For Mix, Documentary - I was there I when House music took over the world

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Maybe that's what goes on where you live at. Around here my friend is great at getting a older crowd to hear him in a place. That's because they have heard him play for many many years and loves what he does. When he has had a situation where a place gets shut down, his friends who love to hear him play will quickly find him another place to play at. Some places don't work out because the money isn't consistent with the agreement that was made. He will stay in as long as possible before he will leave a spot. Sometimes these things don't work out because the owner won't work with the DJ to get people to come to the place. The other thing is it takes time to build on a place that's a cold place. What I mean is when it's a place not a lot of people are coming there, so the crowd in the beginning maybe very small starting out. Then it depends on the size of the place. Some places it's a great thing that they are rather small places because it doesn't take a lot of people to make the place look like the joint is popping.

The place where my friend played at on Monday nights was Level 10. Through out the night he would get 30 people or a little bit more to come there and drink to hear him play. That's damn good for a Monday and he would mix the music up depending on the crowd that was there that night.
I never said people won't like to "hear" what you (or your friend) plays .. I said they generally aren't willing to PAY what it takes to keep a bar open (and cover the costs of the DJ) and there generally isn't enough of them.
 
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I never said people won't like to "hear" what you (or your friend) plays .. I said they generally aren't willing to PAY what it takes to keep a bar open (and cover the costs of the DJ) and there generally isn't enough of them.
It's all in how things are setup, what kind of place it is, who comes there, how it's advertised so people know what's going on there and most importantly they have to know that the place exist. Please also remember it's about what the owner will and will not allow in their place. Some don't want a certain crowd coming in their place because they know normally that crowd brings trouble. Then others don't care. They just want to see how much money they can make. Once a place gets shut down it's too late to say they wish they would have done things differently. Also keep in mind what I said and that is have different things on different nights. The same crowd is not going to show up there every night to hear the same things. Most people don't have unlimited money to spend hanging out in a place all the time. So it's a matter of picking what day and time you're going to go out to a place. That's the reason for having a variety. You don't always go to the same restaurant all the time no matter how much you love the place.
 
Open your own place. This has been suggested to you before. You seem to know how to do it and be successful, so go do it.
D me a favor. Set me up with a Go account so people can donate money so I can get the money to get this place you want me to have.
 
D me a favor. Set me up with a Go account so people can donate money so I can get the money to get this place you want me to have.
Mix .. you couldn't get more than dozen people to show up to your FREE handball court event ... You're on your own for funding.
 
I need to say this. First I don't tell an owner what to do. I've been in situations where I was asked what I think would help with getting people to come to a place spending money. I just give suggestions. It's up to an owner what they decide to do. Now let me say I clearly understand that a place needs enough people spending money to justify keeping you the DJ there. Of course there are bills to be paid besides paying a DJ to work there. So a place has to make enough money to keep the place open and should be able to make enough money to put away for emergencies. I get all of that.

My top priority is DJ Macho Man. The first thing I look for is the place going to be a place I will feel comfortable playing there. Then the people who come to hear me play are mature adults who want to come to hear me play in a place that they will feel comfortable in. If not they won't come there even though it's me playing there.

Let me tell this. The last place I played at each week was messy. I won't mention the name of the place because it's hair salon place now. I should have listened to my GF at the time and not go back after the first night I played there. I was supposed to be playing there on Friday night from 8PM until. I was thinking I was going to be playing from 8PM to 1:30AM. Iwas never told some more DJs were to play there at 10PM. Keep in mind this is my first night playing there. I got to play until 11PM and was told to shut down. I got paid my money. We talked about changing the time for me to play from 6 to 10PM. I didn't know about happy hour was from 4 to 8PM. So I was cutting into happy hour, which is a big no no. The reason is once the time is up for happy hour the drink prices go up without them getting anything else in return.
run much better then others.
Now let me say this. I should have been told the truth from the beginning about those other DJs playing there on Friday night. I have nothing against them. If I knew the situation I would have never agreed to play there on Friday night. Had I been given the chance to play there from 8PM to 1:30AM in 2 months I would have had the place packed with people spending money to hear me play. It might not have taken that long. I had a nice crowd coming to hear me play. When I played there, there was no need for security. At 10PM when the other DJs played the place had to have security. The reason is that the owner allowed a lot of under age people in the place drinking. The crowd that came at 10PM was the crowd that wanted the DJSs to play mostly explicit music. Songs with the B, N, MF words and more.

So the people who came there on Friday to hear me play would only stay but so long because they didn't want to be in the place when that rough crowd showed up. ABC came in and the owner got fined for what he was allowing them in the place. I switched to playing there on Sunday evening from 5 to 10 PM. I went there on a Sunday to play and found out the place was closed for good, That was an ugly way to find out the place was closed.

So simply put some places are run much better then others. Oh one more thing that can get you fired from a place is if enough people complain about your playing. Thankfully I haven't had that happen so far.
 
Same old story you have already said a million times. We get it you are afraid to play in places that won't do exactly what you want. Good luck finding a place then that is looking for a 60 plus crowd on a prime night. I think maybe it is just time for you to give up the idea of you ever playing in a club or bar again. I know you will say someone will want you but int he end it will all end the same way. You and the owner disagree and he didn't help you bring people in blah blah blah blah. When these lockdowns are over and things go back to normal whenever that may be. the last thing an owner is going to want to do is bring in an 60 plus crowd. They are going to want 21-40 crowd so they can start making money again, so you have a choice. 1 start playing new music and stop worrrying about how a place is run and who comes in or 2. do not worry about playing in a bar or club again.
 
Same old story you have already said a million times. We get it you are afraid to play in places that won't do exactly what you want. Good luck finding a place then that is looking for a 60 plus crowd on a prime night. I think maybe it is just time for you to give up the idea of you ever playing in a club or bar again. I know you will say someone will want you but int he end it will all end the same way. You and the owner disagree and he didn't help you bring people in blah blah blah blah. When these lockdowns are over and things go back to normal whenever that may be. the last thing an owner is going to want to do is bring in an 60 plus crowd. They are going to want 21-40 crowd so they can start making money again, so you have a choice. 1 start playing new music and stop worrrying about how a place is run and who comes in or 2. do not worry about playing in a bar or club again.
Thtill midnightere you go again. Where did you see I said anything about 60 year olds coming to hear me play? I said mature adults coming to hear me play somewhere. That would mean a nice mixture of young and older people. Not just older people. Your life may not mean much to you but mine does. I am concerned how a place is being run. I'm not desperate for money. That might be you. I've said it before, my top priority when playing in a place is safety first. Also like I said the people who will come to hear me play somewhere are going to want to make sure they will be safe inside as well as outside the place. My life is worth more then any amount of money.

I'm going to hear my friend play tonight in a place. This bartender set him up to play in a place on Monday's from 8PM till midnight. He's 70 years old and still going strong. They got to know one another from the place he last layed at which is Monday nights. It's super short notice because he got the call this past Thursday to come and play there. I'm going there for 3 reasons. To hear my friend play, joke with him and see I can get a shot at playing there.
 
Again I have never had to worry about my safety at any place I have played at. Seem you are the only person that has this issue. 8-midnight on a Monday night. Prime time baby!. Thats where the big bucks are. Also the last week that will be happening since now in Jersey indoor seating has to be done at 10pm.
 
Ok that's great for you. I guess either you have been lucky or you do research before agreeing to play in a place.
 
Thtill midnightere you go again. Where did you see I said anything about 60 year olds coming to hear me play? I said mature adults coming to hear me play somewhere. That would mean a nice mixture of young and older people. Not just older people. Your life may not mean much to you but mine does. I am concerned how a place is being run. I'm not desperate for money. That might be you. I've said it before, my top priority when playing in a place is safety first. Also like I said the people who will come to hear me play somewhere are going to want to make sure they will be safe inside as well as outside the place. My life is worth more then any amount of money.

I'm going to hear my friend play tonight in a place. This bartender set him up to play in a place on Monday's from 8PM till midnight. He's 70 years old and still going strong. They got to know one another from the place he last layed at which is Monday nights. It's super short notice because he got the call this past Thursday to come and play there. I'm going there for 3 reasons. To hear my friend play, joke with him and see I can get a shot at playing there.
Super short notice would have been if they called him at 4pm this afternoon. Being called last Thursday would have been sufficient for nearly everybody else.

Your friend is probably getting $50-$75 to play on a Monday. Most folks aren't going to drink heavily on a night before a work day .. or they're retired and not going to drink much period.
 
Super short notice would have been if they called him at 4pm this afternoon. Being called last Thursday would have been sufficient for nearly everybody else.

Your friend is probably getting $50-$75 to play on a Monday. Most folks aren't going to drink heavily on a night before a work day .. or they're retired and not going to drink much period.
The last place he played at he was getting $130. In these difficult times who knows. He mentioned $150. Just see what happens with the situation we're in today.
 
The last place he played at he was getting $130. In these difficult times who knows. He mentioned $150. Just see what happens with the situation we're in today.
For $150, the bar would need to be pulling in $450 in drinks to break even. That's 50-100 drinks. Not so likely on a Monday night.
 
Now some on here will play in a place where fights break out don't see a problem with it. Me if I'm put in a situation like that, I will be long gone never to return again. I'm not talking about a little incident that quickly gets handled and the people causing a problem are quickly thrown out. When I played in the Private Place Lounge a little stuff did happen occasionally but nothing to major.

I think that might be the big difference is that language. A little fight happens in a bar all the time. People get a little tuned up, a few shoves.. nothing major. The security team breaks it up or throws someone out and the party continues.

When you talk about your life being in danger... that implies much more than just a fight. That's a major incident. Most bars and clubs don't stay open for long if they're dealing with those kind of incidents, certainly not regularly.

I think most of use are used to a little nightlife scuffle. But I've never had any fear for my life while DJing. I wouldn't work in a place where I did either. But the fact that you have to bring it up in every post suggests that you are either obsessed with this issue, or coming across it a lot more than anyone else here. I'm guessing its the former.
 
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For $150, the bar would need to be pulling in $450 in drinks to break even. That's 50-100 drinks. Not so likely on a Monday night.
He is not getting $150 on a Monday night.
He got it playing at Level 10. Don't think it can't be done. He was able on a Monday night to bring in roughly 30 people or more drinking on a Monday night. So that's impressive.
 
For $150, the bar would need to be pulling in $450 in drinks to break even. That's 50-100 drinks. Not so likely on a Monday night.
It depends on the drink prices and what is the profit from each drink being sold.
 
It depends on the drink prices and what is the profit from each drink being sold.
And how much did YOU spend on alcohol while watching him? I'm guessing zero.

Mix, it's basic business math. 30 people times an average of 3 drinks per person times an average of $5 per drink = $450 income. Subtract roughly $2.00 per drink for drink costs, another $250 for staff, overhead, and carrying costs. Now you're down to $20 BEFORE the DJ is paid. So the owner gets to LOSE $100 on the night. Or more likely, doesn't make himself any salary. You can do that on occasion to keep people coming, but unless people are drinking heavily on a Monday night, it's not a benefit to the place.
 
Let me say this. The location of a place is not the big issue. The issue is how a place is being run. I can give you 2 examples of places that were run what I call tight to the right. The Private Place Lounge was a great place to play at. It was my favorite place to play at of all times. I didn't worry about a big drama scene happening there. Twice the police came in there. Once a girl in there got into it on a Thursday night that I was playing there with a regular who came there. The police came there to calm things down. All it was is the girl had too much to drink and needed to sleep it off. No major thing happened. The other time people were still in the place after 2AM. The law is for patrons to be out before 2AM. The people working there including the DJ could be in there after 2AM. Those are the 2 incidents. A little incident here and there that would quickly get handled and the people put out of the place that were causing a scene. It was a friendly peaceful place for people to come to and a DJ to play there.

Now across the street was J & A sports bar. The police had to stay in the parking lot when they were letting people out every time a DJ played there because they didn't know when a big issue might happen and the police would get a call to come there. I was told once a lady took a beer bottle and busted a guy upside his head in the place. It's now a restaurant that the guy who bought it out had some entertainment in the place. Nothing like that happening there.

Now about Level 10 on North Center street which is in the next block. It was run by another owner under a different name. Back then it was a rough place to go to. The place kept the police there all the time. Either when it was closing time or before then. At that time 2 people got shot outside. Another guy became the owner and since he has been running the place (which is before the shut down) not one issue inside or outside of the place. Police didn't have to come there at all. Same place but run totally different from the way it used to be run.

My friend played there on Monday nights. I was trying my best to get to play there because of how great the place was being run. The owner set it up just right. No DJ playing there was allowed to play any of today's crazy music. Only music you were allowed to play there was Classic Soul, House Music and Club Classics. Just so you know people used to love to come there. I do mean even the older crowd of people as well on certain nights. He didn't have to depend on a bunch of 21 year olds coming in the place to keep the doors open to pay the bills. The age limit was 27 on up and he bought a ID detector to see if someone had a fake ID or not. He was serious about 27 and older. So my point is it's not all about the location of a place but more about how a place is being run. If an owner allows the drama people to come into their place what do you expect to happen? I expect drama and places like that most times only last so long. That's unless the owner figures out the mistakes they are making and make changes cleaning things up.

As you have been told before most if any of us NEVER have to worry about being shot where we play. I understand you like your area but move out just a little it will change

You constantly give us examples of places long gone .. and of music that you like (and was a hit at one time). There's a reason these clubs and this music (for the most part) is long gone. There's a reason that the Model T is no longer in production and is a collector car. There's also a reason that very few people have one. You keep reflecting on times long gone and consistently refuse to adapt to now. You have absolutely no input on how a 'place is run'. You have a hard time running your own 'business' let alone judging or telling someone else how to run theirs. You have one simple task .. you can either perform .. or not.

Read that again Mix it makes sense

Here's the thing what you like to play and feel safe with is relevant to a very specific crowd. You're playing 70s, 80s 90s house music. When the music was new it had a small audience comparatively to other genres and the ones that were listening to 70's and 80's house when it was new are at least 50 years old now most are over 60 and some as old as 80. Not many 50+ out pounding back the drinks on a Monday night

I'll give you an example from a different genre. I voicetrack a classic country show on Saturday nights on the AM station we have at work. The show has been running for 25 years and it's number one weekend nights in the market for 55+. The same people that were listening when the show first started 25 years ago are 80-100 now but the music has changed. We update frequently as to what is "classic" The were playing nothing past 1981 when it started we are in around 97-2000 now. We still focus on the 70's 80's but frequently one old comes out one newer comes in it's basic rotation programming. You don't have that luxury because you are pigeonholed with what you play. The short and the long of it is old house is dying a slow death and those listening aren't doing it in a bar
 
And how much did YOU spend on alcohol while watching him? I'm guessing zero.

Mix, it's basic business math. 30 people times an average of 3 drinks per person times an average of $5 per drink = $450 income. Subtract roughly $2.00 per drink for drink costs, another $250 for staff, overhead, and carrying costs. Now you're down to $20 BEFORE the DJ is paid. So the owner gets to LOSE $100 on the night. Or more likely, doesn't make himself any salary. You can do that on occasion to keep people coming, but unless people are drinking heavily on a Monday night, it's not a benefit to the place.
I don't drink alcohol. I will buy others a drink and not all drinks are $5. Some more and some might be less. Depends on the place itself. If it's really a nice enough of a place people may spend a little more for a drink. Some places the drinks are super cheap and in such cases those places barely make a profit or last long.