you totally missed the last line... the dj's working local bars make around $350-$600. Your guy was making $200. Even weekday nights they could make $4-$500. And the places I used to work when I focused on bars/clubs didn't have fights either. But after looking up the private place and seeing a picture... I can see why it closed down and I can also see why they don't pay more than $200. Unless you lived within walking distance there, there's no reason to show up there... and if the only clientele you have is within walking distance, that's not a huge amount of people. Very easy to see how it can go out of business with operating costs going up yearly, yet the amount of people you can attract stays the same... and you can't raise prices on them since they're accustomed to lower than average prices.
View attachment 35769
The places bringing in a big dj are huge nightclubs... you weren't not comparing apples to apple with that analogy when you mentioned big clubs, because chances are, they're not bringing in local dj's anyways.