A little background to paint a picture for you all. I live right outside of New Orleans LA, in a large sized city. A local promoter approached me about trying to get a after hours/late night thing going at a local Wingery/bar. His goal was to create a party atmosphere. He explained he wanted house music with top 40 and to read the crowd. I said “i follow, but whats the issue with the current dj now?’ “Doesn’t perform well, not enough energy?” His reply was “he is old and doesn’t have the vibe and he wants $250 for the gig.” (This a 4 hour gig guys) I replied to him “you want me to play for 4 hours non stop and constantly read the crowd?” “Are you providing the sound and lights?” he said “yes on the 4 hour part, but you’d need to supply that.” I replied (trying to hold composure) " i appreciate the offer but to Dj for a crowd for hours making sure you have them loving the music is worth every cent of that $250 and i would charge way more if i have to bring enough sound and lights to your night.” “there is no dj that will do it for that cheap, and if they do, the performance will reflect the price.”
I can’t believe the nerve of that guy, he was so taken back that i wouldn’t want to spin for him for a low price. He thought $250 was paying wayyyy tooooo much. I told him " If you want to renegotiate an agreement, let’s talk. I wish the best for you to find someone."
My lowest isnt an option in the poll. To provide lights and sound and play top 40, I wouldn’t do it for less than $400.
I think calling this guy a promoter is a stretch. Sounds like any average guy with no experience in organizing a party. Typical bar manager if you asked me.
What else are you gonna do for that 4 hours, no offence but if you have no other gig why don’t you say you will do it on the proviso that if it goes well you re-negotiate terms and money. If you are a busy DJ then tell him where to go but if not your in no position to turn work/income down. $250 isn’t great but its not terrible.
If it goes well, you get more money. If he f*cks you about you walk away. Either way you have money that you wouldn’t have if you didn’t try it.
That’s the vibe i got after hearing him talk for 30 seconds. I told my friend the same thing you said, it would be a $400 job and the guy sounds like a idiot trying to pocket all the money and barely pay out.
I do have sound, but no lights. But the thing is karlos he feels like $250 is way to high already… I agree with what you say about taking it, but he wants to make this a weekly thing. I hate top 40 and too mix that 70% of the time will totally bore me to tears and i will have to buy the latest hits to play. As far as other gigs, im usually booked on the weekends. I usually have an hour set for about $120-150 and its my style, house-progressive-anthem.
First of all, I assume the point is that you’d be making less than $250. Since they’re canning the other guy, I doubt the bar manager cares so much about vibe as he does about how much they’re paying the other guy.
$250 to be basically a wedding DJ? Other than setting up the sound system (and I get the impression that the one at that bar’s going to be questionable), setting up your own lights and playing top 40 sounds like a wedding DJ to me. Less of the timing/annoyance, but still. Not a gig that I’d enjoy. It’s still great to get paid to play and all; but, if you’re already not happy with $250 and it sounds like that’s the cap they want to pay you then there isn’t a whole lot of upside to the gig.
On the other hand, if they want you to come back and play more you can have some upside; you’ll be playing in a fairly sizable and party-oriented city. Doing so will help to increase your exposure, pad your DJ resume, and hopefully will land you better gigs in the future. I have no idea what your previous experience is like, but experience is something to think about with any gig.
Still, this depends a bit on what the rates are in your area and on you in particular. I’ve been told that in Boston, it’s pretty standard for a college DJ (entry-level) to earn $75 or so for a 2-4 hour set. Experienced DJs and/or DJs with a decent following will earn more. So if you can swing that kind of rate in Boston as a new DJ, that’s not bad even considering bringing your lights. It comes down to more though whether or not you want to take the gig. It doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun to you and it’s below a rate you’d be happy getting so it seems like your decision is pretty simple.
Wow apparently I’m a whore. I voted $100. For someone like me that has no aspiration to spin for a living, this would just be more of a fun night out for me. I know that may be a horrible thing to do considering there are other hard working DJ’s out there that I would be undercutting but this would be more like a one time thing just for fun. I know, I’m a horrible person
Idk in all honesty I’m just replying because I felt like a dumbass after being the only one who voted
I see your point and totally agree dude, I’ve been paying my dues and been teaming up with other dj’s and we have been playing for clubs in surrounding cities hosting some packed out events (+1,000 people) I think they’re trying to find someone to do it for $150 a week which is ridiculously cheap to me. As you can agree, me and you both would rather spin for an hour and a halp and make $100 playing electronic.
I was just posting this story to show how ignorant people can be and have a good laugh at what people expect dj’s to work for.
HAHAHA nothing wrong with that if you enjoy it friend. I found it funny that this guy came to me saying how much of a promoter he is and basically trying to get everyone else to do the work for a low price.
Exactly. My friend was laughing when he was telling me the price and what i needed to bring… My friend was like “Is this dude serious?” I’m fortunate enough to do this on the side and work my job during the week. I’d rather help my friends or family if they need something with nights off like that instead of working doing something i don’t like (TOP-40 LOL)
i wouldn’t do it for any of those amounts in the poll as
a) i’d have to actually buy all the top40 tunes as i wouldn’t be otherwise
b) it would bore me to tears
c) wear and tear on the lights (that i’d have to buy/rent as well)
oh… unless the girls there were super gorgeous then i’d do it for 50usd so long as that would cover my tune purchasing costs
Lowest i would take… 450/500 for a few hrs at a club. Mobile would be a bit more.
HOWEVER, there have been times that i go out for free, or a smaller amount of money (100-350) where the person im doing the gig is giving me money for the inconvenience (of late notice) or for the troubles of coming out as opposed to paying me for djing. By no means will that amount of money make me cancel any exsisting plans so that i can accomidate for their gig or motivate me to commit to their gig if a higher paying one is avaialble.
The bar/club owners/peeps that i would do a lower price gig for usually know that i take those gigs as practice and will most certainly try a few new things in at their gigs. Most of the time they like it, because i usually try some ballsy stuff that i wouldn’t do for a normal gig, and im usually all over the place with the genres i play. I take these lower paying gigs as practice, and the people i do them for know it and understand it. So general rules are i don’t accept them on weekends, or on nights where a full house is expected, also I reserve the right to cancel within 12hrs (anything after 24hrs i usually provide a replacement).
I’d say give that promoter a night, tell him that you will do ONE night at 250 IF he goes all out on promoting the event, this way he can see what the potential is, and he may be able to see the value in your service.
I agree with this, but don’t ignore the most important thing: if you’ll be bored to tears with the music you’re playing, don’t agree to anything long term. I’ve done that before and unless it’s a wedding where I can charge more I’m not doing it again.
Money talks and the price has to be right for me to play Ke$ha and Bruno Mars all night.
