Booking A disc jockey – What To Look For & Why?
The Cost
The single most common question that DJs are asked in the first instance is “How much are you?” Now everybody loves benefit for money, but you have not even asked what service they provide yet! Despite the generic image of mobile DJs being all the same, all of us are substantially different in our approach to the work, and services can change by some distance from DJ to DJ. If you are on a tight budget of say, £125, then your option will be limited and you can end up with a novice or an individual with borrowed and dusty equipment.
Always tempting too is letting a friend ‘have a go’…a recipe for an empty dance floor and a full bar!
Cost-cutting is magnified two-fold when talking of a wedding party. Not only the the majority vital day of your lives, but a day where you have might spent £500 on a cake, £2000 on dresses and suits and un told amounts on food and drink….seems like false economy to skimp on the biggest part of the whole day, the event.
In short, don’t just book your DJ on price!
A real professional or semi-professional deejay will have spent years acquiring their music, learning how to build a dance floor atmosphere, be fully conversant in wedding etiquette and have a kit to be proud of.
To give you some idea of worth s, to hire a extraordinarily basic disc jockey set -up (2 speakers, amplifier, compact disc decks, mixer and 2 light effects) costs £100 per night from my Local/Regional disco center. Add to that someone’s working time (6 hours on average) and travel costs, etc, you start to realise just how valuable a pro disc jockey can be for your event…
For marriage s, look to pay amidst £300 – £450 for a 7pm-12am service. Birthday gatherings, anniversaries, etc can be cheaper as they are less pressure and often shorter hours.
The Style & Content
It sounds so undeniable to say it but I am going to anyway….try to see your deejay in action before you book them. If it’s not convenient, then take recommenndation from companions who have witnessed the deejay’s skills before. After all, recommenndation is still the optimum advert for any act.
It is always a really good idea to chat at length with your prospective DJ about your own music tastes and what you expect from them on the night. Ask them searching questions about the type of stuff they play, whether they take requests, how they propose to start/finish the proceedings, that kind of thing. A DJ value his salt will listen intently and take onboard all of your ideas, on occasion suggesting alternatives to things he believes could not work.
If you’re theming the evening’s entertainment, make sure your disc jockey knows in advance…that way he may be sure to carry the right music for the opening , such as a 70’s & 80’s gathering or a Soul Night. It additionally gives him a opening to pass the show on If the type of you decide on is not his speciality.
The more contemporary disc jockeys are furthermore inclined to avoid playing novelty records, such as the Birdie Song and Superman. If you want these included (and you want to sit on the floor and row an imaginary boat…) it’s best to check first !
The deejay Gear
As all of my DJ colleagues know, this is my soapbox subject!
So many times I’ve witnessed deejays putting together some of the cheapest and scruffiest gear you may imagine…throwing it loosely on a folding table, wires trailing all over the place and speakers barely capable of audible sound…and yet still charging £300 a night! They ought to wear a mask!
In this day and age, the range of equipment available to us is phenomenal, and at substantially reasonable prices for nice quality; there are no excuses for a deejay’s equipment looking or sounding bad in the 21st Century.
Right, rant over… in the absence of going too technical, nice things to look for are overhead lighting (nightclub-style moving lights), speakers on stands (raises the sound above the crowd to project it across the whole room) and a tidy stage area performance -up. Cables ought to be tucked away anytime possible and the better pro DJs have a tasteful cover or starcloth to surround their stand.
Once playing, the sound ought to be crystal apparent on the dance floor, both with music and the deejay’s spoken voice.
In some instances the sound will not travel well to the back of the room, but this can be due to the Venue’s acoustics and not really a problem as guests will invariably want somewhere to chat.
Most disc jockeys have a sound system to cater for up to 150 people comfortably. If your disc jockey isn’t familiar with your proposed Club, request that he takes a look beforehand, just if you’ve 200+ evening attendees. Quite a number of times I have seen small amplifiers pushed to their maximum trying to deliver to a extensive room….and it doesn’t sound pleasant!
Finally on the technical side, a large number of Clubs nowadays are insisting the DJs have both Public Liability Insurance and a certificate of safety (PAT) for their electrical equipment.
The Business End…
Once you have decided on your disc jockey for the night, ask them for a contract to sign and agree a deposit (if one isn’t already requested). Ensure you have listed all of your music requisites and arrival/ending times so that there is no confusion on the day. I would additionally suggest a courtesy call a week prior to the get together if your disc jockey hasn’t called you, just to touch base and reaffirm details.
Mobile disc jockeys have suffered a bad press over the years, when in reality it is a considerably small minority of cowboys who let the side down. Virtually all are hard-working, conscientious music-lovers who will give you a night to remember !