How to approach promoters for a gig

My best advice for you is approach them as a friend mind set do not approach promoters with a mindset of trying to win them over and getting them to listen to your stuff.

Promoters probably get more than a dozen minimum of bootlegs, mixtapes cds etc handed to them by individuals giving the same speel about how they are better than the previous DJ, chances are if you are doing it this method it has a slim chance of working. But majority of the time the promoters would actually zone out and would just toss your cd or whatever out before he even leaves the venue and heads home.

From personal experience I found a promotion group I wanted to work for and figured out when they held their events, ,their regular promo nights things like that and I would show up by myself to their event and try to see what type of crowd they attract, and the music that would be played most there. From then I work from meeting the DJ’s before or after their set and get to know them as a person first, to eventually offering them a hand here and there eventually getting to know them as a regular person rather than a DJ and someone who is just trying to use them to get their foot in the door. I eventually got introduced to the promotion group manager and from the moment I met him to the moment I got a booking as DJ I never once talked to the manager about me wanting to play. I spent weeks going out with the manager, going to his events and having a few drinks to being invited over to his home for a pre-game gathering before a night out. I became somewhat as a friend more than just that guy who handed him a mixtape at the venue on one of his weekly nights. Because in the end if they like you as a person they could care less if you a 13 year veteran on vinyl or a 2 month digital controllerist just looking for his first gig, if you “WOW” them then you are pretty much in the door.

Again this is from my personal experience from my area of living.

My advice…

1. Find what promoters and nights are playing and doing things along the lines of what you’re doing. Don’t go just approaching every promoter out there hoping one will give you a chance. If 99% of the promoters in your area are doing cheesey mainstream and you’re not, don’t go trying to convince them to change.
2. Go and HANG OUT at those events. That means going out, going to these events, socializing, getting to know the regulars, and the promotion company. When I used to promote, I hated all the kids who roll in, hand me a demo, and then leave…while my event is not getting a crowd. I know some promoters who won’t consider any locals who never bother to come to their events as a patron.
3. Craft yourself into the DJ they need. So you play Drum & Bass, Electro House and Dubstep…can you play a solid opening set? If I’m a promoter and I’m booking headliners who play the big room stuff, why would I book some no-name to do the same? Many promoters put the no-names as opening DJs.
4. Don’t say you play “Drum & Bass, Electro House and Dubstep”, say “I play to the crowd”. The business of nightclubs has become so much about money that promoters have no time or love for local nobodies who roll in to play the tunes they love while the crowd isn’t dancing or staying. You have to be a DJ who will make that crowd happy…not the DJ who will force stuff on them they don’t want.
5. Start small and be prepared to work. That means you might first meet some up-and-coming promoters and thus you end up joining their crew to help them throw events. The world isn’t anymore about showing up, playing, getting paid, and leaving. Promoters book DJs as investments, so you need to have an ROI.
6. Focus on PEOPLE, not promoters. You could become the pal of every promoter in London, but if you can’t get 20 people to come out early for you, no one will bother with you. They’ll only see you as the scrub DJ they might like as a person, but you’re not worth giving a time slot too. Do stuff to gain fans. Post mixes, blog, podcast, just work on getting average people to check you out…even if it’s on the net during the day while they work. If you have no fans/following, then all the talent in the world won’t get you gigs.

Be sure to check out the series here on how to succeed as a DJ
http://www.digitaldjtips.com/2011/03/how-to-succeed-at-djing-part-1-what-type-of-dj-do-you-want-to-be/