R Funksmith Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 (sorry if this is posted in the wrong forum.) so yeah, I just don't even know where to begin. I wanna start playing out of town, so I figure I need something more than just my soundcloud page to show people. Or do I? anyone have suggestions? Examples? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doppelkorn Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 I'd be interested in this topic so good post. What kind of stuff do you play and what kind of venues will you be loking at playing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Get your own website up maybe? You could have pages for your biography, mixes, a contact page and maybe a list of upcoming gigs if you're doing them regularly. As you host your mixes on SoundCloud, you could just embed those into your site to save hosting the files there too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wax On Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Business cards. Do you run any nights? some of the best netwrking is through cross-promotion. I think if you know particular spots you wanna hit up, cd's would still be worthwhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doppelkorn Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 I could have sworn DJ Tech Tools had some good articles on this topic but it seems you now need a password to access some of their archived stuff and I don't know how you go about getting one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Funksmith Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share Posted October 28, 2011 Certainly I need some business cards specific to djing, also a website. In the opposite order I guess. Do you run any nights? some of the best netwrking is through cross-promotion. Yeah I have a monthly (more or less) vinyl night... I have a basic understanding of the concept of cross-promotion, but how would I apply it in my case? (Fuckin hell, I'm too lazy for all this jazz. Too lazy to be doing all the stuff I do. I'm gonna need at least 5 different business cards at some point. Then I guess you need to have like a business card holder? A dope one?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wax On Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 A dope business card container will undoubtedly add more swag to your game. The way I see it with cross promotion is getting people who run other nights down to play at your nights and network like that, do gig swaps and stuff. Jon's probably better positioned to give you advice as I think he's involved in a few different things, I only personally know about that side of things from other people doing it, as i've never been a promoter. I've heard a few people before saying that promoting is a way to get your name out there though. You thought about trying to put on your night in other locations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wax On Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 For what its worth I don't think having a website is really worthwhile if you've got a soundcloud...you can put your contact details on there anyway, and soundcloud will get loads more traffic than a website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 I don't know where you're based but I've found the following has been useful to me in England. I currently earn all my income through djing and things dj related (promoting etc): If you want loads of gigs you'll have to be doing something exclusive to you or do it better than everyone else in your scene/genre. This could be developing your own unique production style and having songs only you (and maybe a few others) play, so promoters have to book you to/ crowds have to see you live to hear them. The same applies if you're a scratch DJ, try and have exclusive stuff to do live. That way seeing you live becomes a big event for your fanbase as they know you'll always perform new stuff. You have to be constantly on it to maintain that level of new material. A lot of guys who just dj who have earned their stripes and are key djs in scenes will also have this effect by having loads if exclusive and upfront tracks from key producers to play that no one else has. These are the types of people that get the gigs. Some reach this stage quickly and others get their in time. If your local scene doesn't have anything going related to what you do on and you want gigs, start up a night and when you have a big enough following (this can takes months and even years) you should try and book acts you like to play at your night. First of all you'll get to see those acts live, but you'll draw attention to yourself as people who come to see those acts will also see you. Some of these people may be or may know promoters and they might get you a gig. If you reckon you're at the level to try and get on other promoter's lineups it's worth networking and getting to know them, or at the very least sending out promo packs or mixes. Send your mixes to blogs too. You can also throw the offer in of doing gig swaps in a 'you scratch my back, i scratch yours' situation, but make sure they're giving you a fair deal ad are actually booking you to do what you want to do, not just becasuse they want more gigs themselves. I think someone posted about getting booking agents earlier. The only acts in my opinion who deserve to be with an agent are the type of acts in the first paragraph of this post. If they have a following or have the potential to have a following and have all the music ready agents will be interested. As far as i know your average dj doesn't get on a booking agency unless theyre super talented, but most promoters won;t be interested as they know in most cases they won't get any crowd pull from spending money on a dj who doesnt bring anything exclusive to the table. If you want more bar gigs just get a decent demo recorded and approach bars or try and get sets from promoters who put on small shows. This requires lots of networking. There's a lot more stuff to say but that's a good starting point. The most important thing is to practice and work on your craft HARD, even when you've got a few gigs as you always need to prove your worth and if you're into it for the love you'll be wanting to improve constantly anyway. Networking is equally important. My advise would be to work on your sets and publish online. If you're doing something right, people will come to you to give you gigs eventually and with a little promo of your own you'll be getting regular gigs. And prepare to have to put your all into it to get anywhere, I personally rarely take breaks from music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 For what its worth I don't think having a website is really worthwhile if you've got a soundcloud...you can put your contact details on there anyway, and soundcloud will get loads more traffic than a website. I disagree. Having your own website at the very least gives you a more memorable URL to use. While djsigma.co.uk isn't ideal (the .com was gone), it's better than soundcloud.com/deejaysigma. I suppose you could just buy a domain and set it to redirect to your SoundCloud but having your own site also allows you to write a better bio and include more info about yourself in general and layout the pages in a better way. Besides which, I've got loads of bookings through my website.............. It's just a shame that they were meant for "Sigma", the D&B guys from London. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 For what its worth I don't think having a website is really worthwhile if you've got a soundcloud...you can put your contact details on there anyway, and soundcloud will get loads more traffic than a website. I disagree. Having your own website at the very least gives you a more memorable URL to use. While djsigma.co.uk isn't ideal (the .com was gone), it's better than soundcloud.com/deejaysigma. I suppose you could just buy a domain and set it to redirect to your SoundCloud but having your own site also allows you to write a better bio and include more info about yourself in general and layout the pages in a better way. Besides which, I've got loads of bookings through my website.............. It's just a shame that they were meant for "Sigma", the D&B guys from London. From a promoter's perspective all i need is a contact email address to arrange a booking. A website with vifdeos and soundcloud links would be better for selling the idea of me booking an act, but if i already know the music an email address is all i'd need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Right, but the thread title is "ideas for internet-based DJ resume?" and a personal website is the best thing for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Yep, I think my point was that a website is not essential if you're on a budget but it would definitely help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Funksmith Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share Posted October 30, 2011 (edited) Jon, thanks for the paragraphs. I'm a full-time musician too, but djing is taking a bigger and bigger portion of my total output, and I'm really seeing how it could be very lucrative if managed right. I think you summed it all up nicely in your closing remarks:My advise would be to work on your sets and publish online. If you're doing something right, people will come to you to give you gigs eventually and with a little promo of your own you'll be getting regular gigs. And prepare to have to put your all into it to get anywhere, I personally rarely take breaks from music. I definitely need to get my game to a level where it would be hard to ignore how awesome I am. And then record that shit and slap it online. Thanks for the replies everyone Edited October 30, 2011 by R Funksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wax On Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Right, but the thread title is "ideas for internet-based DJ resume?" and a personal website is the best thing for that. I don't think a website is very important - no one really gives a shit about a detailed bio anyway do they? And promotors get a better idea of popularity from stuff like a Facebook page or Twitter, and soundcloid will get tonnes more traffic. And also I don't think a lot of promoters will remember an url without writing it down anyway, in which case it can be whatever. Just my 2 cents. I've had a couple of jump offs wrong site, but only a couple. Probably done more through MySpace when it was the place to be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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