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Question on how much to charge

While i save up for my equipment, im planning on getting a price list set up for people that want to hire me(mainly just my school). Does anyone know a good pricing thing? Last time my school hired a DJ, they had to drop $100. Im trying to get these people towards the amazing abilities of vinyls and actual DJ mixing. Well, to get back on subject, would $30 probably be enough for something like a dance or a fun night?

it all depends on a couple of things:

how far away from your home/place of business are you gonna be playing, what kind of music they want you to play, are they gonna provide for speakers & lighting, and the most important would be how long they want you to play for? if it's only like an hour-1.5 hours, then $30 is ok, prolly still a bit low...ask around, i'm sure there's other djs for hire in your area, see how much they're charging, it'll give you an idea what mobil djs are paid in your area...

I think you are getting ahead of yourself. Learn beatmatching before you worry about how much to charge.. For all you know, you will hate djing ..

es

it depends on a couple of things. If you do a couple of shows here and there, you will want to charge more than usual if you are providing all equipment (loud speakers, mixer, tts, etc). How long if the night gonna be. 4 hrs or 10 hrs? Take all that into to consideration. Are you gonna mix from song to song, then make sure you can mix well enough. If you are just playing tracks in random, like a jukebox, then dont worry.


Either way, i wouldnt charge any less than $50, even if you may not have much experience.
Then again, you may want to do some free shows, as long as you aint providing equipment, to promote yourself and to get some experience. It doesnt hurt.

If you are providing eqiupment and setting everything up, you would charge $200+ for the whole night.

Also, see what your competition is. If you have tons of competition, you may need to be a bit competative with prices. What i mentioned above is pretty competative. Especially if you do it for free :P

In the beginning, i woulnt worry about money, you cant really depend on that... best thing to do is get some experience playing out. From there, if you want start charging and upping prices, then be creative and offer things that your competition normally wont offer.

Re: Question on how much to charge

quote:

Originally posted by Kamikaze Badger While i save up for my equipment, im planning on getting a price list set up for people that want to hire me(mainly just my school). Does anyone know a good pricing thing? Last time my school hired a DJ, they had to drop $100. Im trying to get these people towards the amazing abilities of vinyls and actual DJ mixing. Well, to get back on subject, would $30 probably be enough for something like a dance or a fun night?

LEARN TO CRAWL BEFORE YOU CAN WALK!

Take it easy kiddo, I understand your ambitious to start making cash... how about you learn to mix first and get good at it, than start putting a price on your skills.

Re: Re: Question on how much to charge

quote:

Originally posted by Vlad LEARN TO CRAWL BEFORE YOU CAN WALK! Take it easy kiddo, I understand your ambitious to start making cash... how about you learn to mix first and get good at it, than start putting a price on your skills.

i second that

Re: Re: Question on how much to charge

quote:

Originally posted by Vlad LEARN TO CRAWL BEFORE YOU CAN WALK! Take it easy kiddo, I understand your ambitious to start making cash... how about you learn to mix first and get good at it, than start putting a price on your skills.

Good advice. I bought my first TT last November (SL-1200MK2), my mixer in January (DJM-500), and my second TT in April (SL-1210M3D). I've been practicing on my beat matching for about a year now, and I've actually been using vinyl exclusively since April--so for a total of about 5 months now. I've gotten pretty good with beat matching, and occasionally have my off-days like everyone else. But either way I still don't think I'd be ready to play anywhere too big yet -- maybe a small party or something, but certainly not a club.

And it's not that I have no confidence. I have plenty. But even after doing this for as long as I have, there are a lot more things I have to learn. I can positively say I'll be ready in the next few months.

All in all, hold off for a few months. Develop a feel for it and practice a LOT. Once you get your equipment, you will most likely feel differently about how ready you are to play live. There's really no checklist that will tell you when you are ready to play live -- when you're ready, you'll just know it and will feel it. Become a god at beatmatching first, start stocking up on vinyls, and stay current with the music scene. Just don't overwhelm yourself in the beginning, because if you do, chances are you may end up hating it because of the rough start.

I'm not trying to burst your bubble or put you down or anything. I'm glad to see someone at your age so interested in DJing on real equipment. But just take it one day at a time, and never give up

Good luck mate, and enjoy the ride

well I can only give you advice from my own experiences

I've been mixing for a little over a year now and I've been standing most of the time in my bedroom practicing, why you might ask, well simply because the fact that if people hire you and they think you suck you will NOT be hired again...

beeing a DJ and making money on it is so much more then just mixing the music and getting payed, if you aint got a good reputation then no one will want you before that other guy they know more about...get me?

as for myself, I've played on 2 real parties (with aprox 100 people in the crowd) and both times were for free, I might have like 1 or 2 more gigs comming up this year and both will probably be for free, why you might ask...well simply because I know my mixingskills are enough to be called good but no one knows who I am right now so I have to build a reputation, and the easiest way is to play for free and show them how good you are (if you play for free the chance is way bigger that someone will hire ya then if you take a fee of 50$, after all no one wants to take a risk on a kid they know nothing about)

so in short, my advice is wait untill you get your TT's, mix at home for at least 6 months (you will probably need more time, learning takes time )
when you think you've got skills enough you can start considering playing out

Re: Re: Question on how much to charge

quote:

Originally posted by Vlad LEARN TO CRAWL BEFORE YOU CAN WALK! Take it easy kiddo, I understand your ambitious to start making cash... how about you learn to mix first and get good at it, than start putting a price on your skills.

Like most people in here, I can agree to that. You will probably not be making ANY money the first year you start DJ'ing. Prolly not even the second. DJ'ing is not something you can learn in 5 minits. It takes weeks and months of practise. It should be a hobby, not a job. If you DJ for the money, you'll NEVER be a good DJ.
enjoy DJ'ing for the music, not the money.

Re: Re: Re: Question on how much to charge

quote:

Originally posted by Tiger777 enjoy DJ'ing for the music, not the money.

that's so true but you forgot one thing, enjoy DJ'ing for the people on the dancefloor

Not even that. 99% of your joy should come from the music and the transistions you do, and 1% should come from your audience... Ofcource, that's quite personal.

I know, and my plans are to just DJ at my school for the rest of this year and the next for free, and then when i get more experience and a good rep, then ill start putting a price on my skills. My previous plans were to just do all of this as a hobby and not put a price on any of my stuff, but after seeing the cost of vinyls, and been told by the pros here, i guess that i do need to charge money. Ack, g2g, not supposed to be using the computer right now.

Money is not real , Music is.

Like i was saying, im in this for the joy of mixing and the fun of DJing. The only reason that i would ever charge money is to get more vinyls. And i would really like to be uber competitive against other DJs around the tri-state area(i live right along the mississippi, so wisconsin and illinois arent too far away). But once again, thankyou for your advice.

in DJ Badgers sig *dj badger? wtf?!*


Current favorite song:

Run Away - Real McCoy

*also, WTF?!*

quote:

Originally posted by Kamikaze Badger Like i was saying, im in this for the joy of mixing and the fun of DJing. The only reason that i would ever charge money is to get more vinyls. And i would really like to be uber competitive against other DJs around the tri-state area(i live right along the mississippi, so wisconsin and illinois arent too far away). But once again, thankyou for your advice.

well, i see what you are saying. Realistic speaking, it will be hard collecting money even to support your vinyl habit, so I would recommend on getting a part time job, at least to cover the habit. If you are in it for the love of the whole thing, you will do whatever it takes. Of course, like mentioned above, one step at a time

Dude, you are in year 7, you've never beatmatched a track yet you are saying you are doing it for the love of the music and will charge when you have to. Damn right you shouldn't charge for a while.

How do you plan on djing @ your school? Regardless of it being free? DJing isn't easy, it's simple, but not easy. There's no "oh I can learn it in 1 month" style here. It's something that takes time. I've been spinning all year and average OVER an hour of mixing and 30 mins of DJing a day and still wouldn't play to a club (i've had 2 mixes in a club whilst waiting for a DJ :P).

With your mention of track you like in your other thread being Alice DJ and Real McCoy, It makes me think we've got a Troll on our hands or makes me wonder why you signed up on tranceaddict.

Who's your favourite DJ? Who do you inspire to be like? Who's your favourite producer?

I don't wanna seem too harsh, but you're flying by the seat of your pants with no idea.

--djway

quote:

Originally posted by djway Dude, you are in year 7, you've never beatmatched a track yet you are saying you are doing it for the love of the music and will charge when you have to. Damn right you shouldn't charge for a while. How do you plan on djing @ your school? Regardless of it being free? DJing isn't easy, it's simple, but not easy. There's no "oh I can learn it in 1 month" style here. It's something that takes time. I've been spinning all year and average OVER an hour of mixing and 30 mins of DJing a day and still wouldn't play to a club (i've had 2 mixes in a club whilst waiting for a DJ :P). With your mention of track you like in your other thread being Alice DJ and Real McCoy, It makes me think we've got a Troll on our hands or makes me wonder why you signed up on tranceaddict. Who's your favourite DJ? Who do you inspire to be like? Who's your favourite producer? I don't wanna seem too harsh, but you're flying by the seat of your pants with no idea. --djway

I thought Id let someone else bash him with this one... I noticed it few days ago... didnt feel like hurting the kids feelings

He reminds me of me 2 years ago, when all I knew was Perpetuous Dreamer (and now after joining TA I know PD is Armin's work) and Lasgo (which I believe is Gigi D'Agostino's work - I could be wrong) and ugh, to think I actually enjoyed listening to Jan Wayne than.

quote:

Originally posted by Kamikaze Badger Like i was saying, im in this for the joy of mixing and the fun of DJing. The only reason that i would ever charge money is to get more vinyls. And i would really like to be uber competitive against other DJs around the tri-state area(i live right along the mississippi, so wisconsin and illinois arent too far away). But once again, thankyou for your advice.

Ok little man, you want vinyls? $10 each on your $30 dollar a gig salary. So your gonna buy 3 records until the next gig you will get, which probably wont be close-in-between. I dont want to rain on your parade, but be alittle more realistic as mentioned. Some of us are spending hundreds of dollars every 2 weeks on vinyls trying to make sure we keep up the collection. You want to have variety in you box so you can always pull some tricks out of your sleeves every so often. I suggest you forget about playing gigs for about a year and grow some hair on your balls first - not to be rude - save up some cash, get some skill, than do what you want, until than PRACTICE!

Im 20 years old and the last thing im thinking about is playing gigs - shit im scared to play my friends party cause I suck, this kid is 12 and all he CAN think about is playing gigs and making money... I wonder... Does someone think DJs are rich? I think someone watches cribs too often.

quote:

Originally posted by Vlad I wonder... Does someone think DJs are rich?

the only ones I know that makes some real money on DJ'ing are our beloved friends armin, tiesto, gielen, cox, cosmic gate and on and on and on....

problem is that theese guys are one in a million guys so let's face it...unless someone of us here are very very special (and damn lucky) we don't even need to think about making money on DJ'ing

I know my highschool had to pay over 1000 cnd for most of the DJs they hired.

My insperation is DJ Doboy, just that im not planning to use computers to do most of my mixes. All that im saying is that i plan to work hard, and if some miracle occurs that im good by the end of 8th grade, then ill probably find my balls and DJ at the school for free. But otherwise, after reading on how long it takes to beat match, im guessing that i will probably be in late highschool before i ever get good enough to actually play at a party or something. And dont keep anything from me because im only 12. Let me have it! Tell me all the shit that i need to know. Dont hide something from me because im young, just tell me and get it off your mind. Dont worry, i can handle it. Just be honest for Christ sakes!

yeah badge you going off a little too quick on thinking of gigs already. it would be cool for you to play since your only in 7th grade and you like...er ok alice deejay. What most of the guys have said im backing them up. you should practice practice first and play to have fun and for the music. dont think too far ahead.

I've had my mixer, pmc 170a and two adjs then switched to cdj 100s(should have bought in the first place :/ ) and im a senior in HS and still havnt played at a school dance. Why? because i dont feel im fully ready yet to give them the full effect of what EDM is about and also because my school is too mainstream for my tastes. But im trying this year to spin at a regular dance and also our big fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis in March (call Superdance, biggest in the nation i believe).

Just take our advice and learn first before you put yourself out.

quote:

Originally posted by Kamikaze Badger My insperation is DJ Doboy

Have a listen to Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, Ferry Corsten, Jon O Bir, Paul van Dyk.

they are REAL DJ's who make a life out of spinning vinyl in clubs (not mp3s on a computer). They are also the producers of awsome tracks.

For some reason I've actually heard and got a few of DJ Doboy's sets....get one of the above dj's sets, they are MUCH better mixed.

Another thing abotu Doboy, he doesn't buy the trax he plays to support the scene. IF you don't pay for it, how do you think the producer is going 2 get paid?

That's enough bashing from me. As you've said you can take it, and I'm only trying 2 show you the way.

--djway

quote:

Originally posted by Tiger777 Not even that. 99% of your joy should come from the music and the transistions you do, and 1% should come from your audience... Ofcource, that's quite personal.

i'm going to have to disagree with that. for me djing is almost entirely about the people on the dancefloor. dont get me wrong, music (esp. trance) is my life. the reason that i even got really interested in djing was from going to clubs and dancing. i used to leave the clubs so excited because of music that i heard, the way it was mixed and rollercoaster ride it created through out the night. i want to leave people feeling the same way that i did back when i started clubbing. making people dance and have fun is a big part of djing. sure, for the past 2 years i've been playing for myself in my bedroom, most of the time alone but that was all preparation for playing out.

different people have different goals when it comes to djing. my goal is to someday have people actually enjoy having dj for them. i want people to see my name on a flyer or hear that i am playing some where and know that if nothing else, the music will be good.

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