THE•DAILY•BULL | Beta

One of the most worst things you can do to a DJ is book them after your flyer has been printed or put in public circulation. The evil scheme behind this is because they don’t want to commit to just you. Behind the scenes they would rather have 20 free DJs show up and perform…offering they get free publicity than having one DJ show up and demand to be taken care of appropriately when they’re performing.

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Solution: Demand that the client is required to give you no less than 2 weeks notice from the start of flyer production to view the flyer. It’s your career take control of it. Make sure your name is bigger than the “Special Guest Birthday Boy/Girl” and the person who designed the flyer.

Business makes the world go round and it’s the primary bond of black & white documents that pushes the world as well. To both amateurs/professionals. Remember this: ALWAYS GET IT IN WRITING. Your best friend from diaper days will always have his best interest at heart, yours will always come second, this isn’t a cynical view but a valuable one. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing business with a saint or a devil. Cover you ass. It’s the best policy up front to know if you’re dealing with a schemer or a professional. Anyone, who doesn’t agree to your terms on papar will never agree to your terms vocally, stand your ground.

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Solution: Stand your ground, don’t be passive or flexible when it comes to your business. Require all paperwork to be reviewed and signed within 48 hours of your agreed business transaction. If they refuse to even read or sign the agreement. You better off finding another lead for business. In todays music/entertainment circle especially in the lower levels of business it’s hard to find those even literate enough to read simple documents, they want instant results with no preparation. Avoid these characters at all cost, it’ll save you a lot of future grief.

Social information is king, I find it quite hard to believe a clients facebook, myspace, foursquare, twitter, linkin, Hi5, & Google buzz account all went down at the same time and I tried to reach you. Not mention your cell, phone, sms, mms, & email was on the fritz too. News Flash it’s all bullshit. The odds of all of these services going down the moment you hit send to the recipient of your correspondence is like a billion to one of happening. Don’t fall for it, they’re just trying to tell you in a passive aggressive (very popular) way to fuck off.

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Solution: Give your client a week before the event to bring you up to speed with developments that effect you while you’re performing. If you and your client have known about this event for more than 30 days and your communication hasn’t increased or no calls have been answered or returned in the last days before the event. Consider the event cancelled without professionally giving you notice. I suggest 2 weeks prior to the event get a “good faith” payment to ensure lock in. Usually 15% of your performance fee, that can be deducted from your fee at the end of the event.

There’s nothing more frustrating than to get a potential client who has million dollar dreams and two dollar pockets. A DJ is my opinion is the world worst and best profession, best in that it can take around the world…and the worst in equipment cost. There’s nothing like paying $200 dollars for a pairs of cans (headphones) that a $50 pair can probably do as well.

If you haven’t gotten to the level of having equipment being brought and setup for you. You are taking your multi-thousand dollar rig out to be threatened by the weather, loading/unloading, liquids, fights, and more risks. If you are called to bring out your $2000 laptop, $1200 turntables, $200 Hard Drive, $200 Headphones and you are offered $200 to spin the whole night, something is wrong with this picture.

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Solution: If you are met with this decision, demand 15%-20% of the cost of your equipment on top of your performance fee. With the example above the total cost of the equipment is $3600, 20% of $3600 is $720 dollars. Unless your in the middle of hurricane alley or a fault line in Los Angeles all of your gear can be covered by this side “insurance policy” if one of those items becomes damaged. It may pay/not pay 100% cost but it will get you halfway there to find a good deal if your equipment has been around for awhile. And DJs, be honest about cost. Your 1997 Technics 1200s aren’t worth 2010 retail market value, shop around and do monthly estimates of your gear to keep up on price points for dated gear.

“Hey before the event you mind going to this place and handing out some fliers?” The answer should be no. Nowhere in your performance fee should the main attraction of your event (The DJ) be sent to do street team duties or the clients job. We have enough pressure to make sure you don’t blame us for an empty dance floor and now you want us to be potentially blamed for how many attended?!?!

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Solution: Don’t wear multiple hats unless being paid to do so. However, if you are a DJ who is a co-partner in the development of the event then you are just as equally responsible for the outcome, do your part. But if you are met with a promoter asking you do some light work while you’re doing your own tasks before the event during the day then consider it common courtesy to do so. Otherwise, charge transportation cost and save your gas receipts if they ask you to travel to places you’re no where near to promote easily.

Nothing says professional like a client who has one hour to go and the house is packed and they decide to celebrate and get shit face style and stumble to the booth to give everyone in attendance a shout out and talk about how their team is “the hottest” and “stop hating on their movement” talking over the hottest song of the evening. Or the annoying person who decides their iPod playlist should be the entire events soundtrack. As DJs, we have all encountered them.

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Solution: Have a set time of when announcements can be made, I’ve used the 10/10 rule which is 10 minutes into the hour and 10 before the hour is over. That way you can have 40 minutes of uninterrupted mic spit stinking up the booth (gross). Of course make exceptions, don’t be an hard ass if an unfortunate accident happens or someone’s car is being towed.

So you’ve packed up for the night you’re practically cleaning up with the bar staff and you wheel your gear out to load up. But before you go, where’s the client. He/She owes you for the night and you haven’t seen them since you started. This is another thorn in the side of the DJ. You can’t expect me to believe that you forgot about the one person who kept your event in full swing all night and now they decided to leave without settling up for the night. The is the ultimate “die bitch” move.

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Solution: Here is where the 75/25 rule plays key in making sure you get paid before the night is even over. If you don’t have a contract drawn up Get 75% of your fee an hour before you perform. The last 25% is still owed however if they decide to pull a *POOF* on you and bounce at least you got 3/4ths of your fee and the 25% can be counted as lost tax. For my hard ass DJs out there 30 minutes before the event play the music real low and the mic volume high, page the client to come to the booth (ultimate doucebagary) All of these tactics can be avoided if terms are agreed to up front. If the client knows to come to the booth before the night is over to settle up and avoids playing “who can read my mind first” game. This can be easy to maneuver around.

This is for my semi-pros to full-time pros. If you got a agency or a manager it’s nothing worst than dealing with a client who expects to deal with you directly. “D List” clients look to this as you making them feel inferior or beneath them. They never realize that your business and success is based on how/if your team works for you. If they deal with you directly, you’re paying a manager/agency to sit on their ass and do nothing. Make sure these type of clients understand your business practices and not take them personally.

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Solution: This goes back to my paperwork and agreement point. Let your clients know (during the negotiation talks) that you have a dependable team that can get them the information they need without reaching out to the performer directly. Calling the DJ directly to find out if they going to have that new song you heard on the radio today for the event is not something you need to make a priority. DJs make sure your clients have ALL of your, manager, agency, and a secondary contact like a intern or voice-mail service contacts.

A DJs business is solely based on public awareness, quality, and popularity. There is no such thing as a unpopular successful DJ. With that said, DJs you have to map out a plan for optimal exposure. When you do a event, it’s hard to convince the client to let you hang a banner or put up promo posters. They tend to lose focus on who is the main attraction of the night. It’s you the DJ, not the client. Flyers, business cards, posters, mixes, email sign-up, and swag (stuff we all get) items are essentials to wheather other attendees see your presence and become clients as well.

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Solution: If you’re not the screamjay type (like me) consider using drops and sweeps combined with sound effects (like sirens, bombs, etc.) during song transitions. For your exclusive/classic/climax content, multi-track your name in the studio (pre-event) over the beginning, end, and one chorus to avoid an extra step while performing. If you encounter a promoter or venue that won’t let you hang a banner or posters using drops and sweeps are a way make sure the entire club knows who is in the booth that night.

Most DJs, clients, and associates that have crossed my path in life all have one thing in common. They all love to name drop to make themselves seem bigger than what they are. It’s the yard stick of survival in this industry if you ask me. “You can’t live with it, can’t live without it.” However, when these habitual traits come along there are ways to shatter that paradigm.

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Solution:  First off, realize that this display of business is like fore-play, get you hot & ready to accept anything they got cooked in their brain. I understand when folks need a background or history. But I want your history, not your wealthy relatives history especially if they aren’t sitting here with us discussing terms. Ask for recent industry activity, get references like club/bar owners venues they have used for events. Ask them, why they came to you instead of another DJ. This way you can hear some of your strong points and focus on them to seal the deal. Try your best not to join in on the name dropping. If you got a history, let it speak for it’s self. Offer your website for more info. Use your social network popularity to prove your validity.