Home 2023 Forums The DJ Booth New Years Gig

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  • #2311041
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    So hard to say something about DJ fees in other places.

    What I can say is that NYE should typically net you twice the amount you would normally charge.

    Personally I wouldn’t play for 33 bucks an hour, especially not those long 6-hour sessions. My fee is typicaly between 75-100 euro an hour, with a 4 hour minimum plus travel cost and equipment (if relevant).

    So for me a 4-hour NYE gig would have to bring in a minimum of 4x75x2 = 600 euro.

    You took a job before because of first time/needing money/needing exposure.

    There are a couple of posts on our forums about how to go about negotiating fees.

    One of the things we advise is to never undersell yourself. And if, for whatever reason, you feel you have to go lowball ONCE!, be sure you tell the folks up front what your regular fee is and then discount them for the one time. That way they know what they will be paying should you be coming back.

    It is very rare that you can do a 200bucks/6-hr gig one day and the next day expect to be paid at least 300 or more. Just not gonna happen, UNLESS you can refer back to the statement you made the first time when you told them your regular fee and how it would apply next time.

    In this particular case you can ask more because of the specific date, but that won’t do anything for next time.

    As one of our readers said (quoting from memory) “If I can’t earn twice what I would spend going out on NYE, I am going out”.

    #2311611
    Todd Oddity
    Participant

    Bahaha – that quote was me. Good to see my less-than-traditional business model is making an international impression.

    As for rates (in general, not for New Year’s Eve) bar and club work varies wildly from one market to the next. $175-$225 is the normal range in my market. A city a few hours away in one direction is $300+, and one in the other direction, well, good luck getting anything over $100 (I saw an ad in that city offering minimum wage once).

    If you are going to work in your market, you absolutely need to learn what the price range is. You don’t want to be way more expensive than everyone else, and you also don’t want to be known as an undercutter (the latter will kill any chance of making friends in the local DJ community – and friends are the best way to get new bookings).

    We are a creative industry that requires a fair amount of business savvy to navigate. No wonder so many people both new and pro really want an agent to do it all for them.

    #2314411
    DJ Chris Bush
    Participant

    Germany, bigger city, bar. NYE for 300€? No way. Not under 500€.

    #2314601
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    Yeah … like I said … 600 minimum and I really don’t care about the size of the venue, even a private 30 people party would have to cost that. Well maybe if it’s a REALLY big venue … I would probably add a couple of hundred 🙂

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