Am new to this sorta ..

Mseals said:

Define Success .... I mean I am on SSI i get about $800 a month to live on a month. if you are making more than that being a dj that might be successful to some people. Where someone else might not consider themselves successful if they are making $5,000 a show. I mean compared to me I bet almost all of you are successful

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I certainly agree, success is always relative. Where are you located?

Mseals said:

Oh another stupid should I get a mac or just stick with windblows laptops? I am going to have to get another one regardless I know that macs are usually better for this but i will have to either buy a used Laptop or a cheap Mac for under $300 , Thoughts?

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I've DJ'd with Mac and only Mac since the beginning. I use MegaSeg and absolutely love it. It has yet to fail me.

Like I said you got to come up with a plan. You have to choose your mentor, someone successful who you can trust. As to be really accomplish things it takes a change in thinking. The example would be why would you even considered a 9 year old computer when for a few dollars more you can get one lights years better & with warranty. Steve finds some really good deals, some as low as $399. As far machines failing well there could be many factors at play there. I look at the pattern over many years then I choose what to Not to go with. One thing is for sure, eventually something will fail, hence that’s why you always want to have a backup. If you haven’t had computer crap out or Screw up you haven’t been in this game long than enough. Then you have those machines that seem to run forever like my 20-year-old Sony Vaio With a Pentium processor is slow as hell but still going strong. The matching Sony Vaio Laptop didn’t fair so well.

Success, well that what you want it be. There are plenty of people Successful with money who aren’t happy. And plenty of people without much money who are happy as hell, who consider themselves successful.

PhaseIIPro said:

OP didn’t ask for a history lesson on mixmastermachoman. Talk about ego. Your the most popular, un-booked dj that I have ever met. As I have said before, if people loved you half as much as you say they do, you would be booked solid.

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Please let me say this. The last 2 years have been good and bad. 2018 was my worst year ever. I was in constent pain every day. It was a job to get up and go to the bathroom. I eventually had to surrender and get a cane. I found I needed hip replacement surgery. In that year I was unable to be the DJ myself. I was good just be the driver to get us to an event that my partner was the DJ doing the event. I was depressed most days. The one good thing is that I was retired from my day job.

I found a doctor to do the surgery after another doctor couldn't. As soon as the doctor saw me he right away told me my problem. I have bulging disk in my back that turned into arthritis and it went to my left him. In January 2019 we did an event in Rahway, NJ and right after that I had the surgery on January 23rd. So I had to take a few months off. My sister was great with some days driving me to doctors appointments even in her condition. Finally I'm able to get back to DJing again and things were picking up. Fast forward to 2020. In January we did a job. In February I was the DJ for a couple of events. In March I getting setup to play in this club called Level 10 on March 22nd. The same day my DJ friend turned 70. I was to do an event for someone who turned 65 Wednesday March 18th. During that week is when the virus hit and that shut the club done. In April we were supposed to do 2 events back to back. Friday April 17th I was supposed to be the DJ doing a dance in Rutgers in Newark, NJ that my friend referred me to because he had a job to do himself that day The next day we were supposed to an event in Union, NJ for my partners GF's friend and both got cancelled due to the virus. So the bottom line is because of health issues and circumstances I was unable to do some events that were on the schedule. So some people knew of my condition and knew there was no need to contact me about doing an event for them. Besides how would it look me coming to be the DJ at an event walking in with a cane? So things have been up and down with things that have been going on.

MIXMASTERMACHOM said:

Besides how would it look me coming to be the DJ at an event walking in with a cane?

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I saw DJ in a wheel chair. The guy could DJ. I hate to say you can come in with a cane just have your crew carry the equipment. Now if you come in with a cane trying to carry equipment, well that looks foolish. If you’re good at our age nobody going to say anything but damn. Considering how many DJ’s who aren’t here anymore just being able to come in means a lot. Mix, should work out a deal like my friend Tommie, he had me supply all the equipment & had a guy to carry the records. He just came in and performed then left usually to DJ at another event. He holds the record for the most events in a day, a afternoon Wedding in Westchester, evening Wedding in Nassau County then a late night boat ride out of Brooklyn. I provided the equipment for each, rushing from one event to the next. I’ve done three Video Dance Parties & one corporate party In three days going from MA to NYC to PA to back to MA. But I think those days are over beside the Energy required I don’t think I can take the stress anymore. Very stressful

Mseals said:

I am located in a small town in Indiana. I would leave My computer in the bar because I am doing 3 nights a week there and only one night at a dif place so was thinking about getting one specifically for that bar. If success is making more than you spend then I should be extremely successful (after I make enough to pay off this second set of sound equipment I purchased) Karofun $9.99 a month .. 3 gigs a week Making $60 a gig .. so I am receiving $720 a month. And throwing in the $50 a week ($200 a month) for the DJ since I already using the equipment from the Karaoke show .. Once I finally get figured out how I am going to DJ ,,,,,,
This Kinda reminds me of a "funny" we used to talk about children. They would say .. "I am not working at McDonalds making $5 an hour My time is worth more than that",, And so they would sit home and make Nothing.. I figure I will take the low paying jobs and work up to the higher rather than sit home and make $0 ,, But this is just my old man way of thinking
Ok stupid help Maybe (and if you don't want to or want to complain about my trying to take a short cut I understand) I am an older guy (50's) that listens to 80's music and Alternative (Breaking Benjamins , Godsmack, Daughtry , Etc.) and when I get to this place they will want me to play Country and Rap(for examples) And I have no clue what songs they will want to hear even after they tell me. Now I can look up the top 100 rap songs country songs etc. and create these Tidal playlists on my own but would be helpful if someone already had these could share.. I will have to fine toon them regardless once I start getting requests but starter Playlists would really be helpful (hint hint).
Oh I forgot to include so edited .. I am disabled because I have nerve damage in my leg and a bad case of arthritis in my back. I use a cane AND carry equipment in with my cane. I don't need the cane to walk. What the cane does is keeps pressure off the leg that has the nerve damage in it Thus allowing me to be on my feet longer .. Just saw someone saying you can't dj with a cane

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Welcome,
you can get lists of music from lots of places on the internet. Lists that someone here may supply won’t be any better or worse.
the reality is you should start listening to those genres in any spare time to know the music those lists are suggesting.
Anyone can blindly play requests, especially with the online tools available today. But you’ll get the goof that requests a song he knows will tick everyone else off. Unless it’s the person that hired me, I don’t play requests unless I’ve listened to it first.

You have a serious issue playing in this place and it has nothing to do with money. You say the music the people want to hear or should I say types of songs they want to hear can change very quickly. So no playing one style of music for a while. With that being said, try this. Have a pen and a piece of paper by you to write down any songs they request that you don't have so next time you can have the song if you can't get it right then and there.

Music subscription services can be a bit tough because I had Promo Only and found out they only go back 2 years. So if you want some older stuff you have to find another way to get those songs. They have services that you can purchase music and download a song for you to use. Most songs doing it that way cost $2 or less depending on the site you use. That's super cheap compared to when you had to buy records. An import could cost $10 easily. Now you can get them much cheaper and the original version.

I mention these things because you say you don't have a lot of music in your library at this time. I understand your financial situation and it's tough. So you're looking to do this to add the needed income for you to survive. I suggest you build on things with the music as you can afford to and keep adding stuff. Let me say you need to go in there for a few weeks and do your best to get a feel for what you need to do to make it work for you and the bar. Hopefully you can in time convince them you're worth getting paid more money. The obvious thing is to get people in the place spending money and hopefully making the bar more money than before so they can increase your pay.

It might take a while to get things popping in this place. The question is how patient will the bar owner be and how long can you keep accepting that amount of money before needing an increase in the pay.

I've had situations that a bar I looked into being the DJ at a place want to pay a DJ $50. Not me. I'm not that desperate for money. I remember one place not to far away from where I live now needed a DJ and only want to pay $50. I don't know who they got. I just know it wasn't me. The place has been closed for many years now.

I forgot to mention one more thing. If you agree to do this job for this bar, if you don't have a social media account get one. I have 3 Facebook accounts. You can post on there and then hit share so what you post will reach all the people you're friends with on Facebook. Make sure you post about this place. The name and address of this place. The things going on in the place. What days and times you're there working in the bar. What you're doing in the bar specifically so people know what to expect on what day and time. Make sure you post pictures of the place including the outside of the building. Make sure you get pictures of people in the place having a good time while you're there.

Also it can't hurt to post about other things going on in the place besides when you're there. You want to build the place up so people will get used to coming there and want to keep coming back. Make sure when you post something you hit share as soon as you're done. You want to reach as many people as you can and I'm not just talking the town you live in. Keep us posted on how things turn out. Good luck. My name is Adrian Bacon and if you like you can hit me up for a friend request. Anything you send to me I will share it.

steve149 said:

You missed the part of what NOT to share ...

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My point is to get things out there to the public about this place so people know what's going on and may want to check this place out. Part of a DJ's job is to bring customers in a bar or club spending money. If not enough people come there or not at all spending enough money, then no reason to keep that DJ there.

I went one Sunday to hear a DJ play that I never heard before. I just wanted to hear him play because I heard his name a lot. My friend who DJs and was the DJ playing in the same place on Monday told me to stay home. I should have listened. The worst DJ I ever heard in my life and I have heard some bad ones. On a scale from 1 to 10, he was a minus 50. I left the place around 7pm and I was so mad i was outside cursing up a storm. People wanted me to be quiet. I just couldn't. That's how bad it was.

That DJ doesn't last long anywhere he gets a job in a bar or club. Now I know why. He didn't last much longer because enough people complained.

steve149 said:

Yes .. we know .. we spent years telling you that while you told us it wasn't your job. We're glad you finally picked up some useful info.

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I never said it wasn't my job. What I said was I don't like owners or managers who expect you to do the work getting people in a place and only want to pay you a certain amount. I like a owner/manager to assist in helping me with this. Especially if the place isn't a hot spot and there's work to be done to get people in the place. I don't mind doing some of the work because I do want people in the place to hear me play. It's their place, so it looks like they would want to help too with getting patrons coming in the place.

What I will do is post on social media and tell my friends. That's it after that. No paying for advertising or anything having to do with me spending my own money.

Mseals said:

FYI if you want to add me https://www.facebook.com/mike.seals.587 I accept pointers Just some of you might decide to ban me from here after seeing My "humor" LOL

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Humor is always welcome, as long as it's not funnier than me.

I'm just kidding. We all know that's not possible

Do you still have that 20gb hard drive?