How to Prepare a USB Stick for CDJs With Club Ready Music Tracks

A USB stick for CDJs is built in rekordbox, not in Finder or Explorer: format the stick exFAT or FAT32, bring the Club Ready Music tracks into rekordbox through rekordbox.xml so the hot cues and beat grid come with them, then run Export to USB device. The export writes rekordbox's own database next to the files, which is what the player reads to show cues, grid, key and BPM. A plain file copy plays, but the player then has to analyse each track on the fly and shows none of your cues.

Steps

1. Format the stick

Use exFAT for CDJ-2000NXS2 and CDJ-3000. Use FAT32 when the stick also has to load on an older CDJ-2000 or CDJ-900, which cannot read exFAT. FAT32 limits a single file to 4 GB, which no track comes near. Give the stick a short volume name with plain letters and numbers, and format it fresh rather than reusing one with an old rekordbox export on it.

2. Download the tracks into one folder

For studio tracks, download the DJ pack from the result panel or the Crate. It unzips to the MP3, the WAV if you exported one, the cover JPEG, cue points.txt, a one-track rekordbox.xml and a README. Put the audio files in a folder named Club Ready Music, because that is the folder the XML Locations point at. For DJ edits download MP3 320 or WAV from the result panel into the same folder. Keep file names short and ASCII; rename anything with accents or symbols before import, since some players show them as blanks.

3. Import into rekordbox with cues intact

In rekordbox, point Preferences > Advanced > Database at a rekordbox.xml file, open the rekordbox xml node in the tree and drag the tracks into Collection. If rekordbox asks to relocate, choose the Club Ready Music folder. Each studio track arrives with its TEMPO grid at 0.000 and its hot cues: intro end red, first drop orange, outro start blue, vocal in green. DJ edits have no XML, so drag the MP3 in, let rekordbox analyse, and set hot cues at the intro end and outro start times from the comment tag.

4. Check grid and cues

Load each track in rekordbox and confirm that the beat grid starts on the first kick and the BPM matches the tag. Both studio tracks and DJ edits start hard on beat one at 0:00.000, so the grid should need no shift. Decide whether you want memory cues as well as hot cues. Memory cues appear on the waveform overview on every CDJ, while hot cues need the hot cue buttons, and older players have fewer of them.

5. Make a playlist and export

Put the tracks for the gig in a playlist. If you imported the whole Crate's rekordbox.xml, the Club Ready Music playlist is already there. Connect the stick, choose Export to USB device and export the playlist, not just loose tracks, so you can browse by playlist on the player. rekordbox copies the audio and writes its database to the stick. Wait for the export to finish before you eject.

6. Pick MP3 or WAV for the players you will meet

The MP3 320 CBR is the safe choice everywhere and keeps a 100-track stick small. The 24-bit 48 kHz WAV plays on CDJ-2000NXS2 and CDJ-3000 and sounds identical to what you heard on the result panel. Older CDJ-2000 players want 16-bit WAV, so on an unknown booth carry MP3s, or both, with the WAV in a separate playlist.

7. Test on a player before the gig

Load the stick, open the playlist, and check that BPM, key and hot cues appear, then press each hot cue to confirm the colours and positions. If a track shows no cues, it was copied rather than exported. If the player reports an unsupported file, it is a 24-bit WAV on an old CDJ-2000.

Tips

• Eject the stick through the operating system every time. A pulled stick corrupts the rekordbox database and the player shows an empty list.
• Carry two sticks with the same export. Export to USB device onto the second stick takes a few minutes and saves the night.
• Keep the Club Ready Music folder name on every machine you use. The XML Locations stay valid and rekordbox never asks to relocate.
• The comment tag gives you Camelot and Open Key on studio tracks, so you can read key compatibility on the player without rekordbox's own analysis.
• Name DJ edits with the bar counts, for example "Artist - Title (16-32 DJ Edit)", so you can see the intro length in the playlist.

Common problems

• The CDJ sees the stick but shows no tracks. The stick is exFAT in an older CDJ-2000 or CDJ-900. Reformat FAT32 and export again.
• Hot cues are missing on the player. The files were dragged onto the stick in a file browser. Delete them and use Export to USB device.
• rekordbox asks to relocate every track. The MP3s are not in a folder named Club Ready Music. Move them there or point the relocation dialog at the folder you did use.
• A WAV will not load on an older player. CDJ-2000 wants 16-bit. Use the MP3 320 or convert the WAV to 16-bit 44.1 kHz in a free converter.
• Beat grid is a few milliseconds off on a DJ edit. The first beat was set wrong before Build the DJ edit. Rebuild with the corrected First beat (ms) rather than nudging the grid in rekordbox.