Todays DJ Prices?

[triptych]

An artist doesn't just come and play tunes for an hour then fuck off.

Depending on the name of the calibre of artist they also draw in a crowd.

Skream vs DJ Joe Bloggs Bedroom DJ

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Someone above mentioned it's not about the DJ? No? Sorry I saw 2,600 people raving hard to Benga b2b Skream at Matter and then half of them fucked off when Spyro came on.

All three are sick DJ's in their own right, but the former are hot stuff at the moment.

+1

[seckle]

that people are spoilt for choice and can see their fav djs all the time especially in London.

this has always been the case. this is also the reason why asking fees for london versus everywhere else will be very different. in london, you can see your favorite DJ's several times over the course of 60 days. elsewhere or overseas, people can maybe see their favorite dj's once, or twice in a year...if that.

[hakka]

We have over 1,000+ heads every month. I just cant see myself handing over that much money for someone to play an hour of tunes and then fuck off.

I agree and you don't have to. Fact is a big name dj will not cover his cost. Take for instance you pay xyz dj £500. You charge £5 on the door that means a 100 people would need to turn up entirely independently (of promoters friend's/contacts etc) just to see him - ain't ever ever gonna happen. Its the promoters friends etc that turn up especially if its a small night. Putting on a name dj really makes jack shit difference and is tantamount to pissing in the wind. The scene is big but not that big. People often over estimate the size of the scene. Also there are so many nights that people are spoilt for choice and can see their fav djs all the time especially in London. 99% of nights barely cover their costs so the economics of it simple don't work. Anyways there's a lot more I could go into but I'll leave at that for now.

This, we have hardly any Huge name DJ's on at our night. Our main source of punters is good local DJ's and their mates. With 3 rooms and over 30 DJ's, 3/4 big names and the rest local guys. We have always had an outstanding number through the door, dont matter who is headlining.

Plus we only charge a fiver on the door for 3 rooms at one of the best venue's in the midlands. If we was to invest a shitload of cash into a couple of huge headliners then we would have to up the door price. I think people enjoy it because its cheap and people have a nice variety of music.

Infact the Custard Factory is very impressed with the way we are doing things and we have been told we made more money on the bar than some other nights there with 10 huge headliners that must have cost an arm and a leg.

[Be-1ne]

IMO when you start charging over £1,000 for an hours set and are DJing at least twice a month you clearly aren't in it for the music anymore.

Feel a lot of respect can be lost for an artist when you hear their fee's and then here them say in an interview they are in it for the music.

You can still easily live comfortably off two gigs a month for half that fee if you aks me.

Are you real? I don't like reply to these kind's of thing's, but come on mate.

So your basically saying if someone becomes successful they should not up their fee's???

Ok.. I see, your under the impression that if someone DJ's twice a month and gets 2k then they have 2k in their pocket.?

At the point someone is earning that much they are self employed...! (if not, I'd hate for the tax man to pay a visit) so they have to take into account paying their tax bill at the end of the year. So they have lost around 500quid straight off for tax, vat and NI contribution.

Look at the average price of accommodation, for somewhere half decent outside London your looking in the region of 500quid, inside the capital your looking at best part of a grand a month. This probably doesn't include bills which comes in around 200 a month to make sure you don't fall behind with anything (gas, electric, council tax, mobile phone, internet, accountant) so your idea of 2k in someones pocket for 2gigs suddenly becomes in the region of couple of hundred quid after they have actually funded their ability to live on a daily basis.

So then if you look at simple cost of eating a decent healthy meal 3 times a day with some variation you looking these days in the region of a tenner a day to eat, give or take a couple of quid.

[raffia]

It's not just one hour of my life I have lost. Its going to be 24hours, including travel to and from airport. waiting around etc.

exactly. getting to and from gigs is 3 times as big a time waster than the actual gig itself. all that wasted time needs to be compensated. people don;t have any idea how draining travel can be. airport security and the dance at customs on their own are a mess. customs people love musicians.

if you hire a plumber to come fix your kitchen, he starts charging you from the moment he leaves his shop, not when he's at your door.

actually that's not true, plumbers charge by the hour.

my heart bleeds for the dj's of the world, maybe they need to get a different job since life's so hard on the road lol.

there's always the option of unemployment for instance, its a big one right now.

[Pistonsbeneath]

theres a lot of truth in this thread from different angles...

it is true that if djing is your full time job then the huge fees stop being so huge....

but of course having a real job is a lot worse on a spiritual and creative level...

[deadly_habit]

recession and price of travelling have gone up so yea prices have as well

[Whistla]

that people are spoilt for choice and can see their fav djs all the time especially in London.

this has always been the case. this is also the reason why asking fees for london versus everywhere else will be very different. in london, you can see your favorite DJ's several times over the course of 60 days. elsewhere or overseas, people can maybe see their favorite dj's once, or twice in a year...if that.

i can tell u, i live in london, and i still NEVER get to see the djs in want

[promo]

This, we have hardly any Huge name DJ's on at our night. Our main source of punters is good local DJ's and their mates. With 3 rooms and over 30 DJ's, 3/4 big names and the rest local guys. We have always had an outstanding number through the door, dont matter who is headlining.

Plus we only charge a fiver on the door for 3 rooms at one of the best venue's in the midlands. If we was to invest a shitload of cash into a couple of huge headliners then we would have to up the door price. I think people enjoy it because its cheap and people have a nice variety of music.

Infact the Custard Factory is very impressed with the way we are doing things and we have been told we made more money on the bar than some other nights there with 10 huge headliners that must have cost an arm and a leg.

Mate, sounds like you've got a real smart operation going on. I'm really impressed.

[leights]

I can solve this discussion with 2 words

Supply and Demand

Come on chaps this is basic economics

[jemenfish]

Supply and Demand

Supply and demand you can judge the dates etc.

Prices you will notice with some agencies that if an artist will want 500, they will try to charge a venue 1000 or 1500, even if they only get 15 percent: Their cut is larger and they can try to make it the base price more often.

And some promoters will just go 'oh, 1500. Sure' regardless if it's a correct price, in larger venues etc.

[promo]

I can solve this discussion with 2 words

Supply and Demand

Not really - supply outweighs demand and that's why the economics of it don't work (from a promoter's perspective). If a promoter is just barely breaking even or losing money from putting on a name including all his promoting efforts then booking names doesn't work. I mean how fuckin' dumb do people have to get.

[surface_tension]

that people are spoilt for choice and can see their fav djs all the time especially in London.

this has always been the case. this is also the reason why asking fees for london versus everywhere else will be very different. in london, you can see your favorite DJ's several times over the course of 60 days. elsewhere or overseas, people can maybe see their favorite dj's once, or twice in a year...if that.

Then they come and bankroll their next year of jobless chainsaw bassline bullshit by trainwrecking or just plain not mixing in key or even matching beats at all. Sorry for my blatant cynicism but there are some DJs who shouldn't be getting paid, let alone flown across the globe to do what any local can do. Locals can pack the house if the night is already succesful. Better promotion can work wonders. You can always get more asses on a dance floor. You can't always unsuck balls on decks.

[MikeE]

I can solve this discussion with 2 words

Supply and Demand

Come on chaps this is basic economics

Half of DSFers seem to be lefties, so basic economics is a foriegn concept to them.

Promoters pay DJs based on what they think is an acceptable risk for the event. If they think X DJ will bring in X amount of people they pay them X amount, if they DJ wants too much either they negotiate with them/their agent or they book someone else.

Its that simple.

Or, theyr eally like X DJ and are willing to make a loss on them for personal reasons, promo/whatever..

Its not some sort of commie planned economy.. its a market.

Also in different markets you will be worth more, i.e. if you are coming here to NZ... from the UK you will pull more people than if you were playing your local club - due to novelty/rarity value of it.

You could be a local who produces playing your club night in bristol and get a bar tab, then come to the other side of the world and command a fee. Same thing goes here, there are guys I know in the DNB scene who can barely get a paid gig here but fly them to europe and they are making $3k a night..

[notch]

There are exceptions to the rules, but the way I see it is you produce tunes to get the dj gigs.. The artist doesn't really make anything theses days on producing tracks alone. The artist makes money off of touring and DJing. So If your smart you build a nice collection of original tunes and remixes and you don't take every booking thrown your way and just build your tunes and market like a madman over the Internet and be able to draw massive crowds when you play a gig.. Personally I think giving away everything is the best way to Market yourself and get your sound out there because you can crossover into different genres of music and markets easier and you can have complete control over your music. How much are really going to make off 1 track these days.. or even 10 bangers?? What is the artist cut on a label?? Maybe 10% or 20% after its all said and done. Think about it.. The DJ/ARTIST should essentially charge all the money they can when djing out...But how much they charge is in accordance to the crowd they can draw...

Just the way I see the music business these days.

[dj 2e]

I think u all have good points. this has been good thread.

Aswell as travel time, hotels etc. u have to think of the dubplates theese people are pressing. I know u can do eveything digitally theese days (cdjs, serato, tractor etc) but someone like n-type, skream or benga are cutting maybe 10 dubs a week @ £50 a go that's £500 before they have left their house to go play. Obviously 50k is excesive, but £300-1500 depending on location, length of set & travel time etc, to me is perfectly reasonable to ask for.

[random trio]

It's not just one hour of my life I have lost. Its going to be 24hours, including travel to and from airport. waiting around etc.

exactly. getting to and from gigs is 3 times as big a time waster than the actual gig itself. all that wasted time needs to be compensated. people don;t have any idea how draining travel can be. airport security and the dance at customs on their own are a mess. customs people love musicians.

if you hire a plumber to come fix your kitchen, he starts charging you from the moment he leaves his shop, not when he's at your door.

actually that's not true, plumbers charge by the hour.

If its a call out its around £60 before a we even get the tools out.. thats why every 1 loves a plumber lol. I've retired from that game now may i add..

[Jak The lad]

Dj Maximus (BBK) 1 and a half hours £500 £650

See here's the trick, change the name slightly and they don't even have to send the right DJ lol.

[pete_bubonic]

Hakka - first off I want to say props to running a successful night, it's a bloody hard job and you seem to be doing it well. But just doint some basic maths, by charging fives on the door, you're already turning over 5k minimum. Take 5 bills away for venue hire (if you haven't cut deals becasue of the big bar take). Now you say 30+ dj's but I can only see 20 on the flyer in your sig, let's take it as read that probably 10 are local or your own guys walking away with 500 split between them, then you got lets say 2/2.5k for the big names and looking after them. So we're now looking at around 800/1k profit. Now I'm sure anyone working through this with any experience of running big nights, is like fair enough! Man put in the hours, what's wrong with that.

now let's look at it from the artist side, I'll even use myself as an example. Outside of bristol I ask for 150 and normally get haggled down to a bill becasue I'm not well known. I run a label have 5 releases and more coming. I spend countless hours trying to perfect a sound, something unique, I practice mixing, I promote the label, spend hours getting promo strategies right, networking, paying for promo. The label might break even (if we're lucky on the proper leftfield releases), or make a 4bill profit on the bigger releases (which we get raped for by promo costs, free mp3's artwork, mcps etc). So I put in the hours, work myself ragged and on the whole don't make any money from it. So I get booked for a bill, I would usually need to take a half day off off from work to practice (lose 50 notes right there), pay 50 notes to get some dubs cut and usually pay for local travel (taxis etc- becasue most promoters will forget about covering this). yet I still don't ask for more money becasue i can't guarantee i will bring in the people.

Now lets look at it from a headliners perspective, you're day job is f/t music. You need to pay your rent, put food on the table, buy equipment, maybe fund a label, and spend countless hours unpaid, working on music. Unless you're getting remix commissions from major labels (which would usually be between a g to 5g if it were massive), you're going to be struggling to cover all these expenses (especially so if you have a family to support). As Seckle has already pointed out, the money just ain't in releases, even if you move major, so the money has got to come from gigs. And as with all fields of work, as you move towards the middle to top end of the field you should expect your annual wage to be going from 30k upwards (why should musicians earn less becasue they love what they do?) to 70k (more depending on genre, success, time in the game etc). break it down and for middle to top dogs you SHOULD be looking at 500+ a set PLUS all expenses. Especially when you can bring 500 people to the ngiht by sticking thier name on the flyer.

So I can understand from a promoters angle, it looks like you're getting raped, but simple fact is, if you can earn it, you should earn it becasue there aint no saying when that well will dry up.


On a separate note, some complete spengs on my local board and on here have said that 'you shouldn't make money out of something you love', the ONLY thing you guys are highlighting with this statement is that you have no idea how hard it is to run in the game and how niave you are.

[setspeed]

you've gotta remember too that there's the other side to it - how much the promoter stands to make.

to take someone like Rusko for instance, he is big enough that we all know his name on its own is enough to get 700 people to pay a tenner each to come into a club.

so if someone offers him a gig in a 700 capacity club, should he offer to play for £250 just to prove that he's really in it for the music and not the money, or would he just be getting played?