Help dealing with a terrible promoter/booker

So the promoter is also a DJ at the venue and books himself for the main Saturday night gig every week. Since Ive come on board, my style and popularity with the public have been taking some numbers away from his part of the venue and I think he feels threatened so he is lashing out at me. The public, bar managers and owners have all praised me over the last 3 months on how much they like what I'm doing with their venue by keeping a strong dance floor and a packed bar.

Sooo 1st the promoter came into the booth when we had a packed dance floor, packed bar and middle of the night, aggressively told me he had listened to the last 4 songs I played and he couldn't name them so it wasn't mainstream enough (did I mention the packed floor and bar?). He told me to play more cheesy and commercial music. I said ok, he left, I played what he asked. The dance floor and bar cleared out almost instantly and half the crowd left.

So I sent this guy a text to say the switch up didnt work very well and we lost half the bar.

Next thing I know, he runs up into the booth and begins screaming in my face, mid mix, in front of the remaining dance floor. He was yelling at me that I wasn't playing enough cheesy commercial music and I try to be too different and thats why I lost the crowd. It was really embarrassing and I was so angry after it.

So naturally after getting abused during a set by the promoter, I packed up and left.

Im not sure if I should follow this up with the owner of the venue that he reports to or not, because obviously if I go over his head he wont book me for any more gigs. However im pretty sure he isnt going to book me anymore anyway..

What I am half thinking is to not play there for a while and let it start to slip back to how it was before I came on board (early close, no dance floor) and wait for an apology or a call from an owner to get me to come back.

Anyway tl;dr!

How do you handle a sh*t promoter/booker?

punch him in the face and report him to the venue owner.
If he's a nice guy, and you have the facts to prove what you say (dancefloor clearing after you did the switch), he'll understand.
You say the promoter won't book you anymore, so whaddya have to lose? :D

Don't worry about the promoter. He is obviously threatened by what you are doing. I would give the owners a call, explain what happened, and let them take any action THEY feel is required. It's possible, likely even, that they will see that your attracting the attention THEY require for the venue, and mix it up a bit, swap you around and give you the reign of the "main" area of the club, and move the "promoter" to where you were playing.

At the end of the day, the owners call the shots, and they will do whatever is best for business. If that's you playing more underground in the main room, and him (the other DJ) playing more commercial in the back room, then that's what they will do. Clubs don't change their music policy that often, but money talks, and if what you are doing is working for them, they may well see that, and give you a chance at it.

Of course, the other guy will REALLY dislike you if that happens, but if you have the backing of the owners, there isn't much he will be able to do about it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by xs2man

money talks,

---

This, remember this, OP

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Polygon

This, remember this, OP

---

Yeah very valid point!

I guess we will see what happens over the next few weeks when I am not there and see what the owners decide to do. I have a feeling they might have been putting pressure on this guy for not delivering enough and I was just "the straw that broke the camels back" so to say.

But getting up in my face during a set.. totally not cool!

You need to speak to the owner, I am 100% sure of this.

Promoters often lose track or idea of what is happening and unfortunately blur the line between their own career and the ability to see what is right for a night.

You need to write a professional, well thought email to the owner listing everything that happened and why you are passionate about playing at his night and why you were angry and upset by what happened.

The owner, if he has any sense about him, will like your passion for his cash-cow, will be disappointed by the behaviour of the man he pays to run the show and hopefully come back with a solution.

No matter how bad things get you always have to remain professional. All it takes is a few bad reports from someone like that cock-end promoter and it will start to affect your bookings elsewhere. Always stay pro.

Talk to the owner, especially if you had bar staff loving what you were doing. What you cannot do though is burn your bridges with the promoter. This is an industry of who-knows-who. Be the bigger man, and bite your tongue when it comes to dealing with the promoter, and try not to shit talk him to the owner. Just the facts, and be honest. If you do that, the worst case scenario is that you don't get booked by him anymore, which you already expect. Best case, you get his saturday night gig. Good luck dude.

Also, have someone that is not heated about the situation proof read the email before you send it. You don't want to come off as angry at the promoter or bar owner, more worried about the situation.