I am DJ since 16 years believe me I know what you are talking about.
The fact is that the Post opener just said he is Newbie, He is pushing the financial part in front (The word “Profitability” is clearly used in the Topic) and never mentionned, not even briefly, any Passion for Music. He is talking about a carreer plan but we (DJs) all know that what we do is playing with the audiences mood and Feelings and we all know that it isn’t easy.
I make a huge difference between DJ and Producer. The Problem is that since Mp3 Format, Music Downloading, Streaming, etc… The Music Industry is in a crisis and paralell to this DJs became huge Superstars making more Money just by Spinning records than Producers with selling their Songs.
This is the main reason why every guy who produces (even his first) a succesfull Song, is directly turning into a DJ…the industry Needs to put faces on Songs to sell the product, Producers Need to perform to get Money back from their time/Money Investition but finally the Music which is appelling to emotions, gets more and more emotionless.
But everything is allready in the used term “Producer”. Someone called that way is definitively making a “Product” when an “Artist” is making an “Artwork”.
Oh yes and btw…Success is a subjective Thing, some of us call themself successfull when having their residency in a 200 People containing Bar and others Need a 50’000 People audience in an Arena.
Making money in the arts, never mind just music or DJ’ing… is VERY hard.
If you are already in graduate school, focus on your studies and get an internship related to your studies.
If you are interested in DJ’ing and have a passion for it, do it as a hobby. If you wind up getting paid gigs and start to get big, then you can make some decisions, but I would never let it compromise your studies.
It seems like the happiest DJ’s I know that also were very successful (playing at big venues, productions released on some very well known labels) do music as a hobby and have degrees and careers in some other field. When you aren’t starving for money, it makes it so much more fun and you have control of your options.
Such a good Point…not being aslaved by a Label and staying Independent in your artistic choices is sometimes really more important than Money in the bank.
And if DJ or Producer Carreer starts growing you still can reduce the regular Job and look for a part-time Job, if you are good at what you do there, your Boss will be happyer with having you part-time than to see you go working for the concurrence.
As most everyone else said, you are thinking about this the wrong way. You should be djing for the love of the music and something you are passionate about. Money should be secondary at the beginning stage.
I worked a full time job, went to college full time and still found time to practice and get gigs. I had both paying and non-paying gigs, it didn’t matter to me as long as I got to play. You need to do it as a hobby first, attend various club nights, start networking and getting yourself out there. As your skills grow and you start getting bookings you can assess how much time and effort you are willing to put in to attempt to make this as a career. Now more than ever the industry is oversaturated due to technology making it easier to dj along with the steep rise in dance music going mainstream.
Many have come before and many more will come after you with dreams of making it as a dj and producer, but very few actually do. Focus on school and developing a career so you have something to fall back on. 99% of the djs I know and have played alongside with other the past 20 years have regular jobs and dj during the weekends.
replace “djing” and “music” and apply it to anything in life and you’ll be successful.
Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos didn’t create Tesla or Amazon because they wanted to make money. no, those guys are actually really into creating cars/E-commerce/building rockets. seriously, those guys love what they do and work their asses off doing it.
find something you love doing first, and be prepared to get kicked in the face (figuratively speaking) many time before you get your first break.
I went to an Above & Beyond Acoustic show a few days ago, and the opening act was by a duo called Solumun & Grey. their first words to the audience was that they played a show a few weeks ago where 2 people showed up. now they’re playing to a sold out 4k venue. life is a trip, find what you want to do and be prepared to work your ass off doing it.
Haha, yea I caught their bit at Chicago but a shortened set because of technical difficulties. I can’t believe only two people would show up to their show, they are amazing!