Proms generally pay little today?

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DJ Ricky B

DJ Ricky B

DJ Extraordinaire
Mar 9, 2015
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I just got off the phone with my sister. She is doing a Prom through the Talent Agency this Friday night. The prom was only booked at $350 for 4 hours, and that includes lighting effects. She is barely making $275 on it. She took the booking because frankly, she needs the money. This prom is at a rather up scale wedding venue that cost about $2,000 to rent. There will be about 190-200 students attending (it is a smaller private school)

I have quoted on 5 proms through gig masters so far since January. I heard nothing back from any of those leads after following up. All prom quotes were in the $800 - $900 range.

I use to always get at least $650 on a PROM years ago. Actually $650 is the least I ever earned on doing a prom in the past. ...I haven't done a prom in 2 years now.

Personally, I think that $350 is way too low to book a prom for, yet the agency we work with are now booking them at that price point just to get the booking and assigning a DJ to it, or first DJ who wants it get's it I guess.

It use to be that I would KNOW that a middle school dance would pay low, but high school proms generally would book at good rates. Now it seems that Proms are the same as any other school dance in terms of compensation?

Is this what many of you are experiencing with proms in recent years? Are they foregoing spending well for a Prom DJ?
 
I've worked 2 proms myself in the past 2 weeks. DJ, dance lighting, uplighting, dual 10' projection screens and photobooths added. Both gigs fetched $1850 and these are accounts I've worked for multiple times. My wife worked one for a private school this past weekend. Our 2nd time doing it. Basic DJ and Photobooth for $1000. This private school was a complete PITA this year and I'm firing them (as if they haven't already fired me). I've got one more coming up next month. DJ + Dance lighting, private school for $900.
 
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rickryan.com said:
I've worked 2 proms myself in the past 2 weeks. DJ, dance lighting, uplighting, dual 10' projection screens and photobooths added. Both gigs fetched $1850 and these are accounts I've worked for multiple times. My wife worked one for a private school this past weekend. Our 2nd time doing it. Basic DJ and Photobooth for $1000. This private school was a complete PITA this year and I'm firing them (as if they haven't already fired me). I've got one more coming up next month. DJ + Dance lighting, private school for $900.
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Thanks for this post sir. Great that you're getting what you're getting to do these dances. What did you show them that had them convinced that you're worth those prices? That's the key. Just sending out a price quote without anything else usually will get you nowhere unless your quote is in the $350.00 range. If you want much more you have to be able to show them why you deserve much more. You also mentioned that you've worked with at least one of those schools more than once. To get them to want you to come back again and again at those rates you must have over delivered! Exceeding anything anybody else has done.

We have a fund raiser this Saturday to do in South Brunswick. It's a high school dance dealing with the red cross. My aim is to deliver something they aren't used to so they will want us to come back to do something else for them again at that school or another school in the area. Also since I know there will be adults there as well looking to impress them too. So if they have an event they need a DJ they can consider us.
 
Mix, first off I had my pricing posted to my website. Second off, when they contacted me, I didn't hem and haw around, I suggested to the sponsor what I thought would make a good package for them, added up the pricing from the website and sent the quote. On my website, I have a bazillion high-quality pictures from quality events. I also have roughly 100 online reviews that back up what I'm telling them I can do. In my view, if I didn't have the extras (large screens, live-pics, lighting, photobooth, etc.), then I'd be hard-pressed to fetch a decent rate and would likely be whining about rates, like others in this thread.

If you want to break out of bottom-feeder territory then you're simply going to have to set your prices, present them consistently (regardless of how much you think they can afford) and let the chips fall where they may. The second you start capitulating on price you lower yourself in the eyes of the prospective client. Yes, you'll have some that walk away to find something cheaper but if you do this right, you'll have a majority who still go with you. Make your sales pitch strong enough and your presentation un-wavering and you'll often find that people who were convinced they could only spend so much suddenly decide they're going to re-allocate their budget because they just HAVE to have you.
 
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Local prom I do had there proms at a venue charging $65/plate, and they only budget $1/student to go towards entertainment. They have about 220 attend. It took 3 years, and a $220 DJ that was making out with a student during the prom 5 years ago to get them to switch over to paying me $1400. Ever since then now they moved to a venue that charges about $50/plate so they can afford to keep me coming back. This is what they get.

 
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Is someone donating something to you .. or did you mean they are giving you a tax deductable contribution / donation?
 
I've got a prom this Saturday that's paying $350. I'm not a high school dance DJ, but this opportunity came along and April is very slow this year. The last time I did a prom (a couple of years ago) the pay was $275. Considering I don't do school dances, my light show is minimal and I have only one cheap ass sub, I can't expect to get much more.

If I were to concentrate on proms and homecomings that pay more, I would have to invest in trussing, more speakers, more subs, more lights and subsequently a larger van or even a trailer. And at my age I don't see this as a viable business venture. But if I were in my 30s I would consider making the investment.
 
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Our proms range from about $1800 to $3000 this year. A little slower year for us this year--lack of advertising has caught up to us, along with a couple customers on same dates causing us to lose a couple regulars this time around (it happens). We haven't seen as much activity from some of our larger schools the past couple years due to budget. I do have a few proms out into 2017. Need to get on my marketing again and fill the schedule.
 
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Impressive Valerie. You must give them a big production, (I'm guessing).
 
Possibly a valid point Mike!

However,

Don't they charge a ticket price for the prom to cover ALL of the expenses for the Prom? If a Ticket price is $60 per student for example, and they found a venue that will provide the space and food all inclusive for like $40 per student. That leaves a lot left over for entertainment, décor, and everything else. ...There seems to be something suspect when they are only willing to spend $400 or less on a DJ.

Either that, or they are not charging enough for the tickets to the students to go to prom.

I wonder if the school is trying to have has much funds left over as possible to put into other things.
 
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Mike proms are solely funded by the senior class in most schools in our (yours and mine) area. Fundraisers and ticket sales are what pay for the proms. My point is the class advisors will take them to the Hotel Bethlehem at $65/plate for Chilean Sea Bass that the kids don't eat, and pay $1-$2 per person towards entertainment. If they would pay me $20/head and have it at their gym. We can pipe &a drape it, make it look great, and bring in a top 40 artist to perform. The kids would enjoy that more than prime rib and seafood.
 
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I agree with you Stevie.

I remember my date to Prom barely ate her food. ...The girls won't eat much as they don't want to feel any where near full in their dresses. Our school had a DJ company come in that set up two large screens with music videos projected on them...I'm talking 20+ foot screens. They had two subs, and 4 speakers, and the prom was held at a Marriot Hotel in a big ball room. The DJ company got paid $1,799 ...that was back in 2000. They posted a 1 page article in the year book about the DJ company they used, and told the cost.

U would think a dinner at a nice local restaurant for the kids would be better, than have the prom dance portion at the school, or at least in a cheap venue.
 
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I have no perspective.
I didn't go to mine,
and the only proms I have worked were for The Hill School.
(a high end boarding school where all student activities are included in the tuition)
 
I attended a private catholic school and the event was a major thing 50% was paid by the school and 50% by the parents. My G7F and I have been invited to one by the family of a girl who was in a very bad accident while driving ahead of me (Was able to stabilize her but the injuries were severe) so we'll see how things have changed in 25 years.
 
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