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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 bac

We've got a "winter discount" at our Venue. I forget the price, but something like £4.5K for 50 daytime and 100 max in the evening. Grub + a few drinks included with room hire (ceremony and main room), and bridal suite. We looked around and it was good value - we could have gone cheaper. The wedding I worked this weekend was in a 3 star hotel, but the function room was very new (this was the first wedding there). The B&G had spent quite a bit on the day, with my fee being the highest to date for me, a week ago, they mentioned they had booked a band - and I was starting at 9p

Take care buddy! Some of the local bars around here seem to have a permanent Police presence outside, but my local is normally fine - but is a small pub. Jas

I've got a wedding this coming weekend. It was originally 6-midnight and charged accordingly. The client paid in full, direct into my bank shortly after our pre-booking meeting. I spoke to them yesterday, and the times have changed.... their family has booked a singer, who will end at 9pm.. and I need to stop music at 11:30, so basically 1/2 my agreed time. No comment about reducing my fee, I've offered to allow the singer use of my PA providing we can talk in the next day or so. So, nice client - I'm trying to help them by return.. I could sit on my ass until 8pm, but will prob

Ray, what software are you using to rip the tracks? Are you sure they are MP3? Call me if you need to, Cheers, Jason

Hi, I really can't comment on the D2 (DDS user here), but from the DDS Manual (I understand the DDS is basically a faster D2 with colour screen); So... find a PC/Mac application that will create PLS or M3U playlists. Create this playlist from the D2 Harddrive, and save the playlist back onto the drive. Then... run the librarian tool to import it. I'd suggest using a USB stick whilst your playing around -ie not many tracks to index. The libraian takes ages, but is often wildly out (so jumps from 3 days to 2hrs , then 7 mins within a very short time. Jason

Do you mean "import" an existing playlist (ie .pls file), or create a playlist on the D2? I think the D2 works in a similar way to the DDS (ok...the other way around..lol), so you simply do; Libary->Playlist->Create New (and rename) Then locate the tracks you want (search etc), and there is an option to place into a playlist. If you want to import a playlist (created in your favorite PC based medial player), then I think it needs to be in a .pls format, and running the PC librarian will pick it up and create a playlist on the D2. Jason

You are right Steve - but there is specific certification that covers hardware and software in a safety critical environment. (I had to look into this for the old day job for a SIL2 rated product). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_Integrity_Level All the main Operating Systems will never run a safety critical system (Win, Linux and OSx) I had to report back to my managers that the system they needed was not possible without major effort. I guess its worth remembering that any electronic system can fail. The failure modes may be subtle (mixer fader cutting out), or more ca

Looking at the poll results to date- its about 50/50. Those that are or have been losing work... what are your plans? It sounds like they are almost like Skynet, wiping out DJ's like a touch-screen teminator :joe: All businesses suffer from competition in some form, and there is much more to being a DJ than simply playing tunes. We hopefully evolve with music tastes, but it appears difficult for DJ's to consider themselves businessmen and move with the times. So - does anyone have suggestions to win back business from venues that are using these? As I've yet to see one of

No, you're getting confused. In these lean times, a pub will put on entertainment for one reason; Get bodies in to spend more money. So, any Entertainment, should increase revenue, compared to no entertainment. If it doesn't, there is no business case for continuing, and this could mean changing supplier (ie crap DJ) or deciding its not required. If the landlords choice of DJ is bad, and the night does not draw a crowd (over normal non-entertainment nights) then its not worth doing. Some pubs don't need Entertainment, or are simply not geared up for it (space/layout/enviromental

Regardless of individual thoughts, as a nationwide (and worldwide) DJ forum, more input is needed to see the CURRENT effect of these units. We only have our own experiences to draw on, if I believed everything I read here- I'd be packing it in. I'm in agreement with Robstar and Derek, DJ's that add value (as opposed to simply playing music) cannot be replaced by a box. I'm sure DJ's were worried about JukeBoxes taking over their world, but I've yet to see a Jukebox advertised as Entertainment on a prime night. If the pub see's no difference in income, then their choice

With talk of these "Media Centers" from; MediaTheme: http://www.mediatheme.com/the-entertainer/...tainer-jukebox/ and Touch Master http://www.touch-master.co.uk/ I'm interested in how many of us really see them hitting our business. From my end, 1 bar in Cheshunt installed a similar system for the Bar Staff to use. Whenever I went into the bar on a Saturday (prime night) it was fairly empty, about 10 people in a large bar that could accommodate around 200. When they had a live DJ, it was busy - basically packed with a queue to get in. My local has a jukebox,but a

Nothing wrong with a good old rant Could be scope for a monthly DJ pricing discussion :devil: Simply put, this really boils down to business skills. Know your target market. If you want to earn more money, analyse who you need to appeal to - it probably won't be the type of clients you currently have. There is not much point in asking your existing market to pay more - they just want "any dj". If most of your work comes from recommendations, you obviously have the DJ skills to provide a good night, but the business skills to plan the business and target the right markets

Look at your marketing, does your website shout "working mans club" or "high end venue"? Are there any DJ's working at the higher end of the market in your area? If ALL DJ's in your area are really charging so little, then I guess there is no hope... but I'm sure there will be some guys charging a fair rate, leaving the low-end gigs to those that are marketing to them. If you can find them, perhaps give them a call to discuss this - they may be glad that someone wants to raise the rate for the area. Jason

Hi Steve!, Carmen got 50, not too many (I think I got 500 from my friends business). As with all these things, its not normally much more money. Jason