Jump to content

Getting paid


Phology

Recommended Posts

This thread is more aimed at your "average joe DJ", but I'm sure some the higher profile heads on here can offer some good advice.

 

I don't play out anymore, but me and a DJ mate were talking about our experiences of dealing with promoters, and generally getting shafted when it comes to getting paid for DJing. This is actually one the main reasons why I stopped playing out.

 

One problem that I always had was that I never knew how much to ask for (when asked what my rates were). I've even lost gigs because I asked for too much, or been put off because they were offering me too little for my time. And there's only so many gigs you can do for free.

 

Usually I'd be given the cash at the end of the night, and you can always see that little glint in the promoters eye that he's underpaying you, and seeing if you will question it. You know like he hands you the cash but then quickly takes £20 back out of your hand (that kinda shit).

 

I know there's a lot of variables that can determine how you get paid for a gig - every show is different. But is it acceptable to have a base-rate that you stick to, or how do even calculate how much your time and effort is worth?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

good idea for a thread, i'll be interested in the responses here....If I've thought it could lead to a cool regular spot or music i'd really enjoy playing or a favour to someone I've done it for free or very little, or if it was a good opportunity.

 

I don't play out so much now but when I was playing out quite a bit I was only doing very underground hip hop in a small town which really couldn't command much of a fee and I accepted that. However if I'm doing a more mainstream set or adjusting to the crowd I'd ask a bit more, but then again how often is anyone asked to "name their price"? (amateurs I mean)...most places had a set rate for everyone (or so they told me).

A lot of people might say to a promoter well I'm bringing all this kit along I'll want paying for it, in my experience that just doesn't work...a lot of clubs couldn't care less if you're playing songs off an iPod, why would they pay more cos you're using Turntables behind a screen that no one could see, sad state of affairs but probably true...(i'm sure there's promoters out there who do recognise a good DJ from someone playing songs of course).

I'd say there's def a lot of value in building a rep locally as a reliable and entertaining DJ, willing to play to the crowd and not just coming with his/her own agenda and building a good set of contacts and raising your fee accordingly as it goes on....

I think you definitely have to have an idea in your head what your time is worth versus you're other commitments, and tier that depending on whether it's a free entry bar or paid entry nightclub etc and work from that figure. Then try to think what they're taking in on the night versus how many other staff there are (other DJs, promoters, bar staff, doormen etc and base your profit/mark up on that I guess.... I don't mean it in a real complicated calculation way but for example if you're the only DJ doing a 10-2am slot at a club taking in £10k on a sat night, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for a fair whack for example...

I'm sure I haven't said anything you didn't know already (probably completely unhelpful answer) but hopefully it's a help for anyone just starting out....it's really just a hobby for me, would be a different game if I had to pay my rent from it of course...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting thread.

I don't play out anymore either but currently looking at getting into the "corporate events" market.

 

As a Joey no-name, I used to get £200 an hour for a 2 hour set at MoS in 95.

 

Now days, on that corporate circuit, the lighting & audio techs are on between £225 and £275 as a day rate. As the "Talent", I would figure a rate of £300 for a gig would be fine - it's a tax write off for the PRs. In theory, you would be looking at 3 or 4 gigs a week (Monday - Thursday) and there would be extras if the lighting and sound companies can't fulfil your rider (it's £300 a day rental in London for 2x Nexus and a DJM 900)..

 

It's something I am looking VERY seriously into.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest rasteri

I stopped doing "proper" paid gigs - the only ones that paid enough to make it worthwhile were on weekday nights in poncy cocktail bars, and I'm making decent coin at my day job so it just wasn't worth the hassle of the late nights.

 

Also they started fucking me about over pay, like once place told me I had to bring my own equipment and then refused to pay equipment rental prices or even taxi fare to the venue. Another place booked me after "LOVING" (their words) my set at another venue, then told me (on the fucking night) that this was a "trial" gig and they were only gonna give me £50 for 4 fucking hours. Apparently playing at the other venue wasn't proof enough that I was good. Told them to go fuck themselves.

 

I still regularly do 90min club sets at mates' nights for fun, but they struggle to break even in this city (where punters balk at even paying a tenner for entry despite making £75000 a year in the oil industry) so I normally tell them to not pay me unless they can afford to.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Until you get to a stage where you're being approached as a headliner and can charge a flat fee I'd suggest trying to work out roughly how much the event is making and base a fee on that. Considering the following factors:

 

-what type of venue (mainstream/underground/private members bar) etc

- how many people attend on average and how much do they charge on the door

-what are the promoter (if there is one)'s overheads - are they booking headliners - are they trying to put something good on in the city for the love and probably losing out on cash or are they also making money out of it

-what city you're in

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

good idea for a thread, i'll be interested in the responses here....If I've thought it could lead to a cool regular spot or music i'd really enjoy playing or a favour to someone I've done it for free or very little, or if it was a good opportunity.

 

I don't play out so much now but when I was playing out quite a bit I was only doing very underground hip hop in a small town which really couldn't command much of a fee and I accepted that. However if I'm doing a more mainstream set or adjusting to the crowd I'd ask a bit more, but then again how often is anyone asked to "name their price"? (amateurs I mean)...most places had a set rate for everyone (or so they told me).

 

A lot of people might say to a promoter well I'm bringing all this kit along I'll want paying for it, in my experience that just doesn't work...a lot of clubs couldn't care less if you're playing songs off an iPod, why would they pay more cos you're using Turntables behind a screen that no one could see, sad state of affairs but probably true...(i'm sure there's promoters out there who do recognise a good DJ from someone playing songs of course).

 

I'd say there's def a lot of value in building a rep locally as a reliable and entertaining DJ, willing to play to the crowd and not just coming with his/her own agenda and building a good set of contacts and raising your fee accordingly as it goes on....

 

I think you definitely have to have an idea in your head what your time is worth versus you're other commitments, and tier that depending on whether it's a free entry bar or paid entry nightclub etc and work from that figure. Then try to think what they're taking in on the night versus how many other staff there are (other DJs, promoters, bar staff, doormen etc and base your profit/mark up on that I guess.... I don't mean it in a real complicated calculation way but for example if you're the only DJ doing a 10-2am slot at a club taking in £10k on a sat night, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for a fair whack for example...

 

I'm sure I haven't said anything you didn't know already (probably completely unhelpful answer) but hopefully it's a help for anyone just starting out....it's really just a hobby for me, would be a different game if I had to pay my rent from it of course...

 

Same, I was playing mostly underground hip-hop in a local bar, which went down well but obviously not as popular as the more mainstream clubs.

 

I think most places have a set rate for the DJs, I always wondered what the better deal would be - if you're going through a promoter, or directly with the venue as a resident or whatever. Who would actually pay you "more fairly"? The gigs I did for free were actually some my favourites, so I didn't mind being paid with free beers all evening. But when it came to the gigs that seemed like more hassle than it was worth and then not getting paid much was kind of a drag.

 

 

Interesting thread.

I don't play out anymore either but currently looking at getting into the "corporate events" market.

 

As a Joey no-name, I used to get £200 an hour for a 2 hour set at MoS in 95.

 

Now days, on that corporate circuit, the lighting & audio techs are on between £225 and £275 as a day rate. As the "Talent", I would figure a rate of £300 for a gig would be fine - it's a tax write off for the PRs. In theory, you would be looking at 3 or 4 gigs a week (Monday - Thursday) and there would be extras if the lighting and sound companies can't fulfil your rider (it's £300 a day rental in London for 2x Nexus and a DJM 900)..

 

It's something I am looking VERY seriously into.

 

That's more than I was getting paid, in fact I probs would've been chuffed with that at the time. But it's not like I was playing at MoS, more like local gigs.

 

I used to work for an events crew setting up all the audio/visual kit and staging, and chatting to the lighting techs they make a pretty penny for a days work (more like 5hours work). It was something I wanted to get into, but the corporate events industry isn't where I wanted to be, and it's even harder to get into the cool events like the Live Nation productions. Equipment rental is a good business.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest petesasqwax

When I used to DJ the most I ever got was a couple of hundred (and that was rare as fuck and a real coup - standard was 50-100 though I got paid in weed plenty of times when I was in my youth).

 

When I switched it up to doing Ableton sets of original stuff £250-300 was standard... except in my home town where I was expected to do it for the love (of having people not give a fuck about anything I was doing) which I did a few times before the whole experience made me feel a bit too stabby

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A crate of Red Stripe and a quarter of sensimillia was my going rate back in the day lol

 

seriously though my son Alecs plays out quite regulary during the summer when hes free from his University studies or not doing his radio shows & he usually charges around £150/200 for his dj sets, he also does a fair bit of sound engineering at the these events,(local festivals mostly mixing for live bands etc) which he obviously charges more for ,all the work he does is agreed upfront months in advance though usually & he does this so he knows exactly where he stands from the beginning when it comes down to the fees hes asking to receive for his services

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only paid gigs I do is weddings or private events and I charge $2000-$3000 which is roughly half what most CD DJs charge for weddings. Half upfront.

 

For clubs I'd rather just have an open tab and a tip jar TBH. Fuck all the hassle. Fuck promoters. Fuck people acting like they own me. Granted, this is some small club/bar shit not like a festival or huge discoteche something (which I'd never get asked to do anyways)... I have no experience in the professional superstar DJ world so no advice to give.

 

My main determining factors are will it be fun to do and how much shit do I have to bring. Wedding are almost never fun and you have to bring everything including a PA. If you want me to bring turntables and a mixer (especially if someone else needs to use them) then I'm gonna charge a little just for the effort. If I only have to bring my laptop or controller and a laptop then tip jar is the best IMO. It also encourages people to interact and makes it easier to cater to the crowd which I like doing (within reason).

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Word of mouth.

 

But if your looking to do it full time get a generic website name like "your city" weddingdj.com to try and get in the top 3 Google results. Then base pricing off hot far ahead they schedule. Nothing wrong with doing wedding for cheap but my experience is the less you charge the more you're disrespected... To the point where I got completely nickled and dimed, arrive to discover I'm expected to do sound for the ceremony too, break down and setup in two spots, and opening and closing for a $10k band. Fuck that bullshit. Flowers are more than $2k for a wedding. Charge appropriately.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's funny I've just recently agreed to do a night with a friend. Up until recently I ain't really bothered playing out much because of the headaches with getting cohersed into what to play. This night doesn't pay all that well but we can play what we want with pretty good support from the bar owner. Alternatively I could of done my own night in a neighbouring town that pays much better but is the typical chart stuff. I'd rather put my balls in a blender.

That's the thing tho this night for me and my mate is to play what we believe to be good music and to supplement our income. I have another friend whose main source of income is djing so he has to do those commercial type club nights. I'd hate to be in that position to be honest. It would suck the life out of me. But by taking the cash you got to supply what they ask for I guess. That why we were happy to work something out with this other bar.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Word of mouth.

 

But if your looking to do it full time get a generic website name like "your city" weddingdj.com to try and get in the top 3 Google results. Then base pricing off hot far ahead they schedule. Nothing wrong with doing wedding for cheap but my experience is the less you charge the more you're disrespected... To the point where I got completely nickled and dimed, arrive to discover I'm expected to do sound for the ceremony too, break down and setup in two spots, and opening and closing for a $10k band. Fuck that bullshit. Flowers are more than $2k for a wedding. Charge appropriately.

Good info, thanks.

 

Yeah, I actually had a pretty dope website for this venture awhile back, but never did anything with it, like promote, SEO, etc. Ironically, I own a web design and marketing company, but seem to only invest my services in others' websites and seldom my own.

 

Anyways, if I start to push for wedding and corporate gigs, I will definitely keep the higher pricing in mind and prolly re-launch my site to validate the client's investment in my DJ services. Gotta look legit. And yeah, certainly taking into consideration the breakdown and setup, not just at the event, but also at home. On that note, I may get a controller of sorts, so I don't have to deal with setting up my tables, mixer, etc.

 

Peace.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

taking your own equipment is half of the bullshit for sure.

 

The current gig I've got doesn't exactly pay loads but I just walk down the hill with my laptop and headphones, plug in to their SL4 and play tunes I like for 2 hours. I get pissed on free drinks and no one ever requests any bullshit music either, pretty awesome :)

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...