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Land DJ Gigs
May 28th, 2008
One important thing you need to do to start landing DJ gigs at the clubs you want, is to visit those clubs all the time. Don’t spread yourself too thin, visiting many different clubs in the hopes that you’ll meet the right person at one of them, narrow the number of venues you visit to about 2 or 3. Get to know everyone that works at those places. Become a regular. Meet the managers and talent booker, even the owner if possible. The big secret in the DJ world is that many promoters or club managers don’t book DJs just because they are good DJs, they book them because they know them personally, like them, and they can bring a big crowd (ie: have a lot of friends). So if you want to start getting all kinds of calls for DJ gigs, I suggest you be as friendly as possible to all the people that work at a particular club, as well as the patrons. Get to know everyone so well that they will always come out to see you spin when you do get some gigs at one of the clubs.
Throw Your own Party
May 2nd, 2008
A great way to get your name out there as a club DJ is to start throwing your own small events. Get a couple DJ friends together, and go out to find a venue. A small bar or club works great. Talk with the owner, and make a deal to receive 10% of the bar sales. Don’t charge a cover, just try and get as many of your friends to the party as possible. It’s a great way to add a club to your resume, and if you throw great parties, word will get around and you will start to hear from other promoters who will want you to bring your crowd to their events.
Make Friends with Every DJ
March 14th, 2008
Some of the best resources in your quest to land more paying nightclub gigs is other DJs. Now, there are some DJs that are out for each other’s throats. It is a kind of competition after all. Everyone is after the same gigs & residencies.But, keep your ego and temper in check. As they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. 
Be the stronger man, and befriend all the DJs in your area. If you all look out for one another and help each other get gigs, it will work out better for you in the long run. I can’t even count the number of good paying jobs I got because of a recommendation from good DJ friends of mine. Maybe one of your friends is sick and can’t spin that night, it could possibly be your big break.
The basic rule to live by is treat everyone with respect. Treat everyone the way you would want to be treated, and you’ll see some amazing things start to happen in your DJ career.
DJ Tips: Start an eMail List
March 12th, 2008
Keep track of your fans! You should be constantly adding people to a professional mailing list at all times. A good DJ mailing list is incredibly important. You can easily send out a quick update on any parties you are playing at, new mix tapes you’ve released for download, etc. A good mailing list will also get you a ton of pull with promoters and club managers. When you’re talking to them about your booking fee, make sure to mention how big your mailing list is! Remember, promoters and club managers, no matter what they tell you, are in it for the money. You have to show them that you can help them make money if you are playing their event. A great way to do that is to have a huge mailing list of friends and fans that will come down to your events.
A great DJ tip I’ve used for many years, is to send out info on parties that you “recommend” once a week to your mailing list. Even if you aren’t playing those events. And make sure the clubs or promoters who are throwing the events you “recommend” are on your mailing list, so they see you are helping them advertise their parties. After a few weeks or months of doing this, get ready to get a few calls from these promoters or clubs about a possible gig or even your own residency. In a perfect world, it would be all about the music. But unfortunately it’s not. It’s about the money. Show these guys you can make them money, and you’ll be landing many more gigs on a regular basis.
I’ve used a ton of different mailing list services over the years, and my favorite one is definitely Get Response. They are much cheaper than most services, but have all the same features like tracking clicks, message opens, etc. They will keep your messages organized, and it’s super easy to use. You can even put a List Sign-Up Box on your MySpace page to make it easy for people to subscribe.
If you are serious about a successful DJ career, and don’t currently have an email list, get one today.
Protected: Make Yourself Well Known in the Club Scene
March 9th, 2008Make a List of Clubs
March 8th, 2008
All DJs have a list of clubs they want to eventually play at, but the list is usually only in their mind. One thing I’ve learned over the years is to write down my goals, and continually go over them and take small steps to accomplishing each one. Write down a list of 3 or 4 clubs in your area that you wish to play at. Then make a point of visiting each one, and introducing yourself to the manager or owner. Keep the meeting simple. Bring some demos with you, but don’t offer to give it to them if they don’t ask. You can always give them a demo later on, when you know them a bit better. Just get the manager’s name, email, and phone number if you can. Tell the person how much you love the venue, and other low key kiss-up things. Keep it quick, don’t be annoying or egotistical, and know that if the manager is busy it is not a good time to talk with them. Keep any contact info for club managers and owners in a list along with other information about the club.
Basic DJ Equipment
March 3rd, 2008
Before buying basic DJ Equipment, you should always play around on someone else’s DJ gear to make sure this is truly something you are going to enjoy. Because DJ equipment is not cheap, it can be a pricey hobby. If you have a friend that DJs, spend some good quality time on their equipment.
If you don’t know anyone who will let you play with their DJ gear, you can always go into a music store that carries equipment for DJs. Many stores will have a mini showroom with a full setup for people to test out. Just tell the cashier that you would like to try out their DJ gear, and someone should be able to show you the basics.
How to Make a DJ Press Kit
March 1st, 2008
A DJ press kit is a very important step for self-marketing success. A press kit or “press package” use to consist of manila folders filled with information about you, nowadays you can fit everything on 2 CDs. One of these CDs will have your demo mix on it. See the section How To Record a Demo for tips on doing that properly. Once you have your demo, make it look nice. I recommend hiring a friend that is good at graphic design to create a cool looking CD label. (if you are not a good designer yourself). That may cost you $50, but well worth the extra effort and money. You want the mix to catch a person’s eye, and poorly designed CD labels will not impress anyone. If it looks like crap, many people will assume it sounds like crap too. The objective is to get them to listen to the thing, not throw it out. And you’d be surprised how many demos may get thrown out. Also, do not use those stick on CD labels. Those labels can ruin car CD players, as well as some of those thin Apple computer CD drives.
Have your design printed right on the CD from one of those special home CD printers, or what works even better is to get a company to print them up professionally for you. For an example, I have always used the company Mixonic.com to print up my demos. You get professional quality CD printing, and fast turnaround times. It definitely helps you stand out from other DJs that printed their CDs at home, and your CDs won’t get stuck in car CD players… people hate that!
Incorporate your DJ name and contact information right on the CD label (website, email, MySpace, phone number, etc.). I wouldn’t recommend using a full size CD jewel case, personally I like to use Clamshell CD Cases. They are just large enough for the CD, so you can put the whole thing in your back pocket if you wanted to. This makes it much easier for people to carry the CD around with them. Sometimes if I’m at a club enjoying myself, and get handed a demo in a full size jewel case, I’ll probably chuck it because I won’t want to lug the thing around with me all night. But the slim clamshell cases are the perfect size for your back pocket. In fact, you can also get the Clamshell CD cases added right to your CD printing order at Mixonic. (I think they call them “Flexible Plastic Cases” there.)
The second CD will contain your biography, contact information, and any press photos you want to use for possible flyers or other advertising. If you’ve been DJing for a while now, you should also include your resume of clubs your played at, event companies you’ve worked for, etc. For the resume and the biography, just write it up nice and save it as a Word (.doc) and a Text (.txt) file. Don’t make the biography sound cheesy. Be honest and real with it. If you’ve played with some well known DJs, you can include that. Maybe include the names of big parties you’ve played at.
Protected: The Proper Way to Approach a Nightclub Manager
February 29th, 2008Random Posts
- DJ Tip: Submit Press Releases
- Musician's Earplugs: Perfect for DJs
- Throw Your own Party
- Make Yourself Well Known in the Club Scene