Gig stealing..etiquette?

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

Gig stealing..etiquette?

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.

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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.

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It depends, is he a forum member? :stuck_out_tongue:

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

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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.

6

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

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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.

8

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.

9

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.

10

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 :stuck_out_tongue:. That never even struck me!

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She doesn’t have much of an opinion. Apparently he stays to himself mostly with his groupies in the booth. He comes across like you’d expect from a music blogger; up to date on whats new and good but less interested/adept about performing it.

noooooo! Stay away, i foundz it…itz mine!!

Heh, it’s not an actual D&B…promise :sunglasses:

12

I’d say fuck him. If he’s paid to do a job and he aint cutting it and you can do better then so be it. If the figures are true he’s being paid well over the odds for what he actually does. Go in and show them you can do better. Its then up to him to up his game or step aside.

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213×320 32.4 KB

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No harm in dropping a promo in to the manager. If he likes it he may swing some sort of 50/50 arrangement with the resident. Don’t wanna see anybody out of a job but maybe if the dude sees he has some competition he might just step up his game a bit :slight_smile:

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The big thing is don’t go in there saying you’ll do it for less money.

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Beware kid, believe me it is no good for your reputation tryin to steal someone elses job sayin you are better than the actual guy. Just ask for a chance or to be back up and then you get your opportunity and show your skills. You never know why this guy is there in the first place and if the reason goes beyond his dj skills you will be closing a door without you even understand it. I have seen it a lot of times and I learnt the rough way.
And if the guy is working 6 nights a week there is a reason so be humble and ask for a chance in that way.

17

Right I wasn’t going to propose undercutting of any kind

See this is exactly what I’m trying to avoid. I don’t want to be that guy. I would be totally fine taking a backseat or doing partial duty via the master/apprentice model…but I’m struggling to even mentally construct a way to kemosabe his lone ranger (no homo)

The point earlier about not knowing possible contractual arrangements for music licensing is a good one. I would have to check on that. But from what she tells me, there isn’t any deviation from his M.O. It’s all iTunes all the time.

The more I think about it, the less I’m interested in the full gig. I’d actually prefer just working the 2 nights where people are interested in what’s playing. But I can’t scope that scene out unfortunately because they’re invite-only parties.

I don’t intend to trash the current guy in any case. Thanks for the replies thus far

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I would hope if the manager wasn’t happy with him then he would first talk to the DJ and tell him what he wants from him. And if the guy doesn’t deliver then the manager should start looking for someone that will. That’s when u come in.

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warning NSFW parody content

(sorry, just had to; if you’re easily offended please go to disney.com or something)

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 her husband. This surprised me because I was completely convinced that her sexual satisfaction came entirely from a vibrator, or from watching streaming over one of those commercial porn networks. No foreplay, no kissing, nibbling, and biting, no intelligent flow whatsoever… I swear I heard the old in-out followed by loud snoring.

So I go check out what this guy is doing, and basically he’s sticking it in and just letting it go. And great for him I thought, he gets to hang out with his wife, no pressure really…hell who cares if he’s not getting much reciprocation…wrong. Wife claims she blows him every hour, 4-6 hours a night, 6 days a week

Needless to say, I was amazed. I talked with the wife some more, and she didn’t seem to be exactly gushing with contentment about her orgasms as of late. Now background fingering while the wife is entertaining herself otherwise is one thing, but apparently they have special events during the week where she actually wants to get it on, and it happens to the same old 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 that she really wants to be satisfied. 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 his sexy wife…or should I take a less dickish approach?

I feel like if I could convince the wife to let me do the nasty with her, she’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 wife.

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

20

Wow. How did ur mind go that route? :stuck_out_tongue: