Versions & edits
Clean version
A clean version has explicit language removed, muted, reversed or replaced; the dirty or explicit version is the original. Which you need depends entirely on the room rather than on the record.
In practice
Carry both where you can. Cue points do not transfer between them, because the edits change the arrangement.
Tag them clearly and consistently — a library where clean and explicit cuts share a filename is a library where you will load the wrong one under pressure. Where a gig specifies clean, check the versions before you leave rather than discovering a gap in the booth, and remember the censor button is for the one word you did not expect rather than a substitute for the right edit. On genuinely sensitive bookings, playing an explicit track once can end the relationship.
Both
What to carry
Different
Their arrangements
Before you leave
When to check
Where these come from: Booking and library practice, not catalog figures. For what we can measure, see the emergency version.
Why it matters
It is a booking requirement more often than DJs expect. Daytime events, brand work, radio, most festivals before a certain hour and anywhere with families present will specify clean, and turning up with only explicit versions is a professional problem rather than an artistic one.
The versions also differ musically, which people forget. A clean edit sometimes reverses a word, sometimes mutes it and sometimes drops the whole bar — so a clean cut can have a different arrangement, and cue points set on one will not transfer to the other.
Frequently asked
Do clean versions have the same arrangement?+
Not always. Some mute a word, some reverse it, some drop a whole bar — so cue points and phrasing set on one version may not transfer to the other.
When do I need clean versions?+
Daytime events, brand work, radio, many festivals and anywhere with families present. It is usually specified in the booking, and it is worth asking if it is not.
Can I just use the censor button?+
For one unexpected word, yes. For a set that has to be clean throughout, no — censoring every line is neither reliable nor invisible.
Related terms
Censor
Censor plays the track in reverse for as long as the button is held, then returns playback to where it would have been if you had never pressed it. The timeline continues underneath; only what you hear changes.
Radio edit
A radio edit is a shortened version cut for airplay — usually under four minutes, with the long intro and outro removed and the arrangement tightened. It is the version that gives a DJ the least to work with.
Original mix
The original mix is the producer’s own primary version of a track, as distinct from remixes and edits of it. On dance releases it is usually the longest and most DJ-friendly cut on the record.
Edit
An edit is a rearranged version of an existing record — a longer intro, a trimmed breakdown, a drop moved — made by a DJ for their own sets. The original parts stay; the running order changes.
Explore: Planning a radio mix · Censor · Radio edit · All DJ terms