What Would You Do?

[DJSFX 0]

Hi, I've taken a booking for end feb, Its a boys 21st, He phoned me last night to book and asked if " I could play his music?" When I asked what it was he told me it was club mixes of tunes, I welcome requests but in the past when your handed lists half the stuff dont work and nobody dances, So you change it and the person starts asking for there songs again?, He says it is alot of music and he is bringing a memory stick of tunes.

My plan is to play some of his and mix it depending on the crowd reaction,What would you do?.

[Gary (GDK) 0]

You could welcome him to plan the whole evening and then when it all goes wrong you can blame him!

[vokf 0]

Difficult situation. I think you need to discuss your concerns and experiences with them.

 

Ideally, they will realise that if their choice of music isn't working, they will need some way of passing control back to you.

If they are 100% insistent that you play their choice, then I guess you could offer to refund their booking fee and walk away?

 

I'm not sure of what music you normally play - and perhaps the birthday boy is worried that you'll be playing cheese all night. You should be able to pursaude him that you know your stuff when it comes to these types of parties...

 

[DJSFX 0]

I always try and play a mix of music to sort all ages and most tastes and Ive not had any bad reports yet, The booking is through a friend of a friend so I would think he would know my usual style, Dance music is to my personal taste so I cant imagine his music is anything Ive not already got, Theres not many nights when you can play mostly dance but this might be different, If the crowd dont respond to his choice I feel I will need to change it a bit as some might be future customers?

[MintyDave 0]

Had a simular situation once where a client had specifically asked for a bunch of unusual tunes that were personal favourites. Half of them i'd never heard of but I played the lot. Fortunately the crowd were in good humor and danced to the tracks with the birthday girl after i told them it was her night, her music and sitting on their bums was disrespectful and they would never get a christmas card again

 

i think i told them to invent dances etc and as i said they were up for it and we got through it.

 

Only because we had a good crowd and i'd never try it unless i was sure.

 

You could make a point of mentioning the set is the BB's choice and build up to it so people know what to expect, dropping in other genres depeding on the guests.

[Dukesy 0]

I try to go for the 'win win' situation.

 

Whenever I've been asked to play supplied music, I simply ask the client whether the tracks are specific 'must plays', or can be left to my discretion. If must plays, depending on the number of tracks, I'll play as many as I can (time permitting of course). If left to play at my discretion, I'll play as many as I possibly can, but if I feel that a track/s are not working, I'll play something else that I feel will work.

 

At the booking stage, on the extremely rare occasion that a potential client will require a specific number of tracks played, or in a specific order, I've said that if they're happy to supply on an ipod on night pre-recorded, I'll happily step aside. I try to be as accommodating as possible, but if I feel I can not meet the clients specific requirements, I'll suggest another service which is probably more than happy to meet their specific requirements.

 

There's been occasions where I've been offered discs to play on the night, and obviously, I can not guarantee whether the audio quality is any good / will play ok or is at all 'suitable'. I decline to play discs which contain sticky labels as they may clog up my front loading players!

 

Maybe if I had one of those dedicated DJ systems which accept memory sticks, then I might be tempted to plug in the clients music, but I haven't. Personally, I wouldn't dare risk plugging in someone else's memory stick into my laptop if I relied on it for disco work.

 

 

[Robster 0]

personally i am not afraid to say "no" to a customer if i feel they are unreasonable or if i absolutely think it isn't going to work .

 

I nicely say " sorry i don't do that "

 

This is at the consultation stage , i am pretty thorough in my consultations and i am more than willing to walk away from work if i think i wont be able to please the customer.

 

better always to under promise and over deliver rather than say yes to everything then moan about it or refuse on the night IMHO.

 

I think i get repeat work because i try to get the client to understand what i do.. as well as much as i try to understand what there needs are ..clear communication leaves no one in doubt.

[DJMickeyk 0]

hi guys, i'm new to the forum how do ye do, would you believe I actually turned down a gig last friday for this very reason. A client rang on thurs (short notice i know) to do a gig fri and wanted to supply the music on an external hard drive. It was all alternative stuff that I had never heard of. I politely declined the gig as i said that that was not my type of music and couldnt do myself justice playing music I didn't know, gave her the number of a different service who took the gig. My main worry was that this was in my local area and potential customers could be at the gig and think this guy is rubbish, which could cost me more than the nights work was worth.

 

I often get clients wanting an input into music at their weddings too. This is fine by me but I suggest to them when they ask for this to stick to popular songs that people will recognise as I find a song that is not well known will kill the dancefloor very often, basically your wedding is not the time or place to showcase your eclectic taste in music to friends and family. I had a couple one time, guy fancied himself as a DJ and gave me 2 mixed cds he had done himself. He had no idea of genres, tempo etc and basically messed up the disco, yet still insisted I keep playing his stuff all night. Since then I don't take those booking any more as it can reflect very badly on you if there are potential clients in the crowd. Money just ain't worth it.

 

 

EDIT

Gary (GDK)

9) Do not substitute letters within vulgar/obscene/forbidden words with punctuation marks or other symbols. Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) parental software controls and School or Company networks still recognise many of the disguised words and may block access to the forum from their networks.

 

Edited January 29, 2010 by Gary (GDK)

[Slimboy Fat 0]

Hi, I've taken a booking for end feb, Its a boys 21st, He phoned me last night to book and asked if " I could play his music?" When I asked what it was he told me it was club mixes of tunes, I welcome requests but in the past when your handed lists half the stuff dont work and nobody dances, So you change it and the person starts asking for there songs again?, He says it is alot of music and he is bringing a memory stick of tunes.

My plan is to play some of his and mix it depending on the crowd reaction,What would you do?.

 

If it's an unreasonably large amount of music your client wishes you to play why not convert the gig to a "Rig rental"....that way you get your money for the night with none of the comeback and the the responsibility for the music lies solely with the person hiring your rig.

 

Simples. :Thumbup:

[MintyDave 0]

Genius - charge the same ammount too because you would have to sit and watch your gear.

[djgb 0]

Yep done exactly that later on this year for a couple who want to do their own thing at their wedding. Fair enough it'll cost you £x amount, - not tellin them its the same as if i was doin it or not.

Now I'll be there most if not all of the night just incase, but its totally up to them to play the tunes they want.

 

At least this way they get what they wanted, any potential new clients dont assume its me if things are not so good and like a SUPER HERO I can step in and save the day if it dies on its backside LOL. :Thumbup:

 

Granted they were a bit bemussed with the price at first but after I told them they were gettin a full DISCO set up- but without the dj they agreed.

 

I think its the old 'i-pod disco' situation and anybody can be a dj these days. :hurt: Very little do people know !!!!!! :wall:

 

Plan is to set everything up, keep all the equipment under the table out of harms way and leave a cable to plug their i-pod or mp3 player into. If they are planning on using cds, my numark cd mix 1 player will be available cause its really easy to use.

 

Any we will see. :ads: