Another Residency Bites The Dust.

[exbutlinred82 0]

Lost my third residency to the smoking ban/recession last night.

 

I am the oldest swinger in town but managed to recreate myself for some youngsters in my village...even got a mention on Facebook.See The Ship Royston and Save our Ship.Anyone else had a mention on Facebook??

 

Jarred Off.....you bet!!Good job I have a day job as well.

[Norfolk DJ 0]

Join the club.

 

I lost my hotel residency last month, so no gigs in 2009 at the moment

[milhouse 0]

Lost my third residency to the smoking ban/recession last night.

 

I am the oldest swinger in town but managed to recreate myself for some youngsters in my village...even got a mention on Facebook.See The Ship Royston and Save our Ship.Anyone else had a mention on Facebook??

 

Jarred Off.....you bet!!Good job I have a day job as well.

 

 

A group of students setup a facebook group dedicated to my Sunday residency which is still going:

 

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.ph...4294&ref=ts

 

Note the quote "...and the music is the best you'll find anywhere!!"

 

It is true a lot of places are dead at the moment - DJs losing work left right and centre. Its only bars who can afford to undercut who are surviving. My Friday residency has cut all pints to 99p until March in an attempt to drag people in and it is working. For now. I've been lucky and am about to pick up a new Saturday residency next month, but its the young student market that seems to be surviving with pubs not doing as well.

 

[Kingy 0]

It's very hard out there.

 

Hope you pick something else up, but it is difficult!!

 

Glad I am out of the pub/club market, which I miss at times. But it's hard.

[McCardle 1]

A lot of larger businesses have been juggling cash flow issues for some time

 

Traditionally, the banks have happily carried the can and the debt for large businesses during lean times by lending them money or extending their overdrafts and then recouped the loan (with the accrued interest) when the fat returns.

 

Now, the party is over, and the banks aren't lending money to businesses, so often the next lean time which occurs, spells the end of the business, unless they can find another backer or have the financies to bail themselves out.

 

This continual flit between financial red and black thoughout the year has become much of the norm in the UK, where borrowing beyond means has been far too easy for far too long. Until this trend is reversed, or the banks begin copiously lending again it will never improve and IMO, this isn't the worst of it.

 

With breweries increasing their charges, Sky increasing their prices and councils demanding more corporation tax / council tax and utilities getting dearer by the month, then it doesnt really matter how good the DJ is if you are in a venue or business where your expenditure rises faster than (or has long since overtaken) your turnover.

Edited February 14, 2009 by McCardle

[Dukesy 0]

The sector is condemned to suffer a dreadful fate, especially one that is imminent and inescapable...we're doomed...all doomed I say!

Except of course for ADS who is probably the hardest working DJ in the UK, a title bestowed way back in the day...wonder who did that?! LOL! :ads:

[stoke53 0]

Your not alone had one gig so far this year everyone ive quoted for ive been too expensive for thats £180 for a 16th and £225 for a hotel wedding perhaps i should pay them to employ me lol. But on the other hand the £350 xmas do i did reebooked on the spot for this year.

 

 

alan

[McCardle 1]

Alan, was the Xmas booking, a corporate client booked directly, or was it booked via an Agent / Venue or for a private client?.

 

Incidentally, I quoted one client £285 for a Wedding Reception back in November and also got the obligatory lecture on being too expensive. The cheeky so-and-so then went on and asked whether I could recommend a band in the area, I asked what budget she had to spend and was told £1200 :scared: .

 

Know thy place, LOL

 

I cheekily asked that if I could put her in touch with a decent, very professional £900 band would she pay me £285 + a £15 tip tongue out icon . Sadly she wasn't having any of it :sad: .

 

I gave her the details anyway, I figured out that since she'd put in place the lid, that I may as well help her to screw it down .

 

Frightening to think that some areas are seeing £225 for a Wedding as being too expensive, its the beginning of the end I think.

 

Or maybe more and more people are choosing live entertainment, there doesn't seem to be a budget shortage there.

Edited February 14, 2009 by McCardle

[Slimboy Fat 0]

With breweries increasing their charges, Sky increasing their prices and councils demanding more corporation tax / council tax and utilities getting dearer by the month,

 

Do you get the feeling they are all panicking and squeezing every last penny they can before it ALL goes t!ts up? :thanks: A lot Mr Brown..... [EDIT]

 

17) Please remember that posts and comments on this forum can be viewed by anybody (including potential clients looking for business services such as ours) and cached for long periods by search engines.

Unsuitable posts found to be disadvantageous or detrimental to the forum or its members will be removed.

 

This post has been edited by Abuse Controller: Today, 02:19 AM

[MobileDisco4Hire 0]

It the same old same old ... I lost my rezzy back in november... still have not got one I have had enquiries but the pubs/clubs want it for nothing well don't wanna pay what I would like.

 

I think that the economy will pick up in July/August maybe FINGERS CROSSED hey........

[stoke53 0]

Alan, was the Xmas booking, a corporate client booked directly, or was it booked via an Agent / Venue or for a private client?.

 

Incidentally, I quoted one client £285 for a Wedding Reception back in November and also got the obligatory lecture on being too expensive. The cheeky so-and-so then went on and asked whether I could recommend a band in the area, I asked what budget she had to spend and was told £1200 :scared: .

 

Know thy place, LOL

 

I cheekily asked that if I could put her in touch with a decent, very professional £900 band would she pay me £285 + a £15 tip tongue out icon . Sadly she wasn't having any of it :sad: .

 

I gave her the details anyway, I figured out that since she'd put in place the lid, that I may as well help her to screw it down .

 

Frightening to think that some areas are seeing £225 for a Wedding as being too expensive, its the beginning of the end I think.

 

Or maybe more and more people are choosing live entertainment, there doesn't seem to be a budget shortage there.

It was a corporate client that booked me through seeing my add in yellow pages. About the only decent job the advert got me hence ive pulled the plug on all yellow pages advertising this year, an instant saving of £2000

[exbutlinred82 0]

Crikey!!!

 

Is that what it costs for Yellow Pages.

 

I've had thousands of gigs in the last five years... all by word of mouth.

 

I'm a fighter.....not ready to hang up my headphones yet.

 

 

Now going back to Facebook....Can we pick up any groups or indivduals from this site??

[UKHero 0]

Do you get the feeling they are all panicking and squeezing every last penny they can before it ALL goes t!ts up? :thanks: A lot Mr Brown..... [EDIT]

 

17) Please remember that posts and comments on this forum can be viewed by anybody (including potential clients looking for business services such as ours) and cached for long periods by search engines.

Unsuitable posts found to be disadvantageous or detrimental to the forum or its members will be removed.

 

This post has been edited by Abuse Controller: Today, 02:19 AM

 

 

Its funny how we all blame mr B for the state of the world economy. Any one who has a loan or credit cards is a contributing factor to the state of the economy if you have to blame some one other than yourself blame the banks for there greed. But at the end of the day they can only offer easy cheap credit it is down to the individual if they take them up on the offer. And no I am not politically biased in favour of any party.

 

 

Nik

[djshyboy 0]

HI all

clacton on sea is £50 no matter what. go out the area u r looking at £100-£200 for a wedding

Not what the local dj shop say thay get 500. is that why he giving it up mmmmm. I do working mens clubs snooker halls get around £100 to £150 it dues me saturday nights. booked up to sep and 1 xmas.

 

andy

[McCardle 1]

I think even premium gigs will get hit soon, after all even the rich are going to get hit by the crunch eventually, especially with interest rates falling through the floor at the moment interest on savings is virtually not worth mentioning as will the cost of maintaining and replenishing dollar accounts increasing due to the poor exchange rate, so no longer will living off the interest of savings alone be viable for those with such savings amounts and values are changing on stocks all of the time, so it will eventually mean dipping into the family fortune to pay Jeeves the butler and Wilson the Valet and maybe cost cutting and being thrifty will eventually appear across all markets, and so the dinner dance this year wont be a marquee in the grounds with their own DJ, it could be a room at the local hotel with the resident

 

The big companies cannot really be seen to be throwing lavish Christmas parties this year either, if they have just gotten rid of 20, 40 or 60% of their workplace, because such a glittery expensive affair would be a swift kick in the nuts for those who have lost their jobs because the company could no longer afford them.

 

Then there are the companies who won't be around this Xmas, or cannot afford either a staff bonus or party.

Edited February 15, 2009 by McCardle

[Danno13 0]

So you don't see a light at the end of the tunnel? I'm not an economist, but surely things will get better. With Weddings being booked years in advance that might just provide enough of a buffer to see the recession through... that is of course assuming you do Weddings, but then its very hard to make this job pay if you don't!

 

Optimist? Yes, I see little point in being anything else!

 

Naive? probably!

Edited February 16, 2009 by Danno13

[eazy 0]

i remember a thread like this about a year ago !!!

 

at that time i did say i thought the dj's days were numbered , think it was more along the lines of will there always be need for dj's

 

my opinion was then and still is now that full time dj's will struggle to make a wage !

 

agents with lots of dj's working for small fee's will increse but independent dj's earning a full wage will decrese

 

at the min im still working full time with 5 ressys a week but for how much longer ???

 

i had already planed to go back into full time employment about a year ago and should be starting a new job in about 2 months !!! ( civil service waiting list lol )

will continue to dj part time but dont fancy trying to keep up a decent wage as a full time dj but it will certainly be a decent top up on the cs wages lol

[deejaymitch 0]

In the last year I've gone back into full-time employment and have cut back, by choice, from 4-6 nights a week to 1-2 nights a week. I'm now almost certainly going to give up my Saturday night residency and become a hobbyist again, working 1 or 2 gigs a month. With the option of over-time most weekends (at double time), I will be earning pretty much the same money as I did working 4-6 nights a week. I will be taking home more of my wages (I used to drink it as quickly as I eanred it in residencies), and I will have more time to myself and will be able to socialise and see friends again.

 

DJ-ing is a fantastic hobby, a brilliant part-time job/sideline, but it's not a great career for the majority. As stated elsewhere, I lost my passion for the job a long time ago but am slowly regaining it after cutting down on my work. You can make a reasonable living in this game, but you need to be a lot more disciplined that I was, and it takes bags of enthusiasm and support. People will always need mobile DJs, but it's questionable as to how many can legitimately make a good living at it.

[UKHero 0]

In the last year I've gone back into full-time employment and have cut back, by choice, from 4-6 nights a week to 1-2 nights a week. I'm now almost certainly going to give up my Saturday night residency and become a hobbyist again, working 1 or 2 gigs a month. With the option of over-time most weekends (at double time), I will be earning pretty much the same money as I did working 4-6 nights a week. I will be taking home more of my wages (I used to drink it as quickly as I eanred it in residencies), and I will have more time to myself and will be able to socialise and see friends again.

 

DJ-ing is a fantastic hobby, a brilliant part-time job/sideline, but it's not a great career for the majority. As stated elsewhere, I lost my passion for the job a long time ago but am slowly regaining it after cutting down on my work. You can make a reasonable living in this game, but you need to be a lot more disciplined that I was, and it takes bags of enthusiasm and support. People will always need mobile DJs, but it's questionable as to how many can legitimately make a good living at it.

 

Some very frank and honest points made there Mitch and I applaude you for it. I wonder if with all the wonderfull extras that the LEGIT DJ has to fork out for and now with what seems like a massive drop in good paying gigs if our friend the sixty quid sid will pop up in more places and even more to the point will previously honest law abiding DJs turn to corner cutting to stay in business?

 

Its going to be hard for all, and I think we have worse to come in the next 2 years....

 

I am lucky in that my wife works in education and she does kids disco's. She most deffinatley is keeping our family afloat in these turbulent seas... I love you Helen xx

 

Nik

[Slimboy Fat 0]

surely things will get better

 

Sounds a bit like a tune the labour party once played as they were conning the general public into voting for them. Looks like it held about as much water as every other promise they made. Gawd bless 'em!

 

DJ-ing is a fantastic hobby, a brilliant part-time job/sideline, but it's not a great career for the majority. As stated elsewhere, I lost my passion for the job a long time ago but am slowly regaining it after cutting down on my work. You can make a reasonable living in this game, but you need to be a lot more disciplined that I was, and it takes bags of enthusiasm and support. People will always need mobile DJs, but it's questionable as to how many can legitimately make a good living at it.

 

That's a very fair assessment I think, Mitch and sums up a lot of what I've found out while I've been researching the possibility of going "full-time".

 

 

 

[McCardle 1]

so you don't see a light at the end of the tunnel?

 

Not with the cost of Electricity these days, no.

 

I do, but not this year. Whilst I believe that there are Dj's out there who still genuinely doing well, and the Dj Gods willing, may they long continue to do so, however I also think that there are a few who have a staunch refusal to look facts in the face and are trying every which way to convince themselves that things are still boom rather than bust and that everything is fine. Kingy pretty much sums up this on another thread.

 

DJ Mitch makes some very good points, and sometimes reality can be scarey demon that wont retreat back into the cupboard no matter how tightly we close our eyes.

 

My own prediction is that from Mid 2010 things will slowly mprove and everything will be almost back to normal by 2011, but until then 2009 and part of 2010 will be a very difficult period indeed for any business.

 

The UK tends to be last when it comes to anything to do with the economy, so when the U.S has addressed its issues and their economy is recovering followed by parts of Europe then i'll start thinking positively. Thats assuming that we still have any industry or manufacturing left by then, the US and Germany for example still have a thriving car industry to restart, but today ours has just lost another 850 jobs ;thumbdown:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7891913.stm

Edited February 16, 2009 by McCardle

[Danno13 0]

Not with the cost of Electricity these days, no.

 

I do, but not this year. Whilst I believe that there are Dj's out there who still genuinely doing well, and the Dj Gods willing, may they long continue to do so, however I also think that there are a few who have a staunch refusal to look facts in the face and are trying every which way to convince themselves that things are still boom rather than bust and that everything is fine. Kingy pretty much sums up this on another thread.

 

I disagree, there will always be those who can adapt to the market/economic climate and still do well. In a business full (excuse the pun) of part timers and those who don't give the same effort as others who rely on the income, this is even more prevelant.

 

DJ Mitch makes some very good points, and sometimes reality can be scarey demon that wont retreat back into the cupboard no matter how tightly we close our eyes.

 

My own prediction is that from Mid 2010 things will slowly mprove and everything will be almost back to normal by 2011, but until then 2009 and part of 2010 will be a very difficult period indeed for any business

 

Again, I'm inclined to disgaree, if DJs are to feel the pinch them it will be towards the end of the year and early next year, when people are booking Weddings for 2010. Weddings for 2009 are largley a done deal, people already have the budgets, they will just want to make sure they're getting the most for their money.. and this is down to the DJ...nothing else!

 

The UK tends to be last when it comes to anything to do with the economy, so when the U.S has addressed its issues and their economy is recovering followed by parts of Europe then i'll start thinking positively.

 

Thats completely up to you, but personally I prefer to look at my own figures rather than the scaremongering from the media.

 

I will end with saying that if you are determined that this year will be a disaster, then I full agree with you that it will, because you will fulfull your own prophecy.

 

However, if you're more open minded and can accept that there is still money to be made, and ways to get through this crisis then please join me in a great year.

 

I will be the first to report if I'm wrong! smile icon

[deejaymitch 0]

Again, I'm inclined to disgaree, if DJs are to feel the pinch them it will be towards the end of the year and early next year, when people are booking Weddings for 2010. Weddings for 2009 are largley a done deal, people already have the budgets, they will just want to make sure they're getting the most for their money.. and this is down to the DJ...nothing else!

 

This is a fair point for wedding DJs. I'm not having a go here Danno but a lot of the time when we post on here, we can only see our own situation, rather than the industry as a whole. A large number of Djs do not do wedding work, or weddings are only a small part of what they do.

[UKHero 0]

 

I will end with saying that if you are determined that this year will be a disaster, then I full agree with you that it will, because you will fulfull your own prophecy.

 

However, if you're more open minded and can accept that there is still money to be made, and ways to get through this crisis then please join me in a great year.

 

I will be the first to report if I'm wrong! smile icon

 

Ah so the UK car industry and northern rock oh and the bank industry in general got it wrong they should have believed more...

 

Nik

[tezandbaz 0]

HI all

clacton on sea is £50 no matter what. go out the area u r looking at £100-£200 for a wedding

Not what the local dj shop say thay get 500. is that why he giving it up mmmmm. I do working mens clubs snooker halls get around £100 to £150 it dues me saturday nights. booked up to sep and 1 xmas.

 

andy

yes i have to agree with this contribitor,the town along with others are facing hard times with a number of our venues now facing closure,a poor inditment on the state of the economy at the moment.