There is glitter and glamor, music and dancing. Maybe even your name up in lights on the marque. But at the end of your DJ party, it's time to do the real work. Which is a lead in to this article on why Disc Jockey's deserve and earn every cent they make. It's what's behind the scene that counts and a four hour job can mean many more hours of hard work and a lot less money per hour as the end result.
So many times It has been said by friends, family or future customers "That is an awful lot of money for only four hours work". Yes indeed, I am just getting rich quick for doing nothing but playing some music. It gets under your skin sometimes. If only the truth were known (and if you could get anyone to listen to you), a four hour night would be a sweet dream Indeed.
If you have been a successful DJ for awhile, I am not going to be telling you anything new. If you have considering becoming a professional DJ then I have a few things for you to ponder. If you plan on hiring a DJ please read on.
You buy some equipment to get you going, a good chunk of change, but a good DJ also has backup gear to fall back on in case of an emergency (now it's more than a few bucks). It takes a lot of 4 hour jobs to pay for it. You need to advertise, promote yourself and do a lot of legwork visiting clubs, bars and maybe a few afternoons at some wedding promotion events (you pay for a X booth). You would like to drive a nice sports car but your stuck with that 15 passenger van, not to mention that it gets 12 miles to the gallon.. Every week you jog down to the local record store and buy that much needed CD for $16.95. You know the one that only has one good song that you will ever use. But some guy just has to hear that song the next time you play (then multiply that by 50 people who want a different song). Got to please your fans. A good library of music can set you back a few hundred or thousands of dollars.
You make that appointment to meet with your clients and sign the contract. If your into beat or scratch mixing you spend a bit of time just practicing your art. The weekend comes and your out in the heat or cold (I live in New England) packing your gear in the van. With any luck it's a fairly local gig that you can drive to in about an hour, sometimes it's 3 hours both ways. You will unpack, setup, test the equipment and wait. Because if your a good DJ, then you arrive at the gig with plenty of time to spare. Time that could be used to fix a problem that might have happened but with luck did not or time to make sure your all setup before the guests start arriving. If all goes well, you have got time to wait (bring a book).
So here comes the four hour gig. You play your best music but you also put up with the people who are drunk, the people who request songs but do not know the name of the song or the artist who sang it (you must be a mind reader) and then there are the people who just want you to play some music that you know for sure would just kill the festivities (they won't listen to reason).
Finally it's pay time. Too bad the work is not over. Time to pack up, load the van, drive it home, unpack the van and get to bed. Maybe it's 4:00 in the morning and you have got another gig that night. Maybe all your friends were having a great party (wish you were here)while you was out just playing your music. If your in demand, you have not had a weekend off all year. If you have a day job then you find yourself working a seven day week. Your four hour job can end up taking up to 10 or 12 hours to do. But hey, I just got a big load of cash for only playing music for four hours. The heck with my social life. I am a DJ and I got lots of money (and deep in debt, plus van repair bills) to prove it.
DJ RON B Has over 38 years of on stage experience. A former drummer and singer in many of New England's top show bands, worked with Jerry Lewis and the MDA Labor Day Telethons, radio announcer, studio musician (worked with Miss Piggy original soundtrack, commercials etc.), host of Talent Showcases, writes music scores for submission to TAXI for TV and movie tracks, owned and ran The Bouchard Agency from 1976 to 2002. A top disc jockey for over 25 years. DJ's be sure to check out Ron Bouchard's website at http://www.djdropins.com for great DJ Drops to add to your show. You can also read this entire article at http://www.djdropins.com/articles.html
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