Last Saturday I was still getting song requests on the drive to the wedding...happens frequently
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Would you help a client try to find a venue?
- Thread starter MIXMASTERMACHOM
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Last Saturday I was still getting song requests on the drive to the wedding...happens frequently
Little Tree Guy nailed it for about setting deadline for things a client wants and stick to it so what you said frequently happens doesn't happen. Now if the situation I mentioned earlier happened then there's no way you do anything but show and do the best you can.
So what is the appropriate action if they miss the deadline? Fine? Public Flogging? Maybe I should not play the song that I have in my library that they asked for that will teach them
Deadlines are great but life is what happens while you are making other plans. Ultimately I would like to put each gig to bed 2 weeks ahead of time but common sense and experience tells me that rarely happens. Making things happen is part of our job. Obviously if I'm half way to the event and they want cold sparks it's not happening. If they send me a list of songs an hour before it probably is happening there are lots of ways to get music these days. If you can't make it happen at least 95% of the time McDonalds is hiring and they even have a Microphone there for you to talk in to
Real simple and quick. I was talking to a friend last night and was talking about how some songs depending on the version are not always so easy to get. I guess most are but there are cases where it's not that easy and they maybe hard pressed
on demanding a certain version and will not accept anything less.
Now you did say frequently on your way to do an event you get request for songs the client wants at the event. If that is true I say you're not getting prepared way ahead of time which is what should happen. At least that's my opinion. It's OK to have people at an event to come up to make request if you allow it. Some DJ's don't allow that. That doesn't bother me. I just have to decide if I can play the request at certain events or not.
I keep things very simple. I tell them way in advance it's always going to be better for them if we have a good plan going in. We'll do a walk through, even if it's over the phone, because I want you to feel that I understand exactly how you want the evening to go. So you guys can just show up, have a great time with your friends and family, and I'll let you or anyone involved know when things are coming up and what they need to do.
However, I understand things change, and I'll be very flexible. If you need to make changes last minute, not a problem. If I'm able to get a song for you on the fly, I certainly will. It's just better not to count on it, because there's always a chance I can't.
Last minute gigs are not a problem. We don't have many, because we are thankfully booked, but we do get requests regularly.
Really?
Frequently for me is 3 or 4 times a year. Pre covid I was doing 50-60 or more a year so in about 7% of my gigs there is last minute changes. I can only control what I do not what others do
I have Apple Music and Spotify. I have a music service. There is also Youtube in a pinch. If it can't be found it's pretty obscure in which case you tell them you can't access it. Again don't complicate the simple
Got a call last night at 7PM for a sound gig at 4 this afternoon gave a price, took the basic details, they are supposed to Etransfer the money at noon I'll be there to setup by then. It's not that complicated
That's fine how you do things and I understand you. At times things like whay you describe can happen. I'm just into doing my best to get as much details as I can so I don't run into such things. Now what you're talking about is a last minute gig and since you agreed to do it you have to get things done on the fly. I just find whenever possible that I'm given plenty of time to prepare for an event. I got a lot of things on my plate right now and have to decide what's important right now for me.
Give us a rundown of how you prep an event I'dlove to see the process that takes weeks to prep the DJ for a 4 hour event
It's not about it taking weeks to prep for an event. This is about those people who wait till the last minute to book a DJ. Some people think that what we do is not a big deal and they ccan easily find a DJ to do an event for them. Some just see that all we do is play music, so what's the big deal? Now of course there are those cases like I said where another DJ cancelled on doing an event for them and now they have to scramble to find another DJ to do the event for them.
Now Sonic it's not about just House Music. It's about can you provide the kind of music they want for their event. If you agree to do the event, then that is saying you have the right music for the event and you know what to do with it.
I’ve planned weddings 2 weeks in advance… I’ve planned full blown sweet 16 productions 2 weeks in advance… I’ve done community events w/ 3 days notice. I just got a call today for a sweet 16 for Nov 27th (not available) and a wedding for Dec 4th (not available). I booked a wedding last week for Nov 26th (was available). That’s a $3750 wedding. Definitely not the type of person that thinks a DJ is no big deal.
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If you have been in the biz for 30 years and can't pull off a last minute event , time to find another hobby.
Again I never said I couldn't. I'm saying I don't care for such events that are last minute. Now if I agree to do it then I will do my best to make things work. Good thing it doesn't happen often. If it happens a lot to you then that's an isuue and it needs to be found out why it's happening. Now to be fair since Taso brought it up if a client has an event that's 2 weeks away and I agree to it, we should be able to handle it just as long as their request are not outrageous. One great thing that's a big help is how music can be gotten. Even if it's at an event and you don't have the song to play in your HD or computer. When I first started in 81 you had to go to a store and buy records to play on a turntable. So at that time if you didn't have a song while doing an event, you just didn't have it. Things have changed for the better and then it hasn't. The reason I say it hasn't is because some people come into this business thinking what we do is easy and a easy way to make some money. It's not as easy as it seems. Of course those who've been doing this a long time like myself can make it look easy.
You spend far too much time worrying about your needs instead of focusing on the clients wants and desires
Actually most times it is...if you want to complicate it you can but iti's not complicated by nature.
For me most are doing just Grand Entrance and first dances these days. No money Dance, No Garter and Bouquet, etc. It's nice when you know in advance but it really isn't a lot to handle last minute. Even if theres a lot going on if you can't plan it in a day or two you should review your practices
I try my best to find out as much details about their event as I can if I decide to do the event for them so I can do the best job for them I can. Now some will only give you limited info about their event and what they want. I see that a lot of focus on here is about weddings. That's not the only events we can do. Right now I have some serious health issues that I'm very concerned about. Mostly this is about new clients. Things that we have done for clients in the past we can basically almost know what they want. There might be small modifications but not too much. For me I find what the old Boy Scout saying is right. Be prepared. That way that cuts down on surprises at the last minute. Again I say if you get most of the details in the beginning you don't have to worry for the most part things coming up at the end or near the end before or during the event.