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Hey Cap, at least you have one event per month! I had zero in January, and zero in February. That is typical for me though. 2022 was the first year I had an event in February since 2014!

2022 was a very busy year...in fact too busy for me along with working full time when it came to the fall, but this year seems to be the opposite at least so far. My sister is busy this Spring, but she is also taking work from 4 different companies at the moment, and I managed to ween myself away from sub contract work except for 1 source over the years. I simply do not like letting others enjoy the fruit of my labor unfairly. Many people here disagree with me on that, but I believe there is a point to where people are simply being greedy. I did not become a DJ to make other people a lot of money. Sure I can help when others are busy, or help them be successful with their business in an advantageous partnership, but don't take advantage of me just because you have a client that is ready to book and you can provide them with an agreement. The DC/MD/VA area is full of people like that in this business. It's "What can you do for me, and how much can I get out of you?". That's the MO with most of them in this business, and I honestly checked out from playing that game over 5 years ago.
 
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DJ Ricky B said:
Hey Cap, at least you have one event per month! I had zero in January, and zero in February. That is typical for me though. 2022 was the first year I had an event in February since 2014!

2022 was a very busy year...in fact too busy for me along with working full time when it came to the fall, but this year seems to be the opposite at least so far. My sister is busy this Spring, but she is also taking work from 4 different companies at the moment, and I managed to ween myself away from sub contract work except for 1 source over the years. I simply do not like letting others enjoy the fruit of my labor unfairly. Many people here disagree with me on that, but I believe there is a point to where people are simply being greedy. I did not become a DJ to make other people a lot of money. Sure I can help when others are busy, or help them be successful with their business in an advantageous partnership, but don't take advantage of me just because you have a client that is ready to book and you can provide them with an agreement. The DC/MD/VA area is full of people like that in this business. It's "What can you do for me, and how much can I get out of you?". That's the MO with most of them in this business, and I honestly checked out from playing that game over 5 years ago.
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I only disagree on this one point. If you agree to do an event under those conditions, then nobody is taking advantage of you. Now I understand what you're saying. Some will sign a contract with a client. Them look for a DJ to do the event and only pay them a small percentage of the amount agreed in the contract. For example the job might pay $750 and they want to pay someone $250. Now if you're just starting out then that may not be a bad thing because you're looking to get your feet wet and gain exposure along with experience. For seasoned professional like you no way.
 
MIXMASTERMACHOM said:
I only disagree on this one point. If you agree to do an event under those conditions, then nobody is taking advantage of you. Now I understand what you're saying. Some will sign a contract with a client. Them look for a DJ to do the event and only pay them a small percentage of the amount agreed in the contract. For example the job might pay $750 and they want to pay someone $250. Now if you're just starting out then that may not be a bad thing because you're looking to get your feet wet and gain exposure along with experience. For seasoned professional like you no way.
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Any way you look at it, if a client paid someone $750, and that person turns around and pays someone else $250 to do the job, and that DJ actually facilitating the job brings all their own equipment, handles every aspect of the job outside of booking the job, and providing an agreement, and collecting the payments, then the the person who handled the booking is simply a shyster taking advantage of someone else. Bringing in a DJ for $250 because the person is new or desperate for money/work but charging the client $750 is what snake oil sales/business people do. They are taking advantage of the DJ.

Also, I KNOW 100% that a business person/company that operates in this fashion was not on the up and up with the client. NEVER EVER would they say to the client "Hey listen, I'm going to charge you $750 for a DJ, and then hand off the paper work to your DJ. I will pay them $250, and they will be the person you communicate with from here on out. Next time you hear from me will be after the event to see how everything goes. Is that cool with you? "

NEVER EVER would this person be honest with the client.

So to answer your question. Yes, they are taking advantage of you. They are exploiting you, the laborer. The one doing all the work.

Now, if the company/booking person was providing all the equipment to facilitate the job, and handled all the planning aspects with the client...then perhaps I can see an arrangement like this being beneficial to both parties...maybe 45/55 or 50/50...not 33/67 unless the Van/Car, and fuel money, and company polo shirt was provided too.
 
DJ Ricky B said:
Any way you look at it, if a client paid someone $750, and that person turns around and pays someone else $250 to do the job, and that DJ actually facilitating the job brings all their own equipment, handles every aspect of the job outside of booking the job, and providing an agreement, and collecting the payments, then the the person who handled the booking is simply a shyster taking advantage of someone else. Bringing in a DJ for $250 because the person is new or desperate for money/work but charging the client $750 is what snake oil sales/business people do. They are taking advantage of the DJ.

Also, I KNOW 100% that a business person/company that operates in this fashion was not on the up and up with the client. NEVER EVER would they say to the client "Hey listen, I'm going to charge you $750 for a DJ, and then hand off the paper work to your DJ. I will pay them $250, and they will be the person you communicate with from here on out. Next time you hear from me will be after the event to see how everything goes. Is that cool with you? "

NEVER EVER would this person be honest with the client.

So to answer your question. Yes, they are taking advantage of you. They are exploiting you, the laborer. The one doing all the work.

Now, if the company/booking person was providing all the equipment to facilitate the job, and handled all the planning aspects with the client...then perhaps I can see an arrangement like this being beneficial to both parties...maybe 45/55 or 50/50...not 33/67 unless the Van/Car, and fuel money, and company polo shirt was provided too.
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I will never change my mind on this one. If you agree to do the event in a case like that then nobody is taking advantage of you because you agreed to do the event. If you didn't know how much the job paid then maybe you're being taken advantage of.
 
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DJ Ricky B said:
Any way you look at it, if a client paid someone $750, and that person turns around and pays someone else $250 to do the job, and that DJ actually facilitating the job brings all their own equipment, handles every aspect of the job outside of booking the job, and providing an agreement, and collecting the payments, then the the person who handled the booking is simply a shyster taking advantage of someone else. Bringing in a DJ for $250 because the person is new or desperate for money/work but charging the client $750 is what snake oil sales/business people do. They are taking advantage of the DJ.
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It's not like they forced the DJ at gunpoint to do it he/she AGREED to do it for that price. They could have easily said no or negotiated better but they CHOSE to do it for that price. The company made an offer the offer was accepted. The agent's job is not to make sure the DJ is paid fairly that's the DJ's job

The company I work for in my day job makes millions. Should I get a much higher percentage because I show up?

I have done a fair bit of subcontracting over the years. When I do the first question always is how much are you offering. If I like what it is I take it if not I say no I need $XXX.XX for that. They either give it to me or move on to someone else. The minute they call you you become in the position of power


DJ Ricky B said:
Also, I KNOW 100% that a business person/company that operates in this fashion was not on the up and up with the client. NEVER EVER would they say to the client "Hey listen, I'm going to charge you $750 for a DJ, and then hand off the paper work to your DJ. I will pay them $250, and they will be the person you communicate with from here on out. Next time you hear from me will be after the event to see how everything goes. Is that cool with you? "

NEVER EVER would this person be honest with the client.
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Why would they? I bought I bought a gallon of milk yesterday at Walmart no one gave me a breakdown of where my 8 bucks went


DJ Ricky B said:
So to answer your question. Yes, they are taking advantage of you. They are exploiting you, the laborer. The one doing all the work.
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If you agree to do this at a price you are not comfortable with then YOU took advantage of you
 
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Jeff Romard said:
It's not like they forced the DJ at gunpoint to do it he/she AGREED to do it for that price. They could have easily said no or negotiated better but they CHOSE to do it for that price. The company made an offer the offer was accepted. The agent's job is not to make sure the DJ is paid fairly that's the DJ's job

The company I work for in my day job makes millions. Should I get a much higher percentage because I show up?

I have done a fair bit of subcontracting over the years. When I do the first question always is how much are you offering. If I like what it is I take it if not I say no I need $XXX.XX for that. They either give it to me or move on to someone else. The minute they call you you become in the position of power




Why would they? I bought I bought a gallon of milk yesterday at Walmart no one gave me a breakdown of where my 8 bucks went




If you agree to do this at a price you are not comfortable with then YOU took advantage of you
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I will simply disagree with you on that. That is slave/maser mentality, and it enables modern day serfdom.

That kind of mentality is exactly why we have .1% of the population on this planet controlling over 40% of the entire planet's wealth.

This is also why employers have had problems since the pandemic with hiring people, and so much job hopping. The younger workers have been demanding to be paid better, and I solute them for it. It took job hopping, and unwillingness to work by a whole generation of workers to finally move wages up a couple notches the last 2.5 years.

Gig Pigs take advantage of a lot of DJs out there because they know the DJ needs the work/date filled so they will say "I'm paying $350" or "The event pays $350" and you either accept it, or don't accept it and they move onto the next DJ. I'm not okay with a company charging $1,000 and only paying the DJ $350.

There is actually a "multi op" in my area that charges around $1,200 for weddings, and pays their DJs 33% so the DJ usually get's $350 to $400, maybe $450 on most events. From what I understand, they have lost a lot of DJs in the last few years who wised up and simply moved on.

You might say "Well life can't be fair". I say Bull Shit. Why can't it be fair? Business owners should be committed to treating the people who work with or for them fairly. YOu know the old saying "Treat others the way you want to be treated!" ...Well that hasn't been practiced for very many decades by most employers, and business owners in terms of their labor. There was once a time when it was practiced. Probably the 1950s when company owners only earned around 4X to 5X what their average employees made annually. Now we have companies where CEOs and Owners make 2,000X what their employees make which isn't right. That is called Greed. Plain and simple.
 
DJ Ricky B said:
I will simply disagree with you on that. That is slave/maser mentality, and it enables modern day serfdom.

That kind of mentality is exactly why we have .1% of the population on this planet controlling over 40% of the entire planet's wealth.

This is also why employers have had problems since the pandemic with hiring people, and so much job hopping. The younger workers have been demanding to be paid better, and I solute them for it. It took job hopping, and unwillingness to work by a whole generation of workers to finally move wages up a couple notches the last 2.5 years.

Gig Pigs take advantage of a lot of DJs out there because they know the DJ needs the work/date filled so they will say "I'm paying $350" or "The event pays $350" and you either accept it, or don't accept it and they move onto the next DJ. I'm not okay with a company charging $1,000 and only paying the DJ $350.

There is actually a "multi op" in my area that charges around $1,200 for weddings, and pays their DJs 33% so the DJ usually get's $350 to $400, maybe $450 on most events. From what I understand, they have lost a lot of DJs in the last few years who wised up and simply moved on.

You might say "Well life can't be fair". I say Bull Shit. Why can't it be fair? Business owners should be committed to treating the people who work with or for them fairly. YOu know the old saying "Treat others the way you want to be treated!" ...Well that hasn't been practiced for very many decades by most employers, and business owners in terms of their labor. There was once a time when it was practiced. Probably the 1950s when company owners only earned around 4X to 5X what their average employees made annually. Now we have companies where CEOs and Owners make 2,000X what their employees make which isn't right. That is called Greed. Plain and simple.
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Plan and simple if a DJ agrees to do an event knowing how much the event pays and agree to doing the event, then they are not being taken advantage of. Using your example a wedding is paying $1,200 and the DJ agrees to do the wedding for $450, then they are not being taken advantage of. In some cases that might be good money to that DJ. Said DJ may not be able to get that much on their own and I say that's not a DJ doing this full time.
 
DJ Ricky B said:
I will simply disagree with you on that. That is slave/maser mentality, and it enables modern day serfdom.

That kind of mentality is exactly why we have .1% of the population on this planet controlling over 40% of the entire planet's wealth.

This is also why employers have had problems since the pandemic with hiring people, and so much job hopping. The younger workers have been demanding to be paid better, and I solute them for it. It took job hopping, and unwillingness to work by a whole generation of workers to finally move wages up a couple notches the last 2.5 years.

Gig Pigs take advantage of a lot of DJs out there because they know the DJ needs the work/date filled so they will say "I'm paying $350" or "The event pays $350" and you either accept it, or don't accept it and they move onto the next DJ. I'm not okay with a company charging $1,000 and only paying the DJ $350.

There is actually a "multi op" in my area that charges around $1,200 for weddings, and pays their DJs 33% so the DJ usually get's $350 to $400, maybe $450 on most events. From what I understand, they have lost a lot of DJs in the last few years who wised up and simply moved on.

You might say "Well life can't be fair". I say Bull Shit. Why can't it be fair? Business owners should be committed to treating the people who work with or for them fairly. YOu know the old saying "Treat others the way you want to be treated!" ...Well that hasn't been practiced for very many decades by most employers, and business owners in terms of their labor. There was once a time when it was practiced. Probably the 1950s when company owners only earned around 4X to 5X what their average employees made annually. Now we have companies where CEOs and Owners make 2,000X what their employees make which isn't right. That is called Greed. Plain and simple.
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I hope you realize that through this unwillingness to work campaign, the young ones are losing the battle. All costs have gone up and the rich are getting richer. Various places are replacing people with computers - do you think this puts any less money in the CEO's pocket? Do you think this somehow magically puts any money in the employee's pocket? Way to go young ones.

Job hoppers are not and have never been a good thing - alot of them hop thinking they'll make more money each time they hop - the market figured that one out a long time ago - and it rarely benefits the hopper. Changing jobs is a different item and can be a good thing - and help you grow and learn more skills. Job hopping teaches the employer much more about that individual.

The reason alot of people are not making alot of money is because of the lack of skills, the lack of will to work and the thought that they are worth 'x' amount - while the market dictates otherwise. You can easily validate this by looking at people (of all ages, young and old) that have skills - and the will to work.

As an added bonus in the whole costs going up realm, young people are also willing to drop all this money that they don't have on new cars - the same people refusing to work until they get paid more, are one of the reasons the prices on new cars are so high (because they're willing to pay the price).

As an employee, you have no need to know how much something is. I have a job, here's what it pays - you either want it or you don't. Now if you are told something like they'll give you half the contract - and then you find out you were stiffed, totally different story.
 
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DJ Ricky B said:
I will simply disagree with you on that. That is slave/maser mentality, and it enables modern day serfdom.

That kind of mentality is exactly why we have .1% of the population on this planet controlling over 40% of the entire planet's wealth.

This is also why employers have had problems since the pandemic with hiring people, and so much job hopping. The younger workers have been demanding to be paid better, and I solute them for it. It took job hopping, and unwillingness to work by a whole generation of workers to finally move wages up a couple notches the last 2.5 years.

Gig Pigs take advantage of a lot of DJs out there because they know the DJ needs the work/date filled so they will say "I'm paying $350" or "The event pays $350" and you either accept it, or don't accept it and they move onto the next DJ. I'm not okay with a company charging $1,000 and only paying the DJ $350.

There is actually a "multi op" in my area that charges around $1,200 for weddings, and pays their DJs 33% so the DJ usually get's $350 to $400, maybe $450 on most events. From what I understand, they have lost a lot of DJs in the last few years who wised up and simply moved on.

You might say "Well life can't be fair". I say Bull Shit. Why can't it be fair? Business owners should be committed to treating the people who work with or for them fairly. YOu know the old saying "Treat others the way you want to be treated!" ...Well that hasn't been practiced for very many decades by most employers, and business owners in terms of their labor. There was once a time when it was practiced. Probably the 1950s when company owners only earned around 4X to 5X what their average employees made annually. Now we have companies where CEOs and Owners make 2,000X what their employees make which isn't right. That is called Greed. Plain and simple.
Click to expand...

Fair is something you pay in a bus....You want fair make it fair for yourself. If I have three gigs and you need one you will take what I offer...if I have 3 gigs and you want one you are in the position to negotiate. If you do your due diligence you will never need one and be in the position to write your own ticket.

That kind of mentality is why I have never been hungry or homeless. That mentality is why I never had to depend on an agency to fill dates.. That mentality is why I never worked for less than I was comfortable with. It's rare I get a call these days and even rarer I can accept the booking but if and when I do I take the offer and either get what I want or don't do it.

My daughter does some gigs now. I receive calls from a few other DJ's asking for her especially for grad parties etc. We have set a bottom line that she goes out for so the new DJ thing doesn't work in this argument either.

Obviously you take a little less when you work for someone else but there's no reason to not be content if you choose to be
 
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DJ Ricky B said:
I will simply disagree with you on that. That is slave/maser mentality, and it enables modern day serfdom.

That kind of mentality is exactly why we have .1% of the population on this planet controlling over 40% of the entire planet's wealth.

This is also why employers have had problems since the pandemic with hiring people, and so much job hopping. The younger workers have been demanding to be paid better, and I solute them for it. It took job hopping, and unwillingness to work by a whole generation of workers to finally move wages up a couple notches the last 2.5 years.

Gig Pigs take advantage of a lot of DJs out there because they know the DJ needs the work/date filled so they will say "I'm paying $350" or "The event pays $350" and you either accept it, or don't accept it and they move onto the next DJ. I'm not okay with a company charging $1,000 and only paying the DJ $350.

There is actually a "multi op" in my area that charges around $1,200 for weddings, and pays their DJs 33% so the DJ usually get's $350 to $400, maybe $450 on most events. From what I understand, they have lost a lot of DJs in the last few years who wised up and simply moved on.

You might say "Well life can't be fair". I say Bull Shit. Why can't it be fair? Business owners should be committed to treating the people who work with or for them fairly. YOu know the old saying "Treat others the way you want to be treated!" ...Well that hasn't been practiced for very many decades by most employers, and business owners in terms of their labor. There was once a time when it was practiced. Probably the 1950s when company owners only earned around 4X to 5X what their average employees made annually. Now we have companies where CEOs and Owners make 2,000X what their employees make which isn't right. That is called Greed. Plain and simple.
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Yes... That job hopping created an increase in salary in the short term. But now millions of those same job hoppers are going to be first in line for termination as layoffs are starting to pick up. And if they don't get laid off due to cutbacks... their job hopping days are done as companies are at the very least having hiring freezes.

This is how i see it with these multiop/agency dj companies. These clients willingly paid xxxx for a multiop to provide talent (no one forced them to... they did as much or as little research and it led them to go that route). Multiop/agency now has a budget of xxxx amount to place a dj on that event. They start low seeing if anyone is desperate to take it for low pay. If everyone said no... guess what, they'd increase the pay to make it more attractive until someone says yes. It's all about supply and demand. You can't blame the multiop for others willingness to accept a lower rate. And guess what... if this multiop/agency is not producing good results, their demand will go down... and thus either slowly cease to exist, or restructure... pay more and get better quality dj's to improve the brand image. One thing to also take into consideration... you have NO clue what these agency's overhead costs are. Maybe they need a minimum of 50% keep for themselves to cover all the marketing and operating fees they incur to get the volume they need to stay in business.
 
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djtaso said:
Yes... That job hopping created an increase in salary in the short term. But now millions of those same job hoppers are going to be first in line for termination as layoffs are starting to pick up. And if they don't get laid off due to cutbacks... their job hopping days are done as companies are at the very least having hiring freezes.

This is how i see it with these multiop/agency dj companies. These clients willingly paid xxxx for a multiop to provide talent (no one forced them to... they did as much or as little research and it led them to go that route). Multiop/agency now has a budget of xxxx amount to place a dj on that event. They start low seeing if anyone is desperate to take it for low pay. If everyone said no... guess what, they'd increase the pay to make it more attractive until someone says yes. It's all about supply and demand. You can't blame the multiop for others willingness to accept a lower rate. And guess what... if this multiop/agency is not producing good results, their demand will go down... and thus either slowly cease to exist, or restructure... pay more and get better quality dj's to improve the brand image. One thing to also take into consideration... you have NO clue what these agency's overhead costs are. Maybe they need a minimum of 50% keep for themselves to cover all the marketing and operating fees they incur to get the volume they need to stay in business.
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To add if you were the owner of a multi op wouldn't you want to make sure money to put in your pocket? What good is it if you're the owner and you were to break even or lose money?
 
It's curious to see post s about the everlasting life of "the DJ" on a site that has devolved into an echo chamber of so very few.
 
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