing the kind of music they respond to. read more

I find that most EDM producers learn deejaying so they could “perform” their song. Remember, EDM producers are actually recognised as Artists. With that being very common, there would be no alternate way for the “Artist” to perform his tracks without deejaying. Besides, EDM dj skills aren't as complex as hip hop djs(for example) so it won't be too long until you pick up the right techniques. Its not as hard as it looks. read more