are DJ'ing salaries overrated?

[g]

Armand Van Helden ... And the music would be good ;-)

or, not.

[g]

but then you people like dave angal dave clarke jeff mills that charge the earth but only play out about 12 times a year if that

what?? mills plays close to 100 gigs per year.


for better or for worse dj fees are always going to be set by the market. and the market, ironically, is created by the djs/producers. market yourself successfully through releases and media and you can command exorbitant fees. BUT, people come to see you so the venue makes money so, arguably, you are 'worth' the fee. it's just business... exactly like sports, as benoit said.

the sad thing is when djs reach this stature and then get bitchy about staying there. some big name djs play smaller gigs throughout the year (hawtin comes to mind) while others almost NEVER play smaller venues (mills) and have crap representation who will piss on smaller promoters (also mills).

even more sad is that there are plenty of other djs out there who just kill it but don't get the exposure they should. like dj bone.

[tioneb]

I guess herr. Clarke also deserves to be a cocky cunt who refuses to play if his favourite cigar is not available. Not to mention that his hotel costs 3000 EURO/night and that he only accepts drivers who use a special model of Mercedes?

youre caricatural ... i dont think such things should b psoted ehre as some might beleive its true ....

Clarke like cigars and cars , but he can do without. Instead of saying youre sure to make him unhappy without this, lets say its sure youll make him happy with, and thats very different.

[Miromiric]

and thats gay.

[schlongfingers]

Armand Van Helden ... And the music would be good ;-)

or, not.

Depends whether you can get down I guess.

[reality]

ok here is my take on it......

most parties are not djed by one person usually so now lets just say a 3000 person venue sells out is it really becuz you got one headliner or is it cuz the people that are buying the tickets see there are many djs they would like to see on the bill so who is the dj to say hey they are all here for me so pay me say 5000USD for my hour......I say BULLSHIT....now if the pary is a two dj or even one dj venue and the party sells out then yes the dj/djs can say they are here for me now show me the money...after all they are going to spin for hours ata time.......

I do thinkalot of big timers charge too much YES they do dont lie to yourself....but you can blame that on promoters also for allowing them to charge that much....cuz from my experience throwing parties and spining them that a big money DJ doesnt guarantee you a soldout venue......


If they DJ was booked for a live PA then sure now charge some $$$ cuz now you are performing...

as someone here asked if i was offered big money for an hour set would i say yes....NO I would not cuz id like to get guaranteed money...what im saying is i charge a very modest amount of money to spin cuz unlike alot of people i still enjoy spinning music for the masses and sure my rate will change but i could never see myself being so bloated to the point where id charge more than 800/hr ....

here in NYC if im booked within a 30 mile radius from my house i dont charge my full fee but Id like transprotation at the least and only a fraction of my fee......but if i have to take a bus/plane/or a train yes im charging my full fee + trans.... but never anywhere near the fees that most big wigs charge...


Final Thought
PARTIES COST MORE THAN THEY SHOULD BECAUSE OF THE RIDICULOUS CONTRACTS THESE PEOPLE HAVE..{youd think it was britney spears or something}

i remeber seeing people like F.Bones, DClarke, T1000 and a host of others on the same bill for 10USD and NOW if they were all booked again for one party id probably have to pay 60USD

PEACE OUT

[The Overfiend]

Fellas can we not start picking apart dj's and what their demands are rather than discuss the actual topic, yeah some people want stupid demands, hate to say it but they have a talent and the people want to hear it. So why not give a mofo a cigar or a chocolate covered banana, if the party goes over well, then so be it. You made your money back in revenue and the dj played good cause he was happy. Reality is it's only stupid cause we ain't getting that same treatment, if someone was dumb enough to offer me a hairstylist and a couple grand to blo in some itn'l town you think I would not take it? Lets be real, the dollar talks. And yes others have way more talent, but shit. I'm sure these mofo's lugged their crates around to shit parties in the beginning as well. and Don't bring up Armand, he is one of the coolest mofo's out there cause he's no ego involved. Ayak to him. He demands 2 rooms as a joke on who ever is idiotic enough to give it.

[Stella Boy]

Fellas can we not start picking apart dj's and what their demands are rather than discuss the actual topic, yeah some people want stupid demands, hate to say it but they have a talent and the people want to hear it. So why not give a mofo a cigar or a chocolate covered banana, if the party goes over well, then so be it. You made your money back in revenue and the dj played good cause he was happy. Reality is it's only stupid cause we ain't getting that same treatment, if someone was dumb enough to offer me a hairstylist and a couple grand to blo in some itn'l town you think I would not take it? Lets be real, the dollar talks. And yes others have way more talent, but shit. I'm sure these mofo's lugged their crates around to shit parties in the beginning as well. and Don't bring up Armand, he is one of the coolest mofo's out there cause he's no ego involved. Ayak to him. He demands 2 rooms as a joke on who ever is idiotic enough to give it.

Well said :clap:

[Ritzi Lee]

it's not the artist who's asking a lot of fee.
IT"S THE BOOKING AGENT!!


:roll:

[MARKEG]

well i play shit loads of gigs. perhaps 12 each month, maybe more. and it's always charge different fees for different people, based up what chrissi and i think they're trying to do for the true music scene and why they're involved in it. i think this is a really fair way to work. if the promoter is all about money, then hey, take advantage of it. if the promoter is doing the right thing then, the price you charge should reflect that. and also how many ppl they're getting through the door. there's bookings you've been doing for years - since when you were a spoty geek with a record box - and you've never put the price up cause they were with you from the beginning. oh god, it all varies.

i do think that many dancefloor ppl just look at the 'top' amount a dj charges, times it by the number of plays per month and thinks 'holy ****'. but this really isn't the reality. granted, dj tiesto, perhaps dave clarke, liebing etc make alot of money. but so many top dj's i've met are doing ok, but nowhere near what people think they are earning...

[jesus]

im sure dnb's more popular in the uk, yet the best dj (andy c) only charges £600 compared to the 3 grand you have to pay for a big name techno dj. then 1000 people turn out for andy c and only 100 turn out for luke slater, therefore no more techno where i live.

[reality]

i agree with you Mark....but there are those ones that do charge alot..granted sure there seeing an opportunity and juping at it...but then they are just feeding into the money pit and frget what this shit is really about ya know.....

Listen im not hating on anybody and i understand if someone books you a bunch of times sure you give em a break compared to the person that just booked you for the first time....

but i am not a name dropper so i wont but i know of people that even take a deposit on a huge booking fee and then come up with some excuse not to play and then what, that promoter thats trying to do the damn thing gets reamed by loosing the deposit and the people that look at him/her like they are smuks...ya know

we all are in this for the music and i dot have to tell you that but its a shame that there are still some cats that just take advantage cuz there ego is allowed to balloon and thats all i have to say bout that...

Demian
aka R_E_A_L_I_T_Y

[tekara]

some very interesting comments and opinions....


i am surprised at what Mark said though, and i obviously trust his opinion because hes experienced...

but still i sometimes cant help but wonder how these dj's are only "getting by" or "doing ok" if they are theoretically charging 1500-2000USD a night and doing up to 8 gigs a month.

Based on that math, already it seems like they have a six-figure paying job that they can live happily off...

just my 2 cents.

[Ritzi Lee]

ONE MORE TIME:

There is a real difference between DJ's who do their own management,
and DJ Booking offices... DJ Booking offices have a more commercial additude...

Mark's comments only make sence when the DJ does his own management. But when you're a part of a booking list of some big agent,
you can't decide about variation in pricing your fee....

So if you want to book a big act,
you just have to accept what the agent is asking. Period!

[lunatrick]

im sure dnb's more popular in the uk, yet the best dj (andy c) only charges £600 compared to the 3 grand you have to pay for a big name techno dj. then 1000 people turn out for andy c and only 100 turn out for luke slater, therefore no more techno where i live.

you've definately got a point here - D&B is much bigger in the uk, and for the same price as maybe one big tech dj at the lost or the end you could see five or six top D&B dj's - in cardiff the main night has two or three well known names (i.e andy C) for about 8 quid - so techno has lost its way somewhere. To be fair to the big names though - in europe they play massive parties - so they're not going to take a third of the fee to play in the uk when they could jump on a one hour flight and earn three times as much are they? I wouldn't......

[subsonic]

im sure dnb's more popular in the uk, yet the best dj (andy c) only charges £600 compared to the 3 grand you have to pay for a big name techno dj. then 1000 people turn out for andy c and only 100 turn out for luke slater, therefore no more techno where i live.

you've definately got a point here - D&B is much bigger in the uk, and for the same price as maybe one big tech dj at the lost or the end you could see five or six top D&B dj's - in cardiff the main night has two or three well known names (i.e andy C) for about 8 quid - so techno has lost its way somewhere. To be fair to the big names though - in europe they play massive parties - so they're not going to take a third of the fee to play in the uk when they could jump on a one hour flight and earn three times as much are they? I wouldn't......

BUT IT SHOULDNT BE ABOUT THE MONEY IT SHOULD BE ABOUT THE SCENE :roll: :roll:

[gumpy green]

BUT IT SHOULDNT BE ABOUT THE MONEY IT SHOULD BE ABOUT THE SCENE :roll: :roll:

fukin word.........thers a few djs that werent up for playing for our night(which is fukin proper underground techno) because we wouldnt pay 700+ for fee........wont metion no names but its down right sad and ill not be supporting them in anyway from now on.....will not be buying ther ep's etc.....

get a fukin job if you think money is the best thing.......id rather rock a good party with a good vibe for 100 sheets.

[lunatrick]

BUT IT SHOULDNT BE ABOUT THE MONEY IT SHOULD BE ABOUT THE SCENE :roll: :roll:

fukin word.........thers a few djs that werent up for playing for our night(which is fukin proper underground techno) because we wouldnt pay 700+ for fee........wont metion no names but its down right sad and ill not be supporting them in anyway from now on.....will not be buying ther ep's etc.....

get a fukin job if you think money is the best thing.......id rather rock a good party with a good vibe for 100 sheets.

we have a proper underground techno night - and thats about the going rate for some of our guests....and we fill the club, so fair play. As far as getting a job is concerned - erm that IS their job isn't it?

[gumpy green]

we have a proper underground techno night - and thats about the going rate for some of our guests....and we fill the club, so fair play. As far as getting a job is concerned - erm that IS their job isn't it?

well our club hold 300....we get anything from 150 up to 260 folk.....we got rent more pa, lights to pay on top of it......so aint much more than 350 left over..

we could charge folk more than 5/6 to get in but that again would be going against my techno........wish i could do it for free........

ther job------for some......to me its my hobby/luv....

im still with subsonic on this one..........its about the scene not fillling yer pockets.

[jonnyspeed]

If you are talented and take enough coke with enough industry wankers you'll make a lovely living out of DJing - if you refuse to enter into this world of arse kissing, backstabbing and self-interest you'll have fun and maybe, if you are lucky, get by but never be really affluent off it.