gig help

Hi, I am going to dj a house party, but i don't have a controller cdj tabels anything just virtual dj. But i know i can do allot better job than the person that thew the last one, anyone was aloud to change the music witch resulted in a heard around this little 1x1 inch ipod. i have a fender passport witch should get the job done since it is a small place, and then i should also have some lights. But i wanted to know if i should charge him for my first gig, since it could go good or bad. I am going to be spending the next couple weeks infront of vdj learning everything about it. Hope u guys can help.

My theory is always charge a professional rate for any services you provide. I never realized it before I started gigging, and it might be a localized phenomenon, but people around my area don't want to pay for djs because they can get so many people to come out and play music for free, or nearly for free. Playing for cheap is a surefire way to seal the deal on a potential gig, but it's shooting yourself in the foot. by playing gigs for free, you build a reputation as the guy that does that, and nobody will expect to have to pay you in the future! I'm sure there are people here that have more savvy techniques for arranging compensation than I do. I guess if it's one of your earliest gigs, then just charge what you think you're worth, but you'll grow in your abilities! Never sell yourself short, ever!

For the gear just hire something. Include a small fee within your hire cost for the party thrower :) I agree don't play for free. IT will tarnish you later on. You don't have to charge much just a small fee for your time, effort and fuel costs etc etc.

If you have no gear and you're only just learning how to use virtual DJ, I certainly wouldn't pay you. I don't mean to discourage you by that, I just don't think anyone should be selling their services as a DJ until they know what they're doing.

Without having any gear at all or much experience either, I wouldnt charge, but your gonna have to make your own call on that one. Let us know what you need help with, everyone here is pretty cool about answering questions.

In all honesty, if you showed up at my house with a laptop plugged into a PA and wanted to charge me, I would throw ya out. How can you charge someone money when what you are doing is a tiny step above what they can do themselves? If you are passing yourself off as a professional DJ that wants to be paid then you better have professional equipment and know what you are doing. I can cook but that doesn't make me a caterer to cater a party.

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Originally Posted by fullenglishpint

If you have no gear and you're only just learning how to use virtual DJ, I certainly wouldn't pay you. I don't mean to discourage you by that, I just don't think anyone should be selling their services as a DJ until they know what they're doing.

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This.

It's better in the beginning, when you start dj'ing to say to the person who organized the party that they can give you as much as they want. Every person has (normally) some respect for other people's work and time.

When you just use Vdj, they will give you not so much. Just when you have a setup, you can ask same money.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fullenglishpint

If you have no gear and you're only just learning how to use virtual DJ, I certainly wouldn't pay you. I don't mean to discourage you by that, I just don't think anyone should be selling their services as a DJ until they know what they're doing.

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This.

No way on earth should you be charging if you have no gear and its your first show. Your a dude with a laptop, a playlist on automix could probably do the same.


It's also only a house party, be thankful for some practice and a couple of free drinks or something.

Save up and buy some gear before you do too many parties like this in my opinion.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shr3dder

This.

No way on earth should you be charging if you have no gear and its your first show. Your a dude with a laptop, a playlist on automix could probably do the same.


It's also only a house party, be thankful for some practice and a couple of free drinks or something.

Save up and buy some gear before you do too many parties like this in my opinion.

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i agree as well. be happy that you can have an audience to practice in front of and try to have some fun. what you can do though is leave a tip jar out and if people are digging it they can throw a couple bucks in. i used to do that at some of the first house/hotel parties i played and occasionally i would make some decent money when drunk people would start throwing in 20 bucks cause they loved my vibe, man.