D-Jam

I think too many have a rockstar mentality thinking that being in the red makes you a “rebel” or “renegade”. It just makes you sound terrible.

I usually roll my eyes when I walk into a booth and someone tells me you can’t raise the volume sliders past 2…but the gains and the amp are cranked up way too high. Dear lord help me.

If you can’t afford a $3000 DJ or can’t see a way to make your money back with profit from that DJ, then you have to rethink it all.

In Chicago, we have a massive club called Vision and another decent-sized club called the MID. The problem is when you book a very expensive DJ, you either have to raise the cover to some number like $30-$50, or think smaller in terms of name. It’s why bigger names end up in small concert halls like the Congress Theater.

Think about a reasonable cover you think people in your area would pay, then see how much you would pull in when 75% of the crowd pays full cover (I usually assume 20-25% of the venue capacity will be people on the list and others you have to comp). That number is what you could afford in terms of a DJ.

So let’s say your venue holds 300 people max…and you think they would pay as much as $20 a head for a bigger name DJ…

75% of 300 people = 225 people paying cover
225 people X $20 per person = $4,500

Also bear in mind the costs of other DJs who you might book, promotion fees (flyers, ads, etc), and any staff you use outside of the club’s staff…like someone to watch the door or what not.

I’m making this out to be very simple, but this is how you have to think. You might even want to think of 50% of the crowd you get money from…assuming 25% gets comped and the other 25% represents people who just don’t come…thinking as if you don’t sell out the venue.

If hiring expensive DJs does not seem profitable, then think differently. Perhaps good locals who are known and pay music people love, but you do a theme night. A white party, or fashion show, or something offbeat. Spend the extra money on decoration or some live act such as showgirls or something. The answer isn’t always an expensive DJ.

Well, I won’t knock him for using his JS fame to get into these massive international gigs. Lord knows my years of trying to perfect myself as a DJ did nothing in comparison with those who are simply known in a popularity sense.

The write-up sounds like any other testimonial I’ve seen to these poppy-DJ shows. I had DJ friends go see Afrojack at a concert hall recently, and they described it as that the mixing/DJing was nothing spectacular, but the crowd was mainly into the big splashes, breakdowns, and how much the over-the-top visuals synced with the music. The overall experience.

I won’t bash…because I’m pretty sure those Pauly D fans wouldn’t go see Sasha for 5 hours or check out an underground club or any DJ that doesn’t come with celebrity splash fame big light show.

I did get a kick out of the article.

Thanks for the info nem0nic. I’m sorry I gave a hard time on the DJTechTools forum, but I still want to check these out more than any other controller coming out.

Start here…

http://www.digitaldjtips.com/2011/09/how-to-promote-events-throw-your-own-parties-part-1/

Same rules apply.

I do get WHY you want it. You want to play sets that aren’t loads of poppy mainstream stuff. My only advice is to make sure you throw events for people, and not yourself and your DJ buddies. Played in too many events where it’s clear the crowd seems irrelevant to the DJs…as they all pound sets that bore the few people who showed up.

Find your crowd and go from there. In terms of capitol, you’ll have to find some means to pull it off. Warehouse raves happened because people wanted to break away from the club scene and take drugs freely.

The letter of the law is making a mix and selling it is copyright infringement. Beatport does have that system now where you can make and sell mixes, but it’s only using tracks bought off BP…thus royalties get paid.

When I and many others sold mixes in the past, we did it illegally. I won’t lie or paint a pretty picture. We pressed up tapes (later CDs) and sold them in local shops that were off the RIAA radar. A big retailer wouldn’t touch those, but small shops would. We never were really busted because we didn’t make so many that it put any dent in the labels. Plus most dance labels at the time only made 12″ records…so there were no CD or cassette singles for average people to buy.

Now then, when Drama was busted, he was making a lot of money selling rap music mixtapes. At the time, rap was the cash cow for the big labels, thus they didn’t want anyone stealing their cash. It ended up that consumers were not buying the albums, singles, or legal compilations of their tunes…but instead these mixes. Drama was not paying any royalties, so it was stealing.

Now I don’t know if rap music mixes would be noticed as much as dance, since it seems the poppy dance sound is the cash cow for the industry. In all honesty, I don’t bother even trying to sell anything. I still think many (who at least are into what I’m into) would either download free sets from other DJs, or illegal sets from big names, or spend their money only on big names who make mixes. I’ve heard some more urban spots still sell them, but I can’t fathom a deep market anymore.

I have to agree with Terry in that I can see this group mainly being DJs who will be seen by the rest of the world as “haters” or “jealous” or “holding on to the past”.

A friend of mine went to see Afrojack play at the local concert hall, and told me his DJ set wasn’t anything spectacular, but more just about popping on a big epic hit with the light show going crazy. I look at all the people who went to that as well as those who go to those big summer fests loaded with these “all flash, no substance” headliners, and really believe that for most people, it’s about the EXPERIENCE.

The average person just wants to be in a big space full of interesting and/or hot-looking people. They might want to be sorted on an E or A, but they all want the experience of the big massive well-lit over-the-top event.

EDC is coming to my hometown, and already I’m seeing local DJs bashing on it, claiming “people should support their local scene”. However, I jokingly tossed in how much of our local scene are “Vegas-style” bottle service clubs. Even the once cool jazz venue Green Dolphin is going to reopen now as a big glam venue.

Like it or not, the “all about the music” events and such that DJs love can exist…but the real trick is getting the average person to appreciate that…which is hard. This is why I try to urge on you all when I write articles about promoting that the crowd is king…and that’s why these “fakers” have managed to win in this environment.

Look at Tomorrowland. Yes, it was loaded with major names…but I think most simply wanted to be a part of this:

Go read the series, but here’s the shortened version:

1. Go out and hang out. Go to the events you would love to play at and be a patron first.
2. Network at the event. Come regularly, get to know the regulars, and then later if you meet them, the promoter. Don’t push a demo on him immediately.
3. Make your demo fit the venue and the slot you know you would play. If you see he’s always booking known names playing big room anthems, and you’re not known…then make a darker demo set meant for opening the night.
4. Have demos with you all the time. The best opportunity is when you’re yacking with the promoter about things, and he asks you about your DJing. THEN you give it to him and simply ask him to listen to it and let you know what he thinks of your set.
5. If he ever asks you “what do you play?”, never answer with genres. It’s a trick question. Answer with “I play to the crowd”, because that’s the kinds of DJs he wants.
6. Show you can promote and promote well. If you do online shows or anything like that, promote it like you do, build that following, because promoters generally want people who bring heads or might bring heads. Not bedroom savants who can’t talk to anyone and has no friends.

I know for me, one big hitch that kept me from landing gigs is that my friends were all “done” with clubbing when I was building up a bit. The usual faces never gave me any loyalty as a DJ (despite that they liked me), and my actual friends were now “too old” in their eyes to go clubbing. So I couldn’t bring anyone out on my own accord, thus promoters never bothered with me.
If you play more underground, try to get to know the rave promoters and even offer to help. Most of them are not as cold as club promoters, and will give unknowns an early slot if they see this person supports their efforts. So if you’re willing to push and promote and work for it, they’ll give you a start.
Don’t pass up chances to play online shows in your local area. This is part of how you build fans.