Would you pay money to DJ?

[__________]

Anyone heard of DJ's paying radio subs?
That's not even a club and people still pay.

[DJoe]

Anyone heard of DJ's paying radio subs?
That's not even a club and people still pay.

yeah i did that when i was 15 and naive

[test_recordings]

That's a good advert and it's fair if there's no commercial revenue imo

[DJoe]

yeah most pirates have subs

[particle-jim]

I'd certainly think about paying to play at System, thats all though

[oski]

Anyone heard of DJ's paying radio subs?
That's not even a club and people still pay.

this + if you put on your own night and lose all your money you're effectively paying to dj
I think radio's different to paying to play in a club, radio stations haven't got any other way of recouping costs other than you paying to be on air

[jrkhnds]

some people in here seem to not really appreciate the costs of DJing.
I spend an important amount of money and time on records to keep up with the demand of "new" sets and pieces. I have travel costs that need coverage and I'd like to eat aswell. decent promoters are making money off their nights, and without DJs, there wouldn't be any nights.
as a promoter, I may book a kid that will turn up with his laptop full of pirated tunes and pay him £30 and he'll be happy; or I may value the art of DJing and make the conscious decision to shell out £150 for a guy that's been around for a couple of years, knows his shit and delivers a great set in front of just about any crowd you could imagine.
to decide on which DJ I'm going to book I'll have to analyse my crowd: are they a bunch of 16yo chavs that just want to get slammed and jump around a bit? the laptop dude will do just fine. are these educated people that want to experience something fresh and know a thing or two about music? take the veteran.

I like to think of my night as one with a good reputation when it comes to sound, hospitality and value for money. building a reputation takes time, stamina, effort and investment. I'm now making several 100 quid per night - however, we only broke even after 12 months of hard work. granted, if I ran some events targeted at chavs and hipsters, I might just book Hucci and walk out with £2000 in my pocket.
promoting and DJing is also a question of personal integrity. somebody taking money from DJs isn't respecting their work, and there isn't a reason to, since the guy paying to play doesn't respect his work either. that's babylon business and nothing good could possibly come from such an approach to culture.

[funkywhisky]

^^^ Yes!

[test_recordings]

I agree with Jurkhands, DJs need decent treatment or it'll fuck off a load of people

[Riddles]

would u pay to work in another job?

not really the same though is it? it's a hobby before it's a job init so more like if you like bowling you pay to go bowling don't you. Personally i wouldn't pay to play but i don't see whats wrong with it if you enjoy djing so much and wanna hear tunes on a proper system,.

yeh true, if it was a good system and i wouldnt have the opportunity else i might consider it.

[didi]

promoting and DJing is also a question of personal integrity. somebody taking money from DJs isn't respecting their work, and there isn't a reason to, since the guy paying to play doesn't respect his work either. that's babylon business and nothing good could possibly come from such an approach to culture.

cosign x100

gotta have some self respect

[fiveone]

to answer ops topic question... no i wouldn't lol. but i would play for free

[Harkat]

are these educated people that want to experience something fresh and know a thing or two about music?.

[xXGreenXx90]

Hell yeah! I would pay to play at a sweet club. I would probably disappoint a lot of people though because I am still a beginner XD

[Taiken]

I think it depends, I probably would pay to play at outlook, dmz or system. But like others said, if they don't book you, you don't belong there. And I don't think that a real good vibe can grow under such circumstances , and the vibe is why we dj in the first place, right?

I would never pay to play @ a fancy shmancy hyped club just because they are big now, f**k them, totaly agree with jurkhands on this!

[Alert1]

pay-to-play = scam

sell tickets to play = scam

[dragstar]

Off topic but as someone who's been playing out for about a year now at a few decent clubs around London I say fuck the promoter, put on your own nights. At least 90% of the gigs ive played at ive felt like ive been mugged off in some way by these money grabbing dickhead promoters. I spend so much time, money and effort getting new releases, hunting down old tunes, cutting dubs and putting in hours of practise and all these stnuc do is get at me for not doing stupid invites on facebook or complaining when i get payed in a few drinks tokens on the night. It seemed ok at first because i was getting gigs but now i just feel like im bringing shame to djs by allowing myself to get used like this so FUCK EM start your own night and run things the way you want to.

People on here talking about how they'd pay to play at system etc but remember these are all people who went out and started there own thing initially so imo let that inspire you to do the same.

[Riddles]

Off topic but as someone who's been playing out for about a year now at a few decent clubs around London I say fuck the promoter, put on your own nights. At least 90% of the gigs ive played at ive felt like ive been mugged off in some way by these money grabbing dickhead promoters. I spend so much time, money and effort getting new releases, hunting down old tunes, cutting dubs and putting in hours of practise and all these stnuc do is get at me for not doing stupid invites on facebook or complaining when i get payed in a few drinks tokens on the night. It seemed ok at first because i was getting gigs but now i just feel like im bringing shame to djs by allowing myself to get used like this so FUCK EM start your own night and run things the way you want to.

People on here talking about how they'd pay to play at system etc but remember these are all people who went out and started there own thing initially so imo let that inspire you to do the same.

yeah, completely understand. gonna start looking at putting on a night near me next year, just moved so im just getting settled but I've wanted to for a while and it gives me a good opportunity to do it now.

[jrkhnds]

setting up a night requires a lot of preparation though.

will you do it on your own or with a team? who's gonna be doing what? how do you ensure there won't be any fighting over money etc.?
what's your concept? what sound do you want to play? are international bookings an option? which club might fit your general demands? out of these, which ones already host similar nights? what managers are stnuc, which ones are decent? what kind of deal will you get cut (payment modalities, promotion, dj fees...)? what's the club's reputation?
what kind of audience do you
want to reach? how do they communicate? what are their expectations? is the infrastructure (sound system, geographic location, ambiance, toilets, smoker's area, security, general layout) sufficient?

all the answers to these questions influence eachother. there are A LOT of external factors to consider as well (uni breaks? exam phase? other nights, other promoters? weather? season? holidays?), you can't do anything about most of them, but if you don't prepare they are likely to fuck your night up on a regular basis.


food for thought.

[wub]

setting up a night requires a lot of preparation though.

will you do it on your own or with a team? who's gonna be doing what? how do you ensure there won't be any fighting over money etc.?
what's your concept? what sound do you want to play? are international bookings an option? which club might fit your general demands? out of these, which ones already host similar nights? what managers are stnuc, which ones are decent? what kind of deal will you get cut (payment modalities, promotion, dj fees...)? what's the club's reputation?
what kind of audience do you
want to reach? how do they communicate? what are their expectations? is the infrastructure (sound system, geographic location, ambiance, toilets, smoker's area, security, general layout) sufficient?

all the answers to these questions influence eachother. there are A LOT of external factors to consider as well (uni breaks? exam phase? other nights, other promoters? weather? season? holidays?), you can't do anything about most of them, but if you don't prepare they are likely to fuck your night up on a regular basis.


food for thought.

Superb post...seen so many nights not take these into account and then struggle to make it to three events.