Sorry guys, i’m doing something i should not - posting at 4AM.
So here’s my situation and where I need your help!
I’ve been spinning (bedroom DJing) for about 3 months now and am going to be DJing my first few parties over the next two - three weeks. Each of the parties are occuring at a friends places so it won’t be anything huge (probably 50 - 100 people or so).
I however want to start DJing or attempt to DJ at a local 18+ club. Last time I went there was before I was 21, so it was little less than a year ago (I went in March) and I have heard it has not gotten too much better, the main reason the entire thing sucked was because the DJ had the shittiest selection of music possible. (<-- And that’s extremely hard to do when all you have to do is play Top 40 shit for the crowd to have a good time around here. I’m not really going to go into this, nor is this thread about his music selection.)
What I want to do is talk to the club owner or something and spin there for maybe a few hours for little or no money, If I can fill the dance floor then i’ll ask him to book me every Friday / Saturday nights.
So what I want to do is (I read this on the DJTT main page a while ago) create a CD of my own to give to the owner / promotor (or w/e you wanna call it) to “showcase” my skills and create something that he’d enjoy listening to.
So now finally to where I need your help, do you have any suggestions as to what I should make sure to do / not do on the CD? And anything I should watch for? I’m going to have to do mainly Top40 / Hip Hop and maybe little bit of EDM / DubStep in it, but not that much.
Sorry if it makes no sense or I am rambling, i’m getting delirious right now - and i’m going crazy!
Thank you very very much for all your time and responses!
The demo cd should showcase what you would sound like in a live setting. And, it should be tracked out to a seamless cd, not one single mix.
don’t do this, try to get some kind of compensation. all you’re doing is selling yourself short and undercutting every other DJ in your area.
[quote]So here’s my situation and where I need your help!
I’ve been spinning (bedroom DJing) for about 3 months now and am going to be DJing my first few parties over the next two - three weeks. Each of the parties are occuring at a friends places so it won’t be anything huge (probably 50 - 100 people or so).[/quote]
if you end up having a good time at these houseparties and the people say you did good, get those same people to come with you to the club and support you. that will look good in the eyes of the manager, because you’ve already got a following.
it’s hard to start up and keep a night if you are a good dj and your self promotion skills aren’t great.
best thing you can do in your situation is start to network, especially with people at those parties you’re going to be djing at.
also, if you are actually serious about djing, invest in a website for your own promotion. if you want to be a professional, play the part.
i hope you are serious about diving into the dj world. because i’ve noticed in the past few years that a lot of kids think djing is some kind of fad and try it out for a year or so[or less], then quit because they realize it takes a lot of work to establish yourself in a local area or region.
As a full time worker, if I got a small residency I’d be happy getting bus fare and drinks paid for. Fuck it. I love DJing and can’t say I’m bothered about getting rich from it.
I have a question, what do you mean by seamless CD?
And as for the last part - music has always been my passion, and I am truly in love with it. Since 2 hours after I got my S4, I have not been able to stop. It’s simply something I love to do, if I could DJ for a club (I don’t care much for the money, although getting paid from DJing would be simply amazing) I would love that, if I just get to DJ for myself in my bedroom, it does not bother me in the slightest .
A seamless cd, has a mix of music on it with track marks. But, when you play the cd, there is no pause before the next track. Hence the ‘seamless’ part.
Whenever you are distributing a mix of this nature to use as a demo or your own promo cd, make it with tracks and make it seamless.
Sometimes people don’t want to listen all the way through or want to skip around to other parts.
There is no rule that you have to get paid. But there’s DJ’s out there that depend on DJ’ing to feed their family so if you go in and say hey I’ll spin for free the club manager will book you and not the guy who’s a pro. So basically you’re making it harder for the pro to get work and essentially taking food away from his children.
Do your mix and drop it into Garage Band. Then you can put track markers in at about where you start to mix in the next song. Now the promoter can listen for a little bit skipping through to hear your selection and make sure you’re not trainwrecking every mix.
There isn’t a rule and I’m not trying to rain on your parade, because I also have a steady job which I receive income for.
But, having DJed a bit, I know that getting paid for your work go hand in hand.
You have invested your own time and money into getting equipment, honing your skills and building up your music collection. You should be compensated for it.
And even though I do have my own money from my 9 to 5, I have been able to pay for DJing with the money that I made by DJing.
Wouldn’t you like a little more return on your “investment” other than a few drinks you’ll piss away later and bus fare?
One of the best gigs I’ve done with my friends as a group was at a ski sesort a few hours away. We got lodging at a huge condo for 3 days, free rentals and lift passes and we got paid on top of that. We did that for 3 years in a row in January. So, for a few hours of work, we basically got a free ski/snowboard weekend and got paid to do it. Granted, we did have to drive there. But, we didn’t get to that point just by asking for bus fare and a few drink tickets.
Well damn, that sounds sick haha. You’re from Falls Church? Where have you DJ’d around NOVA and dc? Feel free to PM me if you don’t want to take this thread off topic like I just did
i dont know why i never thought to head to a ski resort and ask for lift tickets in exchange for hooj choonz. fucking a, going to the top of my priority list!!
I’m curious as well though now, how much does an “average” DJ (If you can call someone that) get paid?
I’m just curious because I want to know what “fair” is in this case. If you don’t feel comfortable posting, feel free to msg me. As I stated previously (I think I did / hope I did) I truly am not in this for the money, it’s my passion, but as Jason and Jojo stated earlier I should be getting compensated in some form. I don’t care how much they pay me at all, I just want to know what the average DJ makes in general - for my own knowledge.
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