How do stay fresh on your material

rickryan.com said:

The past few weddings that I've DJ'ed it's really hit me at how out of date I am with material. In the past, I've relied on the play count in winamp. Problem is, that leads you to keep playing the same 10-year old cuts night after night. Newer material generally comes from guest (young'uns) requests. You spot something new(ish) that keeps getting requested, it goes into regular rotation. Still, I find myself going back to the same cuts and it got me to thinking, "I wonder what the other DJs do to stay fresh?"

Click to expand...

do you ask for your clients for requests? Typically the must have songs come from them.

Outside of that, it's important for us to be aware what's going on socially... which includes scrolling around on tik tok and instagram reels and just keeping an eye on what you see thats trending. For example, anything by sabrina carpenter and hot to go are really really good songs to have.

also... make sure to watch other djs and see hwat songs they're incorporating

Being of a similar age, as you, i've had this thought many times in the past few years. I too still play a lot of the old dependables. I still tell a lot of the same jokes. And I too have a problem with new music.
But I hate keep having to remind myself that wedding audiences have not changed. At least for the weddings that I've been doing. You still have a variety of age groups. So you have to play some older material to make the parents happy, and play some new music to make the younger crowd happy. The only difference is the oldies. They are no longer from the 50s and 60s, but now from the 70s and 80s.
But Taso is right about requests. While I used to think they were not that important, I now realize the value of a good request list from the bride and groom. I also give more consideration for requests. I get at the event.
I've been having a lot of successful gigs this year. So I will keep plugging away until that changes.

Requests.
The best programming tool I have (or have ever had) is the microphone.

In the past (pre internet) I always had club residency that kept me in touch. I also had more time to preview new pool content when I was a young adult. Today's pool content often fails to track what's really going on in a given demographic. The releases don't necessarily track what's trending because radio is no longer the dominant or common mode distribution, and what's in the pool reflects only what they could acquire licensing for.

I also don't pay any attention to Tik-Tok or online stuff because trending content only indicates what people are looking at while sedentary, and may not at all reflect what would motivate them to dance. I've also never used the "previously played" or log features in DJ software because at mobile gigs one crowd may not be at all relevant to the next.

I open every gig by letting people know I'm happy to take their requests and see where it all leads. The ideal response is getting far more requests than I can actually play because that leaves me to simply play the cream of the crop, or test something new that I hope is well received. With kids - I keep the written requests and review them again post event. I can follow up on a heavily requested item I don't know about, and see if it's something I should be using. Many times - that turns out to be an internet meme or explicit material that I would not have played anyway, but occasionally I find a new gem.

Weddings are easier because they typically send a list of some kind in advance, and I make a point to hit all of it if possible. I've noticed however, as the internet takes over that many wedding couples have shorter lists, or generalized playlists from Spotify, and these may be far less focused than those of couples from the past. It really does seem that this online age has resulted in an odd fluidity and attention span deficit in the modern population. So much so, that even when people tell me they have a list - they may fail at ever sending it despite walking around with it on their phone. They seem to assume that because it's right at their own finger tips that everyone else is naturally on the same page.

Generally, there is no other solution today but to personalize every event. Whatever lists and requests we can get from a client and the audience are worth their weight gold - albeit, the kind of gold you have to pan for.

I'm still rocking Uptown Funk at least 40% of the weddings I DJ!

I wanna Dance with Somebody is probably played at 95%...just about all of them. People still love that one.

I did play some new stuff last night. A bunch of country stuff on their list that I KNOW I will likely NEVER play again at another wedding.

I Am trying to incorporate newer Jack Harlow and Lil Nas songs into my mix...MILD SUCCESS on new Hip Hop songs.

CHAPPELL ROAN IS A NEW COMER ARTIST THAT 3 BRIDES HAVE SELECTED. Her top song "Hot To Go" came out last year. Any of the younger couples into Anime, or Gaming and white are likely into Chappel Roan. They do a specific catchy dance to the song...Almost like a new trendy YMCA

I’ve definitely fallen behind in the last couple years since giving up bar shows there not money in them, but it really keeps you in the know of what’s popular in your region

Most of my couples explicitly state they want no requests from guests allowed... so I really don't rely on them for much at all. If anything, my viewpoint is if guests are requesting music, you're not keeping them excited on the dancefloor. That's why talking from couples and getting their input is crucial. At same time, make sure to cover all areas... for example, many of my couples only care about the music for them and their friends and may include zero requests pre-2000's. I always ask, hey do you want to incorprorate/sprinkle in some stuff for the older guests, at the very least for the early portions of the night.

I'm curious Rick if what you're asking for is in fact "new" music like Pepas or Espresso... or are you trying to find ways to be relevant to the 25-35 somethings. I find that they're not necessarily looking for new music at weddings... with exception of a hit song here or there... but rather they want their favorites presented in a fresh way that's appealing to them but allows them to reminisce.

For many of my couples, it's incorporating good remixes and doing proper quick mixing that distinguishes the in demand dj's from the "typical" DJ. It can also mean being a bit edgier. For example I often incorporate some really good punk rock sets from the 2000's at my weddings... really helps elevate the energy. Or for my more "ratchet" crowds, I'm not afraid to drop throwback anthems like "what's your fantasy", "the thong song", waka flaka no hands, or just a lil bit by 50 cent. And sometimes they just want those nostalgic childhood songs like "unwritten", "what dreams are made of" spice girls wannabe, or everytime we touch. Not necessarily new, but play the right 30-45 seconds and you give an element that friends of the bride and groom will instantly recognize and say to themselves, this is definitely not your typical wedding.

Just really curious to see what you're actually referring to

djtaso said:

Most of my couples explicitly state they want no requests from guests allowed... so I really don't rely on them for much at all. If anything, my viewpoint is if guests are requesting music, you're not keeping them excited on the dancefloor. That's why talking from couples and getting their input is crucial. At same time, make sure to cover all areas... for example, many of my couples only care about the music for them and their friends and may include zero requests pre-2000's. I always ask, hey do you want to incorprorate/sprinkle in some stuff for the older guests, at the very least for the early portions of the night.

Click to expand...

Wow, I’ve almost gotten to the point where I wouldn’t work with someone who said no requests, that seems very self serving.
What if Grandma want o hear something, or uncle Carl wants to dance with his wife to their favorite slow song,
I’ve always thought of a wedding as throwing a party for your friends and family. Not a party for yourself

Jeff Romard said:

This is the list for this weekend. Most of this is 15-20 years old I don't think there are any less than 10 and they want this in the "new" part of the night

Click to expand...

Was this the request list they sent?
Or a list of songs you played?

tunes4046 said:

Wow, I’ve almost gotten to the point where I wouldn’t work with someone who said no requests, that seems very self serving.
What if Grandma want o hear something, or uncle Carl wants to dance with his wife to their favorite slow song,
I’ve always thought of a wedding as throwing a party for your friends and family. Not a party for yourself

Click to expand...

it's practically 50% or more of the events that I do. It's not saying they don't want music for the older people... they don't want it to overtake the night or be anymore than they want it to be. Most couples hve a vision where the mid to later part of the nights are more focused on them and their friends. The consensus is that by then older people have left, and if they're still there, well then they can come for the ride as we rock out to the couples favorite music.

rickryan.com said:

BINGO! In answer to your original question, yes, I ask the couple for requests. My clients rarely exclude guest requests, and yes, I'd agree with you that if they're bombarding you, then you're not picking correctly. I guess since I've hit 60 I'm really starting to feel a divide between me and the 20-somethings. For new material, I generally rely heavily on requests, both from the clients and their guests. I often preach to clients that a wedding dance floor is not a place you want to cut Top40. People want something familiar, which excites them and they know how to dance to it. Still, it is easy to fall into a rut and keep playing the same old, same old, night after night. I will say that in regards to telling the same jokes, I don't see a problem with that. Back when I was working the Opry, all of the artists had staple of jokes they'd use, and they always worked.

Click to expand...

The divide is likely not from needing new material... but rather not grasping what they care about. Whether that is music that is specific to them and nolstagic... how much time you're spending on older music for the 50+ year olds, and how you're presenting the vibe and atmosphere.

This generation is the tiktok/spotify generation. They were the first to use pandora and youtube. What does this mean... they don't listen to the full song. They skip as soon as they get bored of it. They don't know all 3 verses of most songs... rather just the best part.

I included a playlist from a recent wedding I did in June. I chose this one because it had an extended set, where you can really see the diversity of what I played, but also how the night flowed and how it progressed from very generic, family friendly vibes, to more focused on the 25-45 yr olds. There's nothing in there with exception of a couple that are too new... but notice the length of each song that is being played... the remixes... etc. Any notable gaps in time are bc of salad and main courses. Also some end times are not accurate, as it doesn't register until I ctually stop the song... once in a while I'm talking to someone or doing something else and the song is still playing with the volume down... so pay more attention to the start times.

Since I think a lot of people appreciate playlists, here's another one from a wedding I consider a lot more trendy. Gaps in time are from salad, dinner, and dessert (dessert is in a different area with 50 different items for guests to enjoy). I deleted some of the ones where the end times made no sense.

Here's my playlist from last night... to try and be as current as possible. 4hr reception... 2hrs of dancing (intros started late). Only thing notable here, after the intros, instead of going into a first dance, we went into an actual dance set, hence the first few songs being more high energy in nature. The song count was 90 or so dance songs in 2 hrs or so of dance time. Many songs were played for less than 2 min... a good amount for less than a minute.

Since I am in the college market ages 18 - 21, I do have to have very current music. I do this by using music lists, requests from the client beforehand, taking requests at the event and my son giving me input. What’s absolutely hilarious is as long as I have to current music they mainly ask for the older stuff. At one karaoke event I had 1 student ask for more songs from broadway shows tunes, so he gave me a of about 30+ songs. Well, a couple of months later I started getting requests for a good number of those songs.