DJing Discussion

This area is for discussion about DJing in general. Please remember the community rules when posting and try to be polite and inclusive.

Asking Too Much?

DJ Gue$$ 11:31 AM - 3 December, 2018
Let's say you are a karaoke dj at a club. Working Thursday-Sunday nights. You make the same amount of pay as the other djs that work Monday-Wednesday nights. If they call off, you are then expected to work. Even if they happened to call off on a holiday. Ex. New years falling on a monday this year. What do you do? Ask for pay raise? Go in anyway? Be glad to have a weekly gig? Your regular gig is 7 hours for $150.00. Approximately 1k people a night in the room. Very high output club.
Logisticalstyles 2:42 PM - 3 December, 2018
Quote:
Your regular gig is 7 hours for $150.00


Damn!!
Quote:
Approximately 1k people a night in the room

You are basically earning 15 cents per person over the course of 7 hours.
Logisticalstyles 2:43 PM - 3 December, 2018
You need a raise.
Culprit 3:28 PM - 3 December, 2018
Any holidays you should get at least 50 percent more if you don't fear losing your residency. It's up to your gut feeling. Can you survive without the gig?
Matt Sherman 4:55 PM - 3 December, 2018
Quote:
Any holidays you should get at least 50 percent more if you don't fear losing your residency. It's up to your gut feeling. Can you survive without the gig?


I dealt with this when I use to DJ at Roxy at the age of 16. I was getting $150 a night. One night the owner got drunk and decided to fire me. The next morning he called and asked if I wanted to work that night and I asked him if he could give me a raise. He said no and I said well then I can't work for you. Till this day I regret losing that residency. BE CAREFUL! I ended up losing a residency at the premier night club in Orlando which I was already lucky enough to be playing at age 16.
DJ Gue$$ 5:41 PM - 3 December, 2018
In top of that, I drive 1.5 hours to get to the location. However. There are a few perks. Every so often j make pretty good tips. Also I get to meet and see a lot of different sport figures.
The Return of Dj Sparky 5:58 PM - 3 December, 2018
Pay peanuts and you get monkeys, ask serato 😄
Chino 6:01 PM - 3 December, 2018
Quote:
Your regular gig is 7 hours for $150.00. Approximately 1k people a night in the room. Very high output club.


^^^ This is part of the reason why I transitioned from DJing clubs to weddings,mitzvahs & corporate events. Know your worth & what the market is willing to pay.

Clubs & spots bars are saturated with new DJs willing to work for next to nothing. The plus side is that it gives new DJs much needed experience.
Culprit 6:36 PM - 3 December, 2018
I would have to say being a resident dj in this industry has changed immensely. You need to consider taking on more responsibilities if you want to earn more money. Just simply showing up and playing to a crowd on a Friday or Saturday night is going to keep you very limited and very dispensable.

Can you or are you willing to do different types of work? Basic flyer design? Equipment Repair? Talent Booking? Live Sound? Private Events?

I know some very talent big club djs and small bar djs all making good money but not just djing the main weekend nights. They are pretty much the go to guys for Owners and Management. Especially around December Holidays as private parties get booked.
Ollie 7:08 PM - 3 December, 2018
150 asking too much? Nope you need at least double that for 7hrs. and that's still cheap. They make that at the bar in the first 10 mins. with 1000 people per night. If they don't want to pay, then go mobile. It's less hours and you make 5x-10x more for a night.
You'll have to be more diverse in your music selection. But for me it's more fulfilling than playing the same o'l songs every night.

1 nights mobile work pay can can cover you for 2 weeks in comparison to the bar gig.
Culprit 11:11 PM - 3 December, 2018
Quote:
150 asking too much? Nope you need at least double that for 7hrs. and that's still cheap. They make that at the bar in the first 10 mins. with 1000 people per night. If they don't want to pay, then go mobile. It's less hours and you make 5x-10x more for a night.
You'll have to be more diverse in your music selection. But for me it's more fulfilling than playing the same o'l songs every night.

1 nights mobile work pay can can cover you for 2 weeks in comparison to the bar gig.


Straight facts here. a mobile gig should be 4x the club rate. So if your willing to accept $150 a night your mobile rate should be minimum $700.00. though competition is pretty fierc in that field unless your word of mouth build up game is strong like bull.
Gio Alex 4:50 PM - 4 December, 2018
Quote:
Approximately 1k people a night in the room. Very high output club.


WOW! that's insane! how much money is that place making a night!?!?! 1K people and you only get paid 150 for the night!? You should be getting that an hour!
Matt Sherman 11:26 PM - 4 December, 2018
Quote:
Quote:
Approximately 1k people a night in the room. Very high output club.


WOW! that's insane! how much money is that place making a night!?!?! 1K people and you only get paid 150 for the night!? You should be getting that an hour!


Must be club La Vela in FL.
577er 11:54 PM - 4 December, 2018
$150 seems low but it’s hard to say. Are you easily replaceable? Do you have real skillls that are transferable to another business? If not then I’d work on building up your mobile business while keeping that gig but it’s basically a very low paying gig for semi to highly skilled labor. Region to region wages are so different so I can’t be much help from 900 miles away.
Gio Alex 3:50 PM - 5 December, 2018
You should try and find out somehow what that bar makes that night. I would ask for at least 300 if I were you. Especially if you're good, and they like you there.