What Do The Clients Want From A Mobile Disco In The 21st Century?

[aaadisco 0]

I took a booking last week and the client hasn't even rang me yet. She asked for a price via email, I gave it to her and she just said send me a booking form. I could turn up with anything for all she knows. I have very few pictures on my site and no comprehensive list of equipment.

 

On the flipside, another client rang me last month and wanted detailed lists of everything I use. Might set up an Equipment page in the future. I know how popular they are with some DJs

As an ex raver, yes. And they love it just as much as us younguns

 

Hey DX,

 

Just seen this and I'm also an ex raver :-) One day I will rip my collection of rave tapes on to MP3 to enjoy again. Been listening recently to the sets from the Fantazia at Castle Donnington in 92. This for me was a great time for rave music before it split it to loads of subgenres - you would hear hardcore, techno, house all mixed up in one set.

 

I'm finding a real mix at the weddings I do, many couples want the traditional mix of music with cheese and some dance bits. However there are couples in their 30s who want me to play loads of club classics, dance anthems and a bit of old UK Garage, reminding them of when they were clubbing and they ask me not to play cheese. The last thing they want to hear is Macarena!

 

This is why I offer a pre-event meeting to go through all of this and be prepared for the day. It gives couples the reassurance that the music will be right and that the day will run smoothly.

[Dan allanthemsdisco 0]

Hey DX,

 

Just seen this and I'm also an ex raver :-) One day I will rip my collection of rave tapes on to MP3 to enjoy again. Been listening recently to the sets from the Fantazia at Castle Donnington in 92. This for me was a great time for rave music before it split it to loads of subgenres - you would hear hardcore, techno, house all mixed up in one set.

 

I'm finding a real mix at the weddings I do, many couples want the traditional mix of music with cheese and some dance bits. However there are couples in their 30s who want me to play loads of club classics, dance anthems and a bit of old UK Garage, reminding them of when they were clubbing and they ask me not to play cheese. The last thing they want to hear is Macarena!

 

This is why I offer a pre-event meeting to go through all of this and be prepared for the day. It gives couples the reassurance that the music will be right and that the day will run smoothly.

 

Boys you are not alone, i am aldo a big fan of oldskool & have mixed it since 1995 - i just didnt like the chavs and drugs side of it.. I actually played at a hardcore doo down here last march and was really privaliged to play side to side with my all time fav hardcore djs sharkey and brisk! (Shame it was a really grotty day tho)

-- I have done 2 weddings over the summer and the club / oldskool sessions for the last hour have been popular, im now calling them rave weddings!

If any of you are after specific sets or djs or mcs i might have it (But loads of my tapes have gone walkies!)

[PWES 0]

 

Getting back to the 'flexible' points above, I believe I get more bookings and thanks because of being customer focussed and totally flexible to their needs, rather than being a good DJ (which I'm not).

 

I also approach venues in the same way, I hear so many stories from management about "last weeks DJ played too loud"/ "threw his toys out when we asked him to set up over there"/ "demanded drinks and food" / "wouldn't stop at midnight"

 

why oh why can't DJs understand we are in a service industry, you are not a god, you are not special, you are the hired help !

 

Rant over

 

[Dukesy 0]

why oh why can't DJs understand we are in a service industry, you are not a god, you are not special, you are the hired help !

 

Well Said! :dukesy: . I shudder whenever I read some of the ways and language used in which some Dj's openly refer to their clients ( Clients = the people who are making all of 'this' possible) However difficult or demanding a client turns out to be doesn't excuse openly abusive and personal comments in reference to them. If ever the Kitchen gets too hot for these DJs, there are plenty of other DJ's out there with better people skills who will cheerfully take on all of their unwanted work.

[greatracks 0]

Well Said! :dukesy: . I shudder whenever I read some of the ways and language used in which some Dj's openly refer to their clients ( Clients = the people who are making all of 'this' possible) However difficult or demanding a client turns out to be doesn't excuse openly abusive and personal comments in reference to them. If ever the Kitchen gets too hot for these DJs, there are plenty of other DJ's out there with better people skills who will cheerfully take on all of their unwanted work.

 

 

 

 

 

Personally i dont think anyone will agree on what is right, what is wrong, what/who is good or bad. And does it really matter. Everybody is different and will serve different corners of the market. And yes, we are only hired help at the end of the day.

However, whatever corner of the market you provide a service for, we must not lose track that the people who book us pay our bills and if you do what you are paid to do well, may well help to pay our bills in the future.

And for everybodys information, im not top end and im far from bottom end. My prices reflect that and im happy, as are the people i provide a service for, are too!

[Dukesy 0]

Personally i dont think anyone will agree on what is right, what is wrong, what/who is good or bad. And does it really matter. Everybody is different and will serve different corners of the market. And yes, we are only hired help at the end of the day.

However, whatever corner of the market you provide a service for, we must not lose track that the people who book us pay our bills and if you do what you are paid to do well, may well help to pay our bills in the future.

And for everybodys information, im not top end and im far from bottom end. My prices reflect that and im happy, as are the people i provide a service for, are too!

 

I'm a little very confused as you chose to quote a huge chunk of my post prior to writing your reply, and I'm not sure which part of it, you are disagreeing with?.

 

I would hope that whatever market we were in, whatever we chose to charge, and however we chose to run our businesses, that we could all at least agree on one small thing, and that one thing, is that there is never an excuse to be rude about our clients, either to their face, or discussing them openly online. Which was the entire fabric of my earlier post.

 

Whether A DJ charges £40 or £400, I can't imagine one occasion where it would ever be acceptable to be rude to a client, past present or future, anymore than any employed person would go and verbally abuse their boss at their workplace, and the point is much the same. Being polite and respectable to these examples who both, technically, pay our wages will basically secure our ability to financially 'exist'

[greatracks 0]

I'm a little very confused as you chose to quote a huge chunk of my post prior to writing your reply, and I'm not sure which part of it, you are disagreeing with?.

 

I would hope that whatever market we were in, whatever we chose to charge, and however we chose to run our businesses, that we could all at least agree on one small thing, and that one thing, is that there is never an excuse to be rude about our clients, either to their face, or discussing them openly online. Which was the entire fabric of my earlier post.

 

Whether A DJ charges £40 or £400, I can't imagine one occasion where it would ever be acceptable to be rude to a client, past present or future, anymore than any employed person would go and verbally abuse their boss at their workplace, and the point is much the same. Being polite and respectable to these examples who both, technically, pay our wages will basically secure our ability to financially 'exist'

 

 

 

Mr Dukesy..........

Apologies if i appear to have quoted any part of your post. Not my intention. I just said what i feel and most of it i just happen to agree with!.

 

[1878blues 0]

"Why Twenty First Century Jukebox of Course" ha

[Chance Discos 0]

Accept what you say vokf.

 

However at £50 an hour in my domain you would be sat watching your deckbooth in your living room and using your camera for your holidays only.

 

I must have it wrong then....despite working 4 nights this week!!

 

wow i charge between £40-55ph depending on type of function (keeping in mind i turn up 2 hours prior to start of even to set up which i do not charge for) i dont give tones of jibber jabber on the mic i go around the geusts introduce my self whilst i take requests which they seam to like as it makes them feel important and part of the event with verry little effort i must admit it is a very part time thing atm cos i purely dont have the time nor spare money at present to push the discos business

 

the most important thing i owm in my rig (appart from the obveous) is my dongle...im never without internet...thus never without any song!!!!!! worth every penny

[vokf 0]

wow i charge between £40-55ph depending on type of function (keeping in mind i turn up 2 hours prior to start of even to set up which i do not charge for) i dont give tones of jibber jabber on the mic i go around the geusts introduce my self whilst i take requests which they seam to like as it makes them feel important and part of the event with verry little effort i must admit it is a very part time thing atm cos i purely dont have the time nor spare money at present to push the discos business

 

the most important thing i owm in my rig (appart from the obveous) is my dongle...im never without internet...thus never without any song!!!!!! worth every penny

 

I'm normally now charging slightly higher per hour, and DO charge for set-up time at this rate, so a quote is normally time on site x hourly rate for local gigs (ie most!), I take a flexible approach to earlier set-ups. Luckily, I don't want to be out 4 nights a week, when a single night can be a good earner ;-)

For me, its still a personal service that many of the lower end DJ's in this area simply don't offer. I know Steve (Sonic) and RayMilkyBar (who both also cover my area) also work in a similar way.

 

 

Last weekends wedding had me downloading a track on my mobile and playing back on it. It was a first, but the guest was very grateful, and provided a hug at the end of the night. I've previous checked the audio quality on the headphone output and was pretty impressed.

I don't think its something I'd do too often unless its a "must have" track, and you can't always ensure a good 3G connection, especially in some older buildings.

 

I'm sure in time to come this may become more commonplace, but I wouldn't want to get bogged down with computer issues when I should be paying attention to the dancefloor and guests.