How to get a gig @ a DJ festival
So I am trying to play @ any festival I can in NYC as there are a bunch coming up and they all feature “small” DJ’s in between sets and placed randomly throughout the festival. I am currently looking @ the Dance.Here.Now Festival @ govenors island but I have no idea who to contact to even send my Press Kit to? Can anyone shed some light on how to get involved in these types of things!
Thank you much in advance!
-Tsquared
go on the festivals website find out who is putting on the event and there will be a contact email,just email them tell them your question and they will point you in the right direction.
Thanks for the quick reply however I have done that already with no luck or any email back. Are these events typically hard to get a gig with? It kind of seems like if you put in the effort and such they will get you a time slot. Thanks again!
find the company’s name google it and see if you can get a phone number for them that helps alot and of course you get a instant reply.
Getting the gig all depends on the size of the festival and company
as each one works in a different way
they might higher local djs or could have contracts with record company’s etc…
so the best bet is to call them.
hey thanks again! Ya i took care of it and may have landed a spot in one of the opening sets for one of the days of the festival. Thanks a lot @TommyQuiet !
your going to play at Dance.here.now festival? im probably gunna go deff. will check out your set 
Hey thanks for the support man! They’re just checkin my stuff out now so its not for certain by any means but I’ll let you know. Thanks again! I appreciate it.
you need to find out the promoters contact details. events might have a large brand name but are sometimes set up by local promoters like a franchise system. The brand can offer headliners and the brand and the promoter generally sorts out set up costs and warm up dj’s or even complete line ups for other arenas. if your not know or member of a big dj agency you’ll almost never get in with a big brand. gigs will only ever come from promoters. Be it either lucky breaks or entering and winning dj contests really. A positive and pro active online dj profile always helps too. good luck
Don’t be discouraged, but a lot of the time, at least up here where I’m from, a lot of these smaller DJs get picked because they’re friends of the promoters, or old university roommates, etc.
If you really want to get a spot at one of these festivals you gotta have a connection with someone who is putting it on/ organizing the event, or someone who is promoting it, who can vouch for you.
Usually you’ll find that a lot of the smaller local DJs picked are often seen playing at most if not all of the festivals, because often big events like these are a niche group of people who put them on.
Think of it from their perspective, if your friend was a decent DJ and you could give him a decent slot at a festival you’re organizing, wouldn’t you?
Goodluck though, you never know!