djxander Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 I'm surprised this thread hasn't been done before considering its something that 80% of us on this board DO in fact think about. What is your hiring rate as a DJ? Do you charge per hour, set, evening? How low will you go? Do you have any credentials/attributes that allow you to charge more than others around? Can you live off of DJing and no other job? This may be "bad taste," but most of us live no less than a plane ride away from each other (or at least for those of us in the US) so its not like it will encourage undercutting of others or anything like that. Money matters, that's the truth ... try going to the record store with a wallet full of "eagerness," "passion," or "curiosity" and see what happens if you don't believe it. Anyway... I'll go first. I've only really started playing out VERY recently. I still do plenty of shit for free and I just generally try to get my self out there as much as possible. The standard rate for a DJ in this town is $50usd/hr (assuming the PA is provided for you). I've generally been surprised because the first couple times I told people $50/hr I thought they would totaly flip out and be like "ARE YOU CRAZY?!" but people seem to react very calmly to this rate (note: this is a college town and people aren't exactly wealthy). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deft Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 I'll dj for drugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texas pete Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 At the moment i dont play out for a number reasons... i dont have enough money to keep up with current tunes or bulk out my collection with enough tunes of the same genre making it hard to put together a coherent set. another reason is that i dont drive so lugging my equipment around is pretty hard. I suppose another lame ass reason as to why i dont play out much is that i really dont knopw where to look for sets! how do you go arounf getting a regular set? the 2 last gigs i did was a mates birthday and i got £50 for the night. played halloween in the pub where i worked and i got £30 for the night plus loads of jack daniels merchandise like a fleece, t shirt, bag, shot glass and mini hip flask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-Se7en Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 a lot of the time i do it for the hell of it, i like playing to a crowd, other times roughly £40 for an hours set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djxander Posted February 7, 2006 Author Share Posted February 7, 2006 At the moment i dont play out for a number reasons... i dont have enough money to keep up with current tunes or bulk out my collection with enough tunes of the same genre making it hard to put together a coherent set. another reason is that i dont drive so lugging my equipment around is pretty hard. I suppose another lame ass reason as to why i dont play out much is that i really dont knopw where to look for sets! how do you go arounf getting a regular set? the 2 last gigs i did was a mates birthday and i got £50 for the night. played halloween in the pub where i worked and i got £30 for the night plus loads of jack daniels merchandise like a fleece, t shirt, bag, shot glass and mini hip flask.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Honestly, the key is networking. Be open about DJing and your love for it, do free gigs in basements, apartments, etc. DO NOT BE A PRETENTIOUS PRICK DJ. If you attend a university try to build bonds with as many student groups as possible. Be creative. Also, in terms of pleasing crowds & developing a solid reputation, always consider your audience and the type of event you're playing at. This goes back to not being pretentious. Don't show up to an mostly black party with a crate of scratch weapons and wonder why they're booing you off stage because you didn't play Kryptonite, Check On It, Stay Fly, Ooh I Think They Like Me, or Grillz - it's prolly cuz you don't give a shit about them having a good time or what they like and they'll respond accordingly. Likewise, if you're asked to do a poetry event, you should probably dust of the jazzy shit and leave your Crunk crates at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
$a!n+ Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 I play for for free beer everyother wednesday night. Every now and again they spot me a 20$ or two. Thats just on the DJ front. Band shows are a whole'nother ball game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texas pete Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Honestly, the key is networking. Be open about DJing and your love for it, do free gigs in basements, apartments, etc. DO NOT BE A PRETENTIOUS PRICK DJ. If you attend a university try to build bonds with as many student groups as possible. Be creative.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> word... but i have just finished university and to be honest i really didnt want to associate with the dj's there cos they just wankers! if you werent in their group of mates there wasnt even a chance of getting to touch the decks! it took nearly a year of persuasion to let the contracted dj put on a few dj's from the student radio to play (literally) a few tunes on the john peel night. the music on this night was so censored it was unbelievable! ie no d&b allowed as well as any really underground stuff also the contracted dj HAD to play a few tunes inbetween to keep "the regulars"happy. in short the uni was shite for dj's and hip hop! the mixologists played to a crowd of 6! that was me, my mate and the bar staff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djxander Posted February 7, 2006 Author Share Posted February 7, 2006 Pete it helps being buddies w/ local DJs and all, but doesn't your university have fraternities and cultural organizations that are not under the direct control of the main university entity? Those are the kinds I am talking about. If another DJ has something on lock, go for something else. After all, he only has 24 hours a day too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texas pete Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 lol to be honest our university was a bit of a joke. the hip hop society existed but they never met or turned up... they just went bling shopping and bumped with the ladies! there were a couple of open decks nights where you could win prizes and stuff but i was always working. i guess i was too lazy/outgoing to have got an slot somewhere. im gonna give it another shot after easter when i will ahve a bit more free time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 I'll play a set for a few beers and money for a taxi generally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 I stopped doing house parties a while ago. They're too much of a pain in the ass. Buying and maintaining a rig is expensive and takes a lot of manual labor. Then you have to worry about people fucking with your shit and spilling things on it. I stick to clubs only now. It's so damn easy. You just walk in with some records and cd's, and play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 At the moment i dont play out for a number reasons... i dont have enough money to keep up with current tunes or bulk out my collection with enough tunes of the same genre making it hard to put together a coherent set. another reason is that i dont drive so lugging my equipment around is pretty hard. I suppose another lame ass reason as to why i dont play out much is that i really dont knopw where to look for sets! how do you go arounf getting a regular set? the 2 last gigs i did was a mates birthday and i got £50 for the night. played halloween in the pub where i worked and i got £30 for the night plus loads of jack daniels merchandise like a fleece, t shirt, bag, shot glass and mini hip flask.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Honestly, the key is networking. Be open about DJing and your love for it, do free gigs in basements, apartments, etc. DO NOT BE A PRETENTIOUS PRICK DJ. If you attend a university try to build bonds with as many student groups as possible. Be creative. Also, in terms of pleasing crowds & developing a solid reputation, always consider your audience and the type of event you're playing at. This goes back to not being pretentious. Don't show up to an mostly black party with a crate of scratch weapons and wonder why they're booing you off stage because you didn't play Kryptonite, Check On It, Stay Fly, Ooh I Think They Like Me, or Grillz - it's prolly cuz you don't give a shit about them having a good time or what they like and they'll respond accordingly. Likewise, if you're asked to do a poetry event, you should probably dust of the jazzy shit and leave your Crunk crates at home.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Word. The hiring rate in San Fran, Ca is normally $50 - 80 per hour. We normally take our own PA system with us though. LOL @ "Crunk crates". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 for djing i'd do it for fun, maybe the cost of any transport, but normally £20 is given which is fine by me, they are only small venues most of the time. hopefully i'll take my 1man band out soon.( james b more) but i wantto perfect my performance and also there isnt alot of experimental fans in my parts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimrod Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 at my uni there are some quite pro-active societies thatr promote hiphop, they often put on good quality uk hiphop acts, for example the hiphop society put on a real good night last year where it was ty (with full 10 piece live band), phi life and rodney p all played. the club was time in swansea (x2k will know, LOL did you go to that tom? of all the venues... ) however their promotion skills are shocking at times, ugly duckling came and played to literally the bar staff. ditto krafty kuts, which was a real real shame. but yeah i just play out whenever the uni needs a hiphop dj, ive entered the juice/telegraph student battle and came 6th in the uk final at ministry... that increased awareness of both me as a dj and the fact i play srictly non-commercial hiphop. i get told off by some of the organisers but people will dance to it anyway; there is quite a strong hiphop scene at swansea uni so im really lucky cos a lot of the crowd actually appreciate what i play for them, and are responsive to new music that i play, which is cool. but yeah anyway, my rates, if its a night put on by the uni then i make sure i get at least 50 quid and free beer. if its a student house party then just free beer and weed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJDelay Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 My rate!? lol Usually just a free beer, or just for a few quid. A couple of my friends used to run a small night in Leeds and they'd split the money made on the bar between themselves and everyone that dj'd on the night But i agree that sometimes hard to justify buying loads of records every week and keeping up with the trends in music when very little money is coming in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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