I didn't need to be able to access different versions of os x instantaneously so rather than use a virtual machine I just opted to make a partition on my hd. Pretty reassuring no matter what I do here I ain't gonna fuck up my serato partition. I just used disk utility to do it.

Virtual machine = hell no
Partition = YES

Thanks a lot for your responses.

@yowordiagree - so are you currently running Serato on a partition with a different OS than on your main partition? If so - and sorry if this is a beginner question - but is all your music saved on your main partition or on the Serato specific one? I load my SSL library from itunes which obviously I would want on my main partition for day to day listening and obviously I don't want to waste space by having two copies of each song on different partitions! Would it cause any issues if the files are saved on a separate partition running a different OS? And do you have any tips on how to set it up or an online guide that you used?

@pdidy - any chance of expanding on that? What is your experience of each? Why would you advise against using virtualisation?

What other software are you looking to run? Music stuff i assume? I would recommend sticking with the Yosemite OS since everything seems to work fine on there. Is there a benefit to upgrading with the other software?

If the other software is non music i would recommend getting a separate computer to use that software. My current mac is for music only so that way I don't get any surprises when I'm out DJ'ing

@DTweed - thanks for your comment but neither of those options are of use to me. I have already decided that I want to run two OS off one mac, I am just trying to work out the best way to do this.

Hey tom what I have done is put all my songs on an external so it won't matter which partition I am using. The only way I know it could work is to make a third partition and make this your location for iTunes media that way it you wouldn't have to duplicate all your songs. Currently I'd imagine your iTunes library is in your music folder and if you make another partition I'm not sure you can access it as its all most like having a separate computer ie they are independent from each other. It's pretty easy to move your iTunes media location tho.

Don't worry about beginner questions bro I literally only just set mine up a week ago it was this or grab a Mac mini for the house which seemed like over kill so I opted to make a small partition on my music laptop so I could run serato and also upgrade os x separately for production and stuff. I was literally in the same space as you are only a week or two ago.

I would probably suggest adding an second drive to your laptop and use that as a media drive and then use your ssd drive to host two partitions of which ever os x your want to go with. If you need any help man I can definitely guide your through it it's actually really easy to do on OS X

Virtual machine = hell no - a virtual machine shares resources between the 2 installed/running operating systems adding a potential layer of issues.
Partition = YES - a partition dedicates ALL resources to the operating system it is logged onto which is recommended for resource intensive applications like Serato.

The music should be placed on the same partition as Serato.