End of an era for me

To many ads? Support ODJT and see no ads!
steve149 said:
So your friend thought the Friday crowd sucked .. but thought you would be a good fit ??
Click to expand...
He did playing there on Friday he told me for 15 years and got tired of it. I would have had no problem with doing it. Like I said I loved playing there and it wasn't just about the money.
 
tunes4046 said:
If done a bi weekly bar gig at the same place for over 15 years the last year has really slowed down, I have been contemplating retiring from this gig for a few reasons biggest one is the culture of today, you can be at a bar full of people and well over 70% of the crowd is staring at there phones at social media, the owners don’t want me to leave however I simply don’t enjoy it any longer, it has nothing to do with money, I used to do this because it was fun, kept me up on current music, it’s not nearly as fun and most of the new music is pretty horrible,
Click to expand...

If you've been doing this for 15 years there must be something you like about it. Let me ask:

Why after 15 years do you expect things to have remained the same? Yes, people are engaged with their social media because it entertains them. However, your job as a RB&C disc jockey is to convert entertainment into F&B revenue. Instead of quitting - why not find ways to make the experience interactive and get the people engaged by making the venue entertainment one of the things on those little screens?

Bar owners don't hire DJs because they want to give away their profits. They hire DJs with the express intent to expand their profits. What are you implementing to meet these goals?

Despite the negative side of present day technology and the social climate - I personally do not want to return to 1994. We can all choose to live in the present, and pursue new challenges - or simply get off the bus at our favorite stop. I think you just need to figure out what it is you really want and either direct your DJ experience toward another pursuit - or find a way to breathe new life into the one you already have,
 
There most certainly is money in "bars" ..or nightclubs and restaurants. I made a very good living as a club DJ for over a decade.

But - it is a job!

DJs who take this on for "fun" will inevitably end up in bars with equally unambitious managers or owners and consequently find it a dead end experience. I don't know any other line of work where someone can show up at the door and say: "I'd like you to pay me to come here and have fun" and expect to get hired. If you find a bar owner who's okay with that - run away! This is not the place you want to work.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jeff Romard, djrox and steve149
Proformance said:
There most certainly is money in "bars" ..or nightclubs and restaurants. I made a very good living as a club DJ for over a decade.

But - it is a job!

DJs who take this on for "fun" will inevitably end up in bars with equally unambitious managers or owners and consequently find it a dead end experience. I don't know any other line of work where someone can show up at the door and say: "I'd like you to pay me to come here and have fun" and expect to get hired. If you find a bar owner who's okay with that - run away! This is not the place you want to work.
Click to expand...
Stop making it impossible to disagree with you...my soul is hurting.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jeff Romard, SEDJ, steve149 and 1 other person
The truth of the matter is DJs in this area come a dime a dozen. So there's a lot of competition out here. So you have to stand out and people got to really like or love you so the owner/manager of a place doesn't replace you because they don't want to lose money.
 
You said things in the last year slowed down in this place. Can you tell us what you mean by this and have you officially retired from playing there?
 
MIXMASTERMACHOM said:
...When I was asked to play at the Private Place Lounge the manager asked what I wanted to get paid. I told him $150 when I play there. Sometimes I had my birthday party there. I would DJ my own party and get paid. It was a win win for me. I loved playing there. Never an issue with getting paid in full. The manager a great guy told me one night had it on his mind to make the pay respectable. What they paid me I felt was fair for both me and the Lounge.
I got to ask what do the bars in your area normally pay a DJ? I've had at least a couple that wanted to pay me $50 or someone else who would work there for that amount. Crazy.


I never knew about the place and was looking for a place to play at the time. So they already had DJs in place that had been working there for years. That's including a DJ that worked there for 27 years and was the last DJ to play there on a Tuesday night. The owner decided she no longer wanted to run the place and closed the doors that night.

Now my friend was going to let me play there on Fridays because he was getting tired of playing there on Fridays. He stopped feeling good about the crowd coming in the place on Friday nights. I never got the spot because it closed down. Non of the 2 managers along with the owner would have had a problem with me being the DJ playing there on Friday nights. I hated things didn't happen that way because I really loved playing there!!!!!!!!! Rarely was there an issue with someone getting out of hand. It was a nice crowd and you never had an issue with your pay. It was always right. I found out from the manager they would have your envelope already in the room with your money when you got there.

That's great because I know places where they would only make a certain amount of money and would short change the DJ at times. Never had that issue in there. It's gone so no crying over spilled milk. People still are upset that it closed because even though it was a hole in the wall, it was a place that people loved to come to.

Now on the flip side of things I had my 50th birthday celebration in another bar and my friend from the PPL came there. He listened to me play and loved it. So he kept insisting to the manager to let me take his place when he wasn't there. That's how I got started playing there. Enough people told the managers how much they loved what I did and that's why I got to play in there when I did. Which was usually when a DJ couldn't make it including Thursday night when it was classic Soul night. That's the music that they wanted the DJ to play mostly that night. You could play a little house music as a tease for Friday and that was it.

Let me tell this. My first counselor buddy God be pleased with his soul. He nailed it one day. When you get to a certain age certain things don't hold your interest anymore the way they used to.

I used to go Go Go bars. I haven't been in one I don't know how many years. A guy I used to work with kept trying to come with him. He was a really cool guy but that doesn't excite me anymore.

Just like the ex said something to me one day when we were together. She was surprised that I'm a DJ who isn't crazy about going to a bar or club to hear a DJ play. I used to go with her sometimes because that's what she liked to do. My thing is I don't mind when it's a friend of mine playing. Other than that it's not a big deal. I've been doing this for a long time and it's got to be somebody really good to get me excited.

Now let me ask you this and please don't take offense to what I'm asking. You said you don't like people in this place on their cellphones. So that's what you see a lot of in this place now? Not trying to be funny. Is the issue that more people are on their cellphones instead of on the dance floor because of the music you're playing?

Now I certainly do understand the job of a DJ in a bar is to keep a rotation. You don't want people dancing all night and not spending money at the bar. That's how the bar gets to afford to pay you.

I was playing one night in the PPL and one of the regulars who came there said to me get the people dancing. I wasn't worried about that. I knew eventually they would get out there and dance. I was just happy to the bar making plenty of money. Like I knew it after a while the crowd in the place started dancing up a storm. Sometimes it takes the crowd getting a few drinks in them to loosen up.

He did playing there on Friday he told me for 15 years and got tired of it. I would have had no problem with doing it. Like I said I loved playing there and it wasn't just about the money.

The truth of the matter is DJs in this area come a dime a dozen. So there's a lot of competition out here. So you have to stand out and people got to really like or love you so the owner/manager of a place doesn't replace you because they don't want to lose money.

You said things in the last year slowed down in this place. Can you tell us what you mean by this and have you officially retired from playing there?
Click to expand...
1579877212003.png
 
  • Haha
Reactions: dunlopj
MIXMASTERMACHOM said:
The truth of the matter is DJs in this area come a dime a dozen.
Click to expand...

Only if you choose to charge a dime and hang out with the dozen....Taso is 20 miles from you and make more a gig than you do in a year
 
  • Like
Reactions: ittigger, steve149 and djrox
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back