Gig stealing..etiquette?

[Nosifer]

Hey gang, wanted to get opinions on something~

This weekend I went over to hang out with a friend who tends bar at a Dave and Buster's type joint (it's mostly like a karaoke bar, but it's a big floor complex that has partitions for pool/darts and arcade games). I'd never been there before; but anyway, so after awhile she was introducing me to the people she worked with, and then I got to meet the regular "DJ". This surprised me because I was completely convinced the music playing was from a CD, or streaming over one of those commercial music networks. No mixing, no beatmatching, no intelligent flow whatsoever...I swear I heard 'lil John followed by a Carrie Underwood ballad.

So I go check out what this guy is doing, and basically he's dropping stuff into an iTunes playlist and just letting it go. And great for him I thought, he gets to hang out at a bar, no pressure really...hell who cares if he's not making much money.....wrong. Manager claims they pay him 50 bucks an hour, 4-6 hours a night, 6 days a week :eek:

Needless to say, I was amazed. I talked with the manager some more, and he didn't seem to be exactly gushing with contentment about the music as of late. Now background tunes while people are entertaining themselves otherwise is one thing, but apparently they have special events during the week where people actually want to dance, and it happens to the same gapped music playlist setup.

So obviously, I want in on this. I think I can do a much better job than what I saw Friday, if nothing else for the Mondays and Wednesdays they have groups in who want to dance. Basically I want to know if the prevailing mantra is "business is business" and who cares if I swoop in and bomb some kid out of a posh regular gig...or should I take a less dickish approach?

I feel like if I could convince the manager to let me run one of the dance nights, he'd easily see a big contrast. But I feel a bit out of sorts blazing in there having just met all these people with thoughts of taking somebody's job.


Is there a right way to go about this? Would love some thoughts.

[Buffalo Ill]

If the people doing the dancing aren't complaining, and are buying drinks, the manager most likely doesn't care.

If you tell the manager that you'll bring 50 friends in, and they'll all be buying drinks, he's more likely to give you a shot.

[padi_04]

It depends, is he a forum member?

[michaeldunne109]

It depends, is he a forum member?

If you don't know him who cares, his doing a crap job and you can do better so go for it.

[blur]

This isn't really 'gig stealing' per-say.

First thing I would do is go back a few more times at what is perceived to be their 'peak hours' and see what is going on just to make sure that the other DJ is using said iTunes.

Since you already have a bartender friend there, talk to him about the DJ and the music. I once was in the same situation and found out the venue's management (corporate) had to approve all music played and no mixing could be done...ever.

If this is still an option I would first lose the talk about the other DJ 'sucking.' Go into the place with a positive attitude and focus on how you can improve business and your customer service. These places are very customer service based.

$50 an hour sounds pretty high for these type of places so there might be more than what you're immediately seeing.

[JesC]

i wouldnt undercut or steal gigs from anyone that is not cool.

[Paka Ono]

Since your friend bartends there, what does he have to say about the guy?

Unlike JesC I would not have a problem approaching the manager and see about getting 1 night and then see how it goes from there.

If all the guy is doing is programming iTunes then whatever he's failing at doing his job, and leaving the opportunity for someone to take it. It's a tough economy right now so more power to you IMO.

[michaeldunne109]

i wouldnt undercut or steal gigs from anyone that is not cool.

I would never undercut someone that is a big no-no. But i wouldnt call it stealing if he is doing a less than par job.

Another way would be to help this dude out at getting better and if he dosnt follow your advice then shaft him. His own fault.

[JesC]

if the spot has anything open, then handle it. I say this from exp. if you undercut or stealing someones gig that crap will haunt you later in the future.

[Coldfuzion]

Brilliant idea! I'm going down to my local Dave and Busters tonight and i'm going to ask them if they need a DJ :P. That never even struck me!