Music Concerts

The Cost

The single most common question that deejays are asked in the first instance is “How much are you?” Now everybody loves worth for money, but you have not even asked what service they offer yet! Despite the generic image of mobile deejays being all the same, all of us are eminently divergent in our approach to the work, and services might differ by some distance from deejay to deejay. If you are on a tight budget of say, £125, then your option will be limited and you might end up with a novice or someone with borrowed and dusty equipment.

Always tempting too is letting a friend ‘have a go’…a recipe for an empty dance floor and a full bar!

Cost-cutting is magnified two-fold when talking of a marriage party. Not only the most necessary day of your lives, but a day where you’ve could spent £500 on a cake, £2000 on dresses and suits and un told amounts on food and drink….seems like false economy to skimp on the biggest part of the whole day, the get together.

In short, do not just book your DJ on price!

A real professional or semi-professional deejay will have spent years acquiring their music, learning how to build a dance floor atmosphere, be fully conversant in wedding etiquette and have a kit to be proud of.

To give you some idea of benefit s, to hire a exceedingly standard deejay session -up (2 speakers, amplifier, CD  decks, mixer and 2 light effects) costs £100 per night from my Local/Regional disco center. Add to that someone’s working time (6 hours on average) and travel costs, etc, you start to realise just how valuable a pro deejay can be for your event…

For marriage s, look to pay amidst £300 – £450 for a 7pm-12am service. Birthday events, anniversaries, etc can be cheaper as they are less pressure and a number of times shorter hours.

The Style & Content

It sounds so apparent to say it but I’m going to anyway….try to see your DJ in action before you book them. If it’s not convenient, then take recommenndation from friends who have witnessed the DJ’s skills before. After all, recommenndation is still the optimum advert for any act.

It’s always a really nice idea to chat at length with your prospective DJ about your own music tastes and what you expect from them on the night. Ask them searching questions about the kind of stuff they play, whether they take requests, how they propose to start/finish the proceedings, that type of thing. A DJ value his salt will listen intently and take onboard all of your ideas, occasionally suggesting alternatives to things he believes may not work.

If you’re theming the evening’s entertainment, make sure your deejay knows in advance…that way he may be sure to carry the right music for the opening , such as a 70’s & 80’s event or a Soul Night. It also gives him a opening  to pass the show on Assuming that the genre you decide on is not his speciality.

The more contemporary deejays are also inclined to avoid playing novelty records, such as the Birdie Song and Superman. If you want these included (and you want to sit on the floor and row an imaginary boat…) it is perfect to check 1st !

The deejay Gear

As all of my deejay colleagues know, this is my soapbox subject!

So many times I have witnessed deejays putting together some of the cheapest and scruffiest gear you might imagine…throwing it loosely on a folding table, wires trailing everywhere and speakers barely capable of audible sound…and yet still charging £300 a night! They should wear a mask!

In this day and age, the range of equipment available to us is phenomenal, and at particularly reasonable prices for wonderful quality; there are no excuses for a disc jockey’s equipment looking or sounding bad in the 21st Century.

Right, rant over… in the absence of going too technical, wonderful things to look for are overhead lighting (nightclub-style moving lights), speakers on stands (raises the sound above the crowd to project it across the whole room) and a tidy stage area  set -up. Cables ought to be tucked away whenever possible and the better pro DJs have a tasteful cover or starcloth to surround their stand.

Once playing, the sound should be crystal apparent on the dance floor, both with music and the deejay’s spoken voice.

In some instances the sound will not travel well to the back of the room, but this can be due to the Club’s acoustics and not really a problem as people in attendance will invariably want somewhere to chat.

Many deejays have a sound system to cater for up to 150 people comfortably. If your deejay is not familiar with your proposed Venue, request that he takes a look beforehand, especially if you have 200+ evening guests. Quite frequently I’ve seen small amplifiers pushed to their maximum trying to deliver to a large room….and it doesn’t sound pleasant!

Finally on the technical side, a large number of Venues nowadays are insisting the disc jockeys have both Public Liability Insurance and a certificate of safety (PAT) for their electrical equipment.

The Business End…

Once you have decided on your DJ for the night, ask them for a contract to sign and agree a deposit (if one isn’t already requested). Ensure you have listed all of your music requirements and arrival/ending times so that there is no confusion on the day. I would likewise suggest a courtesy call a week prior to the event if your DJ hasn’t called you, just to touch base and reaffirm details.

Mobile disc jockeys have suffered a bad press over the years, when in reality it is a substantially small minority of cowboys who let the side down. Most are hard-working, conscientious music-lovers who will give you a night to recall !