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rant: is being a bedroom dj worth it? (pg. 2)
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| IKKI-ZUVK |
| quote: | Originally posted by paranoik0
the problem is not in the money you want to make as a dj, i wouldn't be doing it for money, the problem is in the money you spend as a dj. anyone there actually making profit? :conf: |
Not me !:D |
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| DJ Kibon |
| quote: | Originally posted by dartman
very well put. i feel the same way. i love music in general, especially EDM, and i also love sharing all of the great music that i've found with my friends or anybody else that will listen, hence djing. its a hobby, its fun, and there are alot worse things that you could be doing with your time.
if you are into djing to become a famous dj, or make it big, then you are probably doing it for the wrong reasons. you should spin for yourself and your love of the music that you play. whenever i get to play for people i get wicked excited watching them dance, to songs that i chose. but at the same time i have also have fun mixing it up in my bedroom.
but you are right, it is expensive. |
I second both of these, though unfortunately not everyone believes me when I say it.
I originally started putting together digital mixes on my computer for no other reason than to have CDs for myself to listen to while commuting to College. Then I started sending them directly to a few online friends, who really enjoyed them, so I started putting a bit more emphasis on having my digital mixes distributed for all to download for free.
I bought turntables at the beginning of this year because I wanted to be able to play the music that I love live for others to enjoy. I currently have zero expectations that I will ever cover my costs for the Technics + vinyl + headphones, but I greatly enjoy each opportunity to do a live set, whether it is online at AfterhoursDJs or means playing at someone's house party or a club. I guess part of the fun of doing it live is hearing my favorite tracks on a really loud system. :)
I'm not relying on DJing to be my bread and butter at any point - that's what my working career will be for (which is, after all, why I'm in University). |
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| DeleriuM2K |
Ive spent well over $5000 cdn (maybe even $6000) and Im only gonna be 18 in a month! Ive never gotten a gig, never been paid to do what I love to do, but I love it none the less. I 'DJ' bar mitzvahs, weddings, corporate events to get money pretty much exclusively for my real DJing hobby. (I also get to play on some really high end equipment, get experience playing for a crowd, get experience with putting on live productions, and have fun flirting with the dancers :o - I also get all my stuff at cost through the company :D )
about 80 cents for every dollar I make goes to one single thing - my DJing equipment/vinyl. I havent seen one dollar come back, but thats OK, cause Im doing what I love. I have a hobby that I truly enjoy and thats something few people can say. besides on top of doing it for the fun, I figure it'll be a return investment in the long run. I hope to start getting club gigs in the near future, as well Im gonna be attending and audio engineering school in London, so I'll be producing my own music
I've kinda planned out my life around my love for trance :o
bottom line: if spending the $$$ wont seriously harm your life style, then go for it - theres nothing more satisfying
btw, for those interested, my setup:
last week:
2 X Technics SL-1200MK2
1 X Denon DN-9000
1 X Pioneer DJM3000
1 X Sony MDR-V700DJ
http://w.auth.org/ot/delerium/djsetup0003.jpg
this week:
2 X Technics SL-1200MK2
2 X Pioneer CDJ800
1 X Behringer VMX300 (my old mixer, sold my case to my work)
1 X Sony MDR-V700 DJ
next month:
getting the new Denon mixer. Denon DN-X1500 |
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| Prodigy Child |
| quote: | Originally posted by IKKI-ZUVK
I've noticed that most of the New Djs, are into the scene just because of the money and not the music which is really sad. I've read in many forums including this one, Bedroon Djs talking about money, question such as > How much money should I charge? Piss me off.
LOVE the music, love what you do, promote yourself, let ppl know who you are and what kind of music do u spin, record yorself and post it online so ppl take a listen to it , make CDs and give them away (FREE), and sooner or later someone wil give you the change.
remember>> MONEY IT'S NOT REAL. |
Well said, but I believe that for the people that are trying to make lots of money for it and just try and be famous like a star, they ain't gonna make it, they won't feel the music and feel the crowd because they won't care like real DJs do, so I got no worries about these people, they come and go very fast, as for me I'm approching 10 years of DJing, made some good money from it by playing in clubs, but I really don't care for the money side of it, for me its getting good then going and playing to a crowd and when you drop that crazy mix and the crowd know it and goes in crazy, the rush that I get is worth more than money, its quite unreal, I'm in it for the fun and joy of mixing for people that also love the music, getting paid is just a bonus, all the club gigs I've done I've got paid pretty well for, but they didn't realise I would of done it for free, look at it this way, if the owner of say....Amnesia in Ibiza came upto you and asked for you to play, would you be saying "how much money would I get" becuase it wouldn't even pop into my mind, I'd pay all the expensis to do that. |
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| Nemesis44 |
I don't know, you tell me...
Why did you start?
An interesting point is that compared to 10 years ago you now have people becomming DJs for loads of different reasons. Back when I started there really weren't any so called superstar DJs. Admittedly some well known turntablists but that's about it. No one really thought about money in that way.
Sometimes it's also worth noting that you may have to play stuff you don't like when you are starting out. Perhaps there is a local place that plays more commercial stuff that could use your talents? Understanding crowd dynamics can start in some of the most unlikely places so don't knock the experience.
Benoitfan also makes some good points. I have noticed also noticed a trend as people are moving more towards either lighter funky house(Nem pukes) and the harder but still funky techno. Discover something new and use it and still work in the trance.
Making it in this business is hard as hell. And as I have said before, very little has to do with how good you are unless you are really damn good.
As a resident I had the fortune of playing alongside some of the worlds biggest names (as probably a few other people on the forum have)Some where really cool and others just totally blanked you. While I am pseudo freelance thesedays I am given constant reminders of just how many people are doing it and how much work you have to put in just to stay in a reasonable position.
Regardless of all this I can say with hand on heart that I would be spinning in my bedroom (well studio but the principle is the same) even if I didn't play in clubs. I still spin on average about 2 hours a day at home even though I have been spinning for longer than some of you have been alive. I love the music and that's all it is for me.
Love what you are doing and the sacrifice will be worth it. Don't loose heart and network like a maniac. It's always worth knowing people. You may well have to re-locate but I think that you know the answer in your own heart if it's right or not.
I wish you the best of luck
Nem |
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| benoitfan |
| quote: | Originally posted by Nemesis44
Making it in this business is hard as hell. And as I have said before, very little has to do with how good you are unless you are really damn good.
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Unfortunately, true. Unless you're someone like Eddie Halliwell or Dave Clarke, you won't go anywhere without producing (and the latter does produce). Or you can try the marketing variation and do innovative things, like DJ Portia Surreal (I bet everyone knows her by now, and I bet it's not because of her mixing skills, and yet she's playing out and some DJs aren't :whip: ), you know, get somewhat of a trademark; some use additional hardware they take, others wear weird stuff, others scratch with their noses and elbows. To some, it's entertainment, not art, and it's not just about the music, sadly.
It's the concept of marketing (and I study that btw ;)): It's all about being original, filling customer needs and distinguish yourself from the competition.
Btw this post is more oriented for the business side of DJing... while I do recommend that people follow some of these rules, music should be the most important thing; but then again, if only it was the same for clubbers as well...
Cheers! |
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| dark_tenshi |
| quote: | Originally posted by DjJade
well you have to consider what you want out of it. for me personally... i dont even want to know how much money i spent and am spending every month on it...and honestly i dont expect to become a professional and i dont expect to get gigs or antyhing. im strugling through school taking premed classes, majoring in math and physics and minoring in psychology. i have lots of other intrests and frankly i dont think that being a dj will ever pay for the kind of lifestyle i have becuase music isnt the only thing in my life.
i sometimes wonder why i am investing so much time and money but when turn on my mixer drop the needle, and put on my headphones...nothing else matters. im in it becuase i love it and becuase it makes me feel good. some people do drugs, some people drink, some people go to stripclubs...some people buy dolls, toys, collect stamps, build models, fly kites, build bombs.... i spin. its a hobby and i love it. i love it enough that i have never looked back and thought about how much i spent becuase i cant put a value on it. |
Amen to that. And nothing beats spinning/practicing with friends who share the same love for this music. |
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| GQMr2 |
Dude, I took piano lessons for 7 years, it wasn't gonna be my carreer. It's ART. I have also started to DJ mainly for the reason that whenever my friends would hang out we always wanted to hear good music..I now do it to
1. make GOOD cds that my friends can listen to. and
2. for a chance to play at house parties. I have a different perspective maybe because I am not trying to make DJ a carreer. I mean, what, Paul Van Dyk said he was gonna be a journalist or something..?
It's a hobby, a passion for me, so to be able to make people move to my music is the reward. I am also into racing cars but know that it will also be a weekend at the track kinda thing not a profession.
So I guess if I WAS aspiring to become a DJ, I would also be frustrated by being in the minus $$ all the time with expensive equipment..but hey, if you think dj hobby is expensive try to guess how much money I had in this thing:
(the car) |
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| davidderail |
| quote: | Originally posted by paranoik0
is it worth buying two damn expensive decks and/or two damn expensive cdj's, a damn expensive mixer, and some really damn expensive vinyls every month plus damn expensive import prices just for sitting at home mixing once a week never getting any gigs cause no-one within a 500 kilometres area likes trance music?
not waiting for any real answers here, but it gets a little bit annoying when you've dreamed of being a dj for your life, learned a lot about music, then realised there'll never be oportunities to become anyone in the music scene. dj'ing is such an expensive hobby, damnit.
anyone started out in the bedroom without having any connections at all.. and turned out to be a pro? did you live in a area where no-one cares about trance music or quality electronic music in general?
seems like being a popular dj is not at all about skills. it's about connections, being rich and living on the right place.
sorry for the rant. |
The key to getting out and playing may be about connections. Just cause noone likes trance in your area, don't let it get you down. Prove to everyone that you can rock. Self promotion is THE best way to get your name out. If you just let your friends get you gigs, it will prob. die off real quick. Many people in OKC make it very vocal that they don't like trance but when I play a party, that's usually what I spin.
I played for about 3 years before I got my first gig, so it's definately not something that happens over night. Hang in there.:) |
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| GQMr2 |
you can distribute your mix by streaming online or like this guy:
Mixonic |
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| bluelimitd |
| quote: | Originally posted by DjJade
i sometimes wonder why i am investing so much time and money but when turn on my mixer drop the needle, and put on my headphones...nothing else matters. im in it becuase i love it and becuase it makes me feel good. some people do drugs, some people drink, some people go to stripclubs...some people buy dolls, toys, collect stamps, build models, fly kites, build bombs.... i spin. its a hobby and i love it. i love it enough that i have never looked back and thought about how much i spent becuase i cant put a value on it. |
There is your answer |
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| Clyde77 |
lets all move to the philippines!!!!!!!!!!
they love trance, bbut they dotn knwo where to get them. their djs suck! im going next year.. whos going with me lol |
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