Hello, DJTT.
I'm a struggling DJ. While I have a couple of monthly residencies, I have to fight for well-paying gigs, and I'm often unsuccessful. I've recently started playing G-House in the scene here and a few event coordinators and club owners have told me that no one else is really playing anything like it, and that it's awesome stuff. Having been to a number of other events, I can confirm this. I have a feeling this genre is going to blow up pretty soon in the USA.
I'm trying to gain exposure to get booked more. One of the ways I've done this is to release a monthly podcast. Now I have to be honest: I'm pretty stingy when it comes to revealing playlists to local DJs because the scene is so cutthroat and cliquey here. In short, the tracks I have are, in part, what's getting me booked. If everyone in the city starts playing what I play, especially other house DJs, then I risk being booked less; I'm not as well connected as some of the others.
So, I thought of a way to expose myself more by offering an incentive: if people share one of my mixes on Soundcloud/Facebook, then I'll send them the tracklisting. A plus is that it'll give me exposure, but an obvious downside is that I'll be giving away my jewels to local rival DJs. Another plus is this: people already know what I play; they know my style. If rival DJs in the area go from playing their usual boring deep house one week to the more upbeat and tough style that I play the following week, people will notice, and they'll know I was there first as my mixes will be in circulation online.
To counteract the downside, I thought of adding a disclaimer like: "Sharing this mix for a playlist does not apply to local DJs," but that sounds rude and I don't want to burn (any more) bridges. So my question is this: will giving away my playlists justify the exposure I could get in return? I'm sure you all here know how hard we dig for music, and the thought of just giving it all away and getting nothing out of it while seeing others hog the limelight makes me VERY UNCOMFORTABLE.
What should I do?
P.S. Here's the stuff I've been playing lately. Thoughts and shares are greatly appreciated.
Bookmarks