How do I switch to top 40 without holding my nose?
I have been locked in the bedroom for years until I recently started getting out. Now one of my friends saw spinning my regular house and lounge music and he wants me to DJ at a charity function. The party planner said maybe I’ll do an hour of my regular stuff, but they will need more dance-y top 40 stuff for the other 3 hours.
No I am not going to turn my nose up at 4 hours of live spinning, I’m not crazy, but I am going to have trouble handling spinning all that stuff that i am not at all used to. I basically only get music from traxsource lately, I don’t know what people listen to unless it’s on tv commercials, and the remixes I’ve found of charted tracks aren’t anything like what I regularly spin.
I feel like I’m stuck. I can’t find music that allows me to blend what they want with what I know at the same time. I can’t get excited about spinning 3 hours of Katy Perry and rhianna, i’m pretty sure I’ll be noticeably annoyed and it will show in the mood of the room.
i wouldnt take the gig. if you’re uncomfortable spinning 3/4 of the time it doesnt make sense.. another thing you could try is to convince the partner planner to spin more of your own stuff (or maybe just get another top40 dj)..
another (timeconsuming) approach would be to find house remixes of top40 songs you actually enjoy..
Yeah I was taking top 40 gigs 4 a while. I put up with it by finding electo/house remixes. Even then though people would complain and ask if I had the original. I stopped a a while ago though. They were never enjoyable for me.
When accepting any job, dj’ing or not. you should only accept a job if you know you can fulfill what’s asked of you 100%.
back to your original question, some remixes will help keep if from being boring. but if they are paying you and they want top 40(original version) you have to.
that being said do it if you want, just dont play house remixes and avoid what they ask. That will give them grounds to not pay you.
a lot of court cases are lost by dj’s that mess up events by not following the contract or agreement
I would not take the gig either or if you must, reach a happy medium. Make some 30min mixtapes with certain degrees of tolerable stinkyness and see if they likey.
I’ve been asked to play parties for friends and I know they will want top 40 so I just tell them honestly to find someone else, I did do a friends engagement party once as a favour but it was so much hard work to get up to date with top 40 stuff, I’d never do it again
Download the last couple of months top 40 tunes. Ask em if there’s any wifi or internet access cos if you get requests you can download them there and then and that way everybody’s happy.
Top 40 gigs are easy peasy cos you don’t really have to get too technical. The peeps that attend those kinda places generally wanna hear the whole song from start to finish so you can get away with hitting play at the end of each current track.
Dunno where in the world you’re from so dunno what is your area’s current top 40 is. But I would say you wanna be looking at downloading a shit load of David Guetta, Laidback Luke, Afrojack, Tinie Tempah, Example, Rhianna, Dizzie Rascal, Calvin Harris, Flo Rida etc. That shit goes down well and generally is at proper house tempo so can be mixed if need be.
Just google R&B, Pop, Dance charts and make sure you’re up to speed. You know all the shit you hear on the radio that you hate… that’s the shit most other people like.
Totally forgot to mention that if you aint getting paid then don’t bother. But I know if I’m getting paid I’d do it and have fun, drink free booze and chat up hot bitches in the process. I mean, what else you gonna do?
Thanks for all the input guys. I’m not actually getting paid at all. My buddy is running a fundraiser for this charity and I’m doing him a favor by spinning. There are other people who are in charge of the party planning. I have been trying to get into some conscious hip hop, so I will put some of that in, and whatever top 40 songs I like, and then lean on my buddy to get him to let me do it, or to find a wedding dj or an ipod to run the music for a couple hours.
Charities and fund raisers can make you push your boundaries as a DJ, because the music selection has to be appropriate for the occasion. Even if they’re going to dance and they know it in advance. It doesn’t matter what you usually spin, it’s a good opportunity for you to be out of your element and test your skills as a DJ. However, if people have a good time is more likely that your friend raises more money, so don’t take it lightly. If the music sucks chances are that they never come back to support their charity again.
Just because it’s a top 40 event, doesn’t mean that all has to be top 40s. Make sure you know the audiences’s age span, because what can be a total banger for 21+ could be a total fail for 40+.
Like I said, don’t take the event lightly because your friend has a lot at stake. If you’re not ready or unwilling to get ready because you can’t listen to top 40s, well… help your friend find someone else.
I’d generally agree with most people on here, sounds like the gig is not for you.
On the flip side, if you’re genuwinely interested in doing gigs of this nature at least to get out and spin, then you might want to collect some top 40 and play around with it. For me personally, the thrill of rocking the crowd outwieghs my aversion to the mindless crap pop and I actually enjoy the challenge of gigs like this.
If you do take this gig, the playlist from your local top 40 radio station is a good place to start looking for tracks.
Gigs that require top can usually be done with a playlist and no mixing required, people just want to hear the tracks they hear on the radio and see on the TV. If that is what the people at the gig want then that is the music the DJ has to play. Simple as that
you have some evidence for this? I doubt even .00001% of such disputes ever see the inside of a courtroom, if even that. Small claims maybe but still there’s no way “a lot” of cases would end up there; and, frankly, if you played the gig you’re going to win such a case. No way a small claims court is going to render a decision on whether a Katy Perry remix is or is not “top 40” or “pop.”
As for the original question, I’d say play the gig and see how it goes. You might find you actually enjoy it. I’m definitely not a top 40 guy but I get a real kick out of gigs like this (and I like to mix it up with old funk and disco, not stuff the top 40 crowd will complain about but stuff that is a lot more fun for me and for anyone dancing). If you hate it, don’t take such gigs in the future, but why not give it a shot? You might find you like it (and either way you’ll make money).
=-=-= erm, just read your comment that you’re not getting paid for it; two things about this - one, obviously, there’s less reason to take it if that’s the case (though the experience and the opportunity to be heard could still make it worth it – I have gotten some good gigs out of charity events in the past), but two, that means there’s less pressure and more room for your own creativity. Tell your friend you’re willing to do it and you’ll do your best to rock the crowd, but you’re not a top 40 DJ. The old beggars can’t be choosers mantra applies here…