DJ Pay and Set Times

[__________]

£50 aint gonna buy you much. i think our cheapest DJ was Kowton - I cant remember how much exactly but was around 400-500 i think. 1.5 hour set. Jackmaster was the most expensive at not a lot of change from £800 odd, for a 2 hour set if I remember.

400-500 / 800, plus bed & travel? Stitch up. You should've got your blag on.

If you skip agents, book direct and book as local as possible, it's more than possible to get quality names for a fraction of that price, or free if you're lucky.
It's all about hitting up people you know and either booking ages in advance or booking last minute.

Even agents are blag-able though. They'd rather get 10% of something than 10% of fuck all cos their client didn't get booked that night.

Bet you 90% of non-A-list DJ's would rather get paid £100 plus travel & accom to carry a CD wallet and headphones to a gig and play a 1 hour set than just sit at home and watch TV/play games/build a ridd on a saturday night.

Obviously this doesn't work so well if your event is in Scotland or Cornwall, but if you're in London or Bristol there's a lot of quality acts to pick from and most DJ's are on a level if you've got some kind of mutual respect for each other.

1.5/2 hours is the norm in the UK. In other areas of the world 3 to 5 hour sets are the norm.

I'd say 1 hour is the norm in the UK. 90 minute sets are often billed as "90 min set" cos most people expect a set to be 1 hour. I can't talk about USA but I've played enough gigs around Europe and about 80% of them were 1 hour. I think the only 90+ minute ones were in Dusseldorf (it was the night's 5th birthday) and Berlin (they standardly go hard in Berlin).
3-5 hours' worth of vinyl is like three record bags...nobody can be fucked risking that in hold luggage or carrying that shit...5 hour set is not normal anywhere as far as I know

[titchbit]

i think the 3-5 is coming from like, actual concerts. like even loefah has done 4 hour sets. if were talking about small-medium time djs, yes 1 hour is standard. but acts like steve aoki are gonna be a few hours probably, and i highly doubt they're playing vinyl

[outbound]

The only man turning a profit at nights is the one in the corner with the bag of pills.

LOL Wub

I think the same way, and I'm 100% in it to have fun. It's just there is only so much money you can lose before you brake down and cry.

[wub]

How long is a piece of string?

23 inches.

If you want to be clever about it, the correct answer is "half as long as twice it's length"

[skins345669]

I don't like nights where you have a mishmash of genres, I like my parties to have a consistent progression throughout. On a similar note, I also prefer 1.5 hour sets because it gives you more time to develop the narrative of your set, rather than just bashing out the same style for an hour. However, feel free to do whatever you want.

[wub]

Personal preference for me is 3 x 2hr sets. Two residents and a guest headliner. Plenty of time to let the residents warm up the crowd they should know well etc.

[syrup]

I usually see 1 and 1,5 hour sets around here, 5 or 6 DJs for the night.
from the DJ standpoint, a hour and half is the best time imo, an hour is too short, i find myself getting into the 'zone' 5 minutes before i'm supposed to end haha. 2 hours are cool, but sometimes, it can get a bit long, especially when you're playing late

There's this weekly thing i sometimes play at that does 3x 2 hours, though.

[blinx]

Plz dont be the guy that does 30min sets, or alternates sets. I hate HATE playing a fukcing 30min set then having another dj take my crowd.... and CLEAR THE FLOOR FOR a half hour, jsut so i can do my best to get the kids all back into the mood. I am now refusing to do this type of scheudle. Anything less than 1 hour sets is not worth my time.

Last time i played out i got a few hundo, but that was a "headline" at one of 4 stages that night so thats a little inflated pay out. Anything more than $0 dollars is a WIN in my book and id atleast do a few nights with that promoter who can pay me a little just to see how it went.

Flyers, in the US are pretty much worthless. Social Media is free and plentiful. So start whoring yourself on FB, Twitter and so on.

Another tip, dont run too many nights in a row. Give your scene a chance to "want"/"demand" a night out of you. 6-8 weesk is a good window to really promote the Next night with out burning out the locals in the scene.

Also create an EVENT each time, give it a real name and pimp that shit like its Glastonbury lol. Create a hype and it will pay out dividends.

You are def. going down a lonely and poor mans road, but if you can make it throught he gauntlet you could make some fun memories and help promote the tunes/artists you really like.

All just my opinion take it or leave it.

[titchbit]

Also create an EVENT each time, give it a real name and pimp that shit like its Glastonbury lol. Create a hype and it will pay out dividends.

I agreed with almost all the things you said except this. Making one of those big EDM names like "ELECTRIC ULTRA BISCO GLOW" is just cheesy, and it might make people separate each event in their minds. In other words, I think it's better to have one name in order to build a brand, like "Contact" or "System" or "Fwd" or whatever. That way you're more likely to build a reputation for having a (hopefully) quality night.

[kidshuffle]

Yeah, rock bands have been paying to play for years. But now it's dj's who are paying to play. Just proof to me that djing has reached that point when in the 70's/80's, every single white boy had a guitar.

It pretty much has come down to this - its sad but true.

Anyways, I would just give some free drinks if they're your friends, maybe 10 bucks for travel like legendary said. If you get paid from the bar or from cover, just split off an even percentage. Pay to play isnt really a bad idea either, it gives the DJ more incentive to promote dat shit and make sure people come.

I would also just do hour long sets, and extended sets if you have a bigger name who is willing to do so. Having more DJ's for the first shows just has more potential to reach more people. After you get a semi consistent fan base, you can re-evaluate your nights structure from there.

[jrkhnds]

I gonna be the tnuc and quote my own posts since they're simply the best ones in this thread.
been running multiple events and regular nights over the past couple of years; currently heading into our third year running a dnb night. it took us 12 months (12 editions) before we broke even and it was absolutely worth it.

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 [edit: scratch that. we're making about 400quid per night and are saving all of it for bad times / blackjack and hoes] - 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.

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.

[bassbum]

Loads of good little bit for me to think about in here thanks guys

[nowaysj]

And again, keep us updated.

[darkmatter]

Advice no. 1 - it's all about promo. Can't stress this enough. One in every hundred you give a flyer to might attend, and a party is not a party without people. Booking local DJs is automatic promo.

Make a budget in Excel, like below.

---
Headliner 400
Headliner travel accom 200
Support 150
Support travel accom 50
MC inc. costs 50
Drinks for acts 50
Flyers 80
Posters 80
Promo distribution cost 200
Club hire 150
System hire 150
10% buffer 156

Door price 6
Punters 287

Incoming 1722
Outgoing 1716

Break even 287 people
---

Bring the spreadsheet with you on the night. Monitor door numbers and guestlist numbers carefully (staying wary of the club's fire-safety-imposed max. capacity).

Never say you'll pay DJs "if you make a profit". If you make a profit it's because you have done well with your promo, and that money should be put aside for the next night. Either agree to pay them and pay regardless of your takings, or agree to book them again in future (with payment) if that can be accommodated. You may not know true takings until a good few days after the event, so don't risk adding to your own stress on the night.

To evaluate DJ bookings - for someone who costs 500 inc. travel and accom, will they get 84 people through the door at £6?

And to answer the question, 1.5 - 2 hours for a headliner, 1 - 1.5 hours for the rest. Don't make an eclectic crowd listen to 2 hours of obscure self-indulgent niche though.

[test_recordings]

Seconds on paying the DJs whether you make money or not. My mate put on a night in Leeds and I did the door. The poor guy chose a bad venue imo and only managed to get 3 nights done before deciding to stop at a loss of 400 quid.

Sick bastard still paid all the DJs and even me for sitting around doing nothing though. Got to respect him for that, keeping to his word.

[wub]

Sick bastard still paid all the DJs and even me for sitting around doing nothing though. Got to respect him for that, keeping to his word.

I've had promoters stiff me on pay before because not enough people came on my paying guestlist. We also had one promoter move our set time from closing to warmup for a similar reason.

[darkmatter]

Some other little bits: If you're selling advance tickets, put 'line-up subject to change' in small print on the flyer. For on the door tickets, make it cheaper before 11. If you're in a university town, get the student calendar well in advance to clash manage dates. Allow your flyerers to offer slightly cheaper paying guestlist for groups of 15 or more.

Wub - i've just seen you're in madrid. any recommendations for places to visit mate? my friend has just moved there and hasn't met that many people yet so i want to pass some suggestions on to her. i know Ben UFOs playing Siroco towards the end of the month...

[wub]

Wub - i've just seen you're in madrid. any recommendations for places to visit mate? my friend has just moved there and hasn't met that many people yet so i want to pass some suggestions on to her. i know Ben UFOs playing Siroco towards the end of the month...

Club wise;

Sirocco
Mondo
Fabrik

Are all great venues. Diegosapiens and myself are going down to Ben UFO on the 22nd, your mate is welcome to meetup if he's down for it

[titchbit]

Is Fabrik related to Fabric in London?

[wub]

Is Fabrik related to Fabric in London?

No.