It May Soon Come To This?

[ahoustondj]

I saw this article in a monthly magazine subscription that I receive. Here is the online version. http://www.fohonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3110&Itemid=1

Chaps in Boston may want to check this out. If venues start installing sound of their own and start preventing DJs from bringing in anything other than sound source and a Mixer we can see DJ rates go down. I know of one venue that already does this in Houston. They charge the customer for the use of the "House System" and do not let DJs bring in anything. The Customer then feels like they have already paid a part of the DJ fee.

 

[Fred Wright]

Brother Houston,

I could be wrong about this... but it seems to me that venues that install a professional quality sound system would be more expensive to rent than venues that don't.

If a B&G have to pay more for a venue rental "just because" the venue has a FOH in place, that alone isn't adding value from their standpoint. They will still have the DJ's cost no matter if the house has a sound rig or not.

Thoughts?

 

[ahoustondj]

Brother Houston,

I could be wrong about this... but it seems to me that venues that install a professional quality sound system would be more expensive to rent than venues that don't.

If a B&G have to pay more for a venue rental "just because" the venue has a FOH in place, that alone isn't adding value from their standpoint. They will still have the DJ's cost no matter if the house has a sound rig or not.

Thoughts?

Will answer in awhile I gotta make a run now!

 

[ahoustondj]

Brother Houston,

I could be wrong about this... but it seems to me that venues that install a professional quality sound system would be more expensive to rent than venues that don't.

If a B&G have to pay more for a venue rental "just because" the venue has a FOH in place, that alone isn't adding value from their standpoint. They will still have the DJ's cost no matter if the house has a sound rig or not.

Thoughts?

Ok Here are my thoughts. Forget for a moment that you are a DJ. Look at it from the Point of view of A. The Venue. B. The Corporate Client. C. The Wedding/Party Client.

1. To the Corporate Client- they really don't care about price. To them its a convenience that they don't have to bother with renting sound elsewhere.(Pretty soon too, the venues may start adding A/V Projectors, screens etc., some already provide that service)

2. The Wedding/Party Client may see this as a Bonus especially if the House System is state of the art i.e. A quality system. They can then hire anyone to play the music (Think of all the wannabes, now they have it easier. If they have a decent library and know their music, they may skate by). The Final customer may feel the need to pay less for a DJ because their argument will be "You don't have to bring any equipment!" This argument is true just like it is for Mobile DJs versus Club DJs (Who use the Club's System)

3. The Venue may have the smarts not to itemize the cost. It will be included in the price. I help a friend in the Party Rental Business who rents out chairs, dishes, eating utensils to Venues including Hotels. Guess who pays for all this extra cost? The Customer! They may think that everything belongs to the Hotel or venue but they are wrong. The Hotel/Venue rents the party supplies at one price then marks it up for a profit. The Customer only sees the Package Price of the Hall Reservation/Catering. All that would be left is for the Venue to start using a select group of DJs on a regular basis. It would be like hiring a House DJ for a Club.

Some venues even have portable Lighting Systems, A selection of Uplighting, Audio Visual Equipment (Available or already installed)

Venues will get a faster return than DJs on that kind of investment because their Banquet Halls will more than likely be used more often than a DJ does gigs. The equipment will also last longer because it is installed not moved around from gig to gig.

Does this make sense?

 

[Jeff Romard]

1. To the Corporate Client- they really don't care about price. To them its a convenience that they don't have to bother with renting sound elsewhere.(Pretty soon too, the venues may start adding A/V Projectors, screens etc., some already provide that service)

Around here we have dropped the ball on this one alot of venues have picked up and ran with this and are offering this as an add on

2. The Wedding/Party Client may see this as a Bonus especially if the House System is state of the art i.e. A quality system. They can then hire anyone to play the music (Think of all the wannabes, now they have it easier. If they have a decent library and know their music, they may skate by). The Final customer may feel the need to pay less for a DJ because their argument will be "You don't have to bring any equipment!" This argument is true just like it is for Mobile DJs versus Club DJs (Who use the Club's System)

What would it be worth to you to use a quality system that you don't have to move, worry about, or repair? Would it be worth a couple of hundred to not have to carry it?

3. The Venue may have the smarts not to itemize the cost. It will be included in the price. I help a friend in the Party Rental Business who rents out chairs, dishes, eating utensils to Venues including Hotels. Guess who pays for all this extra cost? The Customer! They may think that everything belongs to the Hotel or venue but they are wrong. The Hotel/Venue rents the party supplies at one price then marks it up for a profit. The Customer only sees the Package Price of the Hall Reservation/Catering. All that would be left is for the Venue to start using a select group of DJs on a regular basis. It would be like hiring a House DJ for a Club.

I'm looking at makng a deal similar to this with a couple of the upscale venues here. Basically I wan't $XXX.XX for 4 hours and so much for anything after that. The venue becomes my client and sells me as an add on

Some venues even have portable Lighting Systems, A selection of Uplighting, Audio Visual Equipment (Available or already installed)

Venues will get a faster return than DJs on that kind of investment because their Banquet Halls will more than likely be used more often than a DJ does gigs. The equipment will also last longer because it is installed not moved around from gig to gig.

I have to disagre with you here. If they hire professional entertainers they have a chance but if they are hiring $50 wonders the gear will be pounded to death in no time at all

Does this make sense?

Answers in blue

 

[DJ J Mac]

funny, we've got a venue around here that has their own built in sound system and just has DJs bring their mixer and music. Funniest part is though, no even semi-legit DJ will touch the place.

 

[Jeff Romard]

funny, we've got a venue around here that has their own built in sound system and just has DJs bring their mixer and music. Funniest part is though, no even semi-legit DJ will touch the place.

That's the worry I have with my idea above

 

[ahoustondj]

funny, we've got a venue around here that has their own built in sound system and just has DJs bring their mixer and music. Funniest part is though, no even semi-legit DJ will touch the place.

When more and more Venues start adding Sound Systems, the Systems themselves will get better because of competition. With enough Venues doing so, a trend may set it and thus lessen the availability of Gigs for qualified DJs.

 

[ahoustondj]

Answers in blue

My answers are in red! LOL

What would it be worth to you to use a quality system that you don't have to move, worry about, or repair? Would it be worth a couple of hundred to not have to carry it?

It won't matter to me. I do not mind the load in or load out. Its why I charge accordingly. I would rather go home tired with more $$$ in my pocket than sail in with a Laptop and go home with half the $$$$$$$

I have to disagre with you here. If they hire professional entertainers they have a chance but if they are hiring $50 wonders the gear will be pounded to death in no time at all

The Hotel Staff will control that. They won't allow DJs to abuse their system. They can put covers over certain peices of equipment which the DJs cannot access.

 

[Jeff Romard]

When more and more Venues start adding Sound Systems, the Systems themselves will get better because of competition. With enough Venues doing so, a trend may set it and thus lessen the availability of Gigs for qualified DJs.

Yes but will the DJs get better or worse?

I think of this like the Ipod weddings. Everyone was in fear for a couple of years "demise of the industry" and the like but you hardly ever hear it mentioned now.

Now that being said there will be some very good quality DJs take some of these jobs and be paid very well. Not all venues are cheap some are smart and the ones that don't will be in less demand

 

[Fred Wright]

Well... house PA can only get as good as the business that it attracts.

In the case of corporate functions, the most a client will want is a microphone and projector for PowerPoint. And corporate clients are cutting back on their expenses, too.

Remember, we're talking about what's inside the heads of venue owners and investors. Any expense has to be value added. If it doesn't add value to the end user, in this case, the rental client, it's not likely to fly.

For the project to succeed, the venue will have to successfully sell it to the rental client. How many rental clients truly need a pro sound installed system? That's gonna be the determining factor.

 

[DjDennis]

we have many venues that do this

I still charge the same as I always do
if they dont want me to bring equipment and want me to use the one at the venue
then why should I drop my rates

your not getting just equipment
but my Talents as a Professional Dj for over 30+ years

.

 

[Papa Deuce]

[B]The Hotel Staff will control that. They won't allow DJs to abuse their system. They can put covers over certain peices of equipment which the DJs cannot access.[/B]

This is FUNNY....

I worked in the Valley Forge Convention Center as the AV manager for 3 years. we worked closely with the banquet managers. I can tell you that "somehow" DJs and outsiders always managed to find a way, if they wanted to.

I was not an employee of the VFCC, but was the in house manager for a private AV company. I ALWAYS could get into anything I wanted at any time, though I wasn't supposed to be able to.

 

[Sounds To Go]

I'm not worried about it if it did happen at a venue. To a certain extent it would help "level the playing field" and force dj's to be more competitive and compete on other grounds that matter more.

I'd be more worried about the functionality of the system, what kind of shape it is in - whether the last dumb-arse blew it out, etc, and whether it was going to give out on ME than I would about it affecting my rate going in.

But a good bit of my lack of worry on the issue is that I price differently than most other dj's anyway... Meaning I'm not overly opportunistic.

You shouldn't be making much profit off of equipment use or having it at the event. What you charge for equipment should be for depreciation costs on said equipment... so if you;re not USING IT, there's no depreciation to CHARGE FOR! Profit is figured as a separate line-item.

So in this scenario, you *should* break even costs-wise and have the convenience of not breaking your back.

Like I said - I'd be more worried about practical considerations and functionality than anything else.

 

[Guest]

Well, currently I have language in my contract that says that I will not use venue supplied equipment; however, I am rethinking that. Now, there is only one venue that I know of in my area that requires the DJ to use their speaker system and they are the reason for the language; their system stinks and I won't use it.

That having been said, I am considering designing a system that will allow me to go in with just the source (computer and drive), mixer, and controller. My rackmounted system can fill this bill currently but I am looking to scale back to lighter gear.

 

[DJ Deuce]

Two thumbs up for EAW speakers! (that's what I use).

Hey, When I play in a club, I don't take my own sound system, I plug into their's. lol, Not much different in my eyes, it just lightens my load in and tear down...

 

[Ron Auger]

I played in a high end venue just outside of Boston last night. The venue manager said to me as I was rolling in my Bose L1's, Oh good you have your own system. Didn't quite know what he meant until I looked in the ceiling an noticed all Bose installed ceiling speakers. I wasn't worried about using their equiment because even their in house system couldn't handle the crowd I had.

I'm not worried about the venues in New England. Most would not put out the expense for that kind of sound. Even if they did, people are paying for the talent and ability, not the sound, for the most part. If a venue offers a better sound system then what I carry that's great. They still can't offer me.

 

[ahoustondj]

I played in a high end venue just outside of Boston last night. The venue manager said to me as I was rolling in my Bose L1's, Oh good you have your own system. Didn't quite know what he meant until I looked in the ceiling an noticed all Bose installed ceiling speakers. I wasn't worried about using their equiment because even their in house system couldn't handle the crowd I had.

I'm not worried about the venues in New England. Most would not put out the expense for that kind of sound. Even if they did, people are paying for the talent and ability, not the sound, for the most part. If a venue offers a better sound system then what I carry that's great. They still can't offer me.

This seems to be a trend. On Friday I went to a Prestigious Venue http://www.thecorinthianhouston.com/ in Houston and they have Installed Sound as part of the House system. It was all Bose. This is what they are using downstairs (On all the Pillars)

http://pro.bose.com/ProController?url=/pro/products/panaray/panarayma12ex/panarayma12ex.jsp

[/ATTACH]
Upstairs they are using another model of Bose.

 

[Steve Bourguignon]

What if one of the installed system malfunctions? I am pretty sure that they won't be installing Backup equipment as well. Also who would be responsible if the a speaker blew or the amp fried or whatever??

 

[ahoustondj]

What if one of the installed system malfunctions? I am pretty sure that they won't be installing Backup equipment as well. Also who would be responsible if the a speaker blew or the amp fried or whatever??

Good question! If I was forced to use a venue system and it blew, just like an AC Circuit, I get to go home early. This is same as DJing at a Club that has its own setup.
Don't sweat the small stuff.