I’m aware this is a bit of a silly question, but I’m about to go in for my first paid gig. I’ve played out before, but never for actual money - usually for my mates for food or drink.
Anyways, it’s a house party and the gig is about three and a half hours long. I don’t know how much to charge, so I guess I should ask how much you guys would charge for a comparable gig? I don’t want to be any more expensive than any possible competition, but at the same time I don’t want to undervalue or undercut myself.
Any help would be massively appreciated - or any advice in general!
Have you asked them what they want to pay you? That should always be your first point. And from there at, you could always ask them if they’ll book you if do it for 20-30-40-50% more? If they say yes or no you can still add variables (free drink, food, guests, etc).
50-100$ per hour. I would never ask how much they’re willing to pay. If I’m you right now, I would ask for $50 an hour and if they want extra equipment like smoke machine, lights, etc, then I’d add the renting price of the equipment.
NEVER base your rate on how many customers are there. It’s a house party, what if they only invite 10 people and only 5 show up, how is that your problem? Unless you are being paid to promote, and your pay is based on people in the door, always give a flat rate. I would say since this is your first paying gig, and you are new to DJing that charging $150 for 3 hours is a good starting point. Not $50 an hour, $150 for 3 hours, if they want you to stay longer, well now its $100 an hour for overtime. Time is money. They don’t do their job for free, why should you? Don’t under value yourself and your time and don’t worry about the so called competition. You do your thing, most people understand “you get what you pay for” if they only want to pay you $50 then politely decline, you paid your dues playing for food and drink, now it’s time to get what you’re worth.
I didnt mean charge per person, but use it as a guideline so you know how much to ask. If there are a 100 people he can ask around 25€ per hour. But always aak a flat fee ofcourse. And def make sure that you have clear and written down agreements concerning the safety of your gear if you bring your own.
Ok guys, some really good ideas and advice here. Thanks @dj matt blaze for the overtime idea.
I’m currently in contact with the client and will let y’all know how it works out
This is exactly what I meant. I said $50 an hour just to give you an idea of the total amount you should ask for. I should have said “ask $150 for the night” like matt said.
UPDATE: the gig is now booked and sorted out for a reasonable fee (£100 + travel expenses) that I am happy with. Assuming I start to get more gigs and get busier, then I’ll start charging more but I’m quite happy with this.
She’s after loads of hip-hop, and wants to get people dancing. I’ve got quite the selection of hip hop tunes, but does anyone have any major crowd-killing favourites to throw out there?
You’re welcome. All things that have been drilled into me over the years.
This really depends on you and your point of view on the music that you are playing.
The current “Top 40” lists for each genre contain “popular” (by definition) current songs. Maybe that’s Ok with you, maybe it’s not.
You can look for some “old school” music. Depending on the age of the crowd, pull some songs that were hot when they were graduating from high school and entering college ages. Think about the music from when the audience was 16 to 22. Those are years of a lot of life’s “firsts” (first “serious” relationship, first “serious” breakup, first place on your own, first job, first concert, first car, and on and on and on). There are a LOT of powerful memories that can be triggered by the right song.
You can look all the way back for “old school” music…I’m talking about Rapper’s Delight kind of way back old school. Throwing back to the origin of rap and hip-hop can be a great way to pay homage and to excite the crowd. There are TONS of ways to pull in tracks from the foundation of hip-hop (or really any genre) that will play well with new(er) tunes.
Or something else entirely. How you decide to handle this should be based on your point of view on the music, and what excites you about the music that you are playing. If you are still figuring that out, try one or more of the themes I mentioned and see what feels the best to you.
@Soundinmotiondj, again all very good advice and all good to note. The stuff about the songs was mostly a throwaway thing, though thanks for the good, thematic tips
