It never fails that each year a song comes out that makes DJ's cringe as people beg you to play them because they want to transform themselves into strippers, morons, rappers or whatever makes them look foolish. Here are some of the prime examples since 1990 compiled from the Billboard charts. Feel free to add your own personal songs that make you puke.
1990 Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
1991 Grandmaster Slice - Electric Slide
1992 Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy
1993 Tag Team - Whoomp There It Is
1994 Ace Of Base - All That She Wants
1995 69 Boyz - Tootsee Roll
1996 Los Del Rio - Macarena
1997 Hanson - MMMbop
1998 Will Smith - Gettin Jiggy Wit It
1999 Lou Bega - Mambo No 5
2000 Eiffel 65 - Blue
2001 Shaggy - It Wasn't Me
2002 Pink - Get The Party Started
2003 Jennifer Lopez - Jenny From The Block
2004 Juvenile - Slow Motion
2005 The Black Eyed Peas - My Humps
2006 T Pain - I'm In Love With A Stripper
2007 Cupid - Cupid Shuffle / Soulja Boy - Crank Dat
2008 Lil Wayne - Lollipop
2009 Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling / Miley Cyrus - Party In The USA
2010 Kesha - Tik Tok
2011 LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Must have signs and cards for your DJ booth!
So many of you have retweeted these that we decided to put them in one location for you to grab.
Online resources for DJs
These should help both new and established DJs in the hunt for knowledge.
Gear Reviews:
www.digitaldjtips.com
www.djtechtools.com
www.scratchworx.com
Music Research :
www.discogs.com
www.whosampled.com
www.residentadvisor.com
www.mixmag.net
www.djmag.com
www.djtimes.com
Music Purchase:
www.beatport.com
www.htfr.com
www.juno.co.uk
www.traxsource.com
DJ Humor:
http://stuffdjshate.wordpress.com
http://nobreastsnorequests.tumblr.com/
Gear Reviews:
www.digitaldjtips.com
www.djtechtools.com
www.scratchworx.com
Music Research :
www.discogs.com
www.whosampled.com
www.residentadvisor.com
www.mixmag.net
www.djmag.com
www.djtimes.com
Music Purchase:
www.beatport.com
www.htfr.com
www.juno.co.uk
www.traxsource.com
DJ Humor:
http://stuffdjshate.wordpress.com
http://nobreastsnorequests.tumblr.com/
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Tricks of the Trade - Tips
Ok some of you may or or may not find this useful, and in no way am I saying try to get money from everyone, but if you do work in a popular club where you are accessible then at some point someone will want to tip you for playing a song. Most of the time it is a song you would never play as no amount of money is worth clearing the dance floor for a few bucks. This is how to use tipping to your advantage and get rid of the pests that want ridiculous songs.
The first scenario is this.....To do this you may want to have a tip jar or just have loose money in your pocket this works best for me, a $5 or $10 bill is all you need. If someone comes up and offers to tip you with a couple of dollars you can turn this into a bit more by using psychology ( remember they are drunk most of the time ). Usually they want to hear a song that has already been played, you simply tell them a couple bucks isn't worth it, because others have requested songs and if you play that again you will have to deal with the others wanting to hear their song again. This now puts the ball in their court, they can either up the ante on tip money or will leave you alone, it's a win-win situation. If they do ante up and the others come up you can flash them the tip and say you were tipped to play it. Now you can repeat the cycle with them and have a good chance of making extra cash.
The second scenario is this.....You are playing a song and someone does not like it, you can show them the tip and say wanted to make sure they heard it and tipped me. Usually a girl will try to argue with "But I'm a hot chick, you should play it" I tell them their hotness does not pay my bills, once again they can ante up or leave you alone. Another win-win situation. Again have the $5 or $10 ready to show them for this to work.
The third situation is this.....Someone requested a song an hour ago, not a great one but something you would more than likely play. When they come back wanting to know if you are ever going to play their song, let them know you will get to it, but right now you are playing the requests for the ones that tipped you first. Once you bring up money it's a put up or shut up deal. They can tip you or leave you alone. Either way you come out the winner.
There are many other situations you can use to your advantage, once you have done this a few years you will know which ones will be wanting to pay you to show off to friends. Those types tell themselves off by asking "How much will it cost to get _____ played". That statement should be money to your ears. The ideal location for this to happen is in a busy club.
If you are in a slow club or a small one you can try this. When someone asks for a song you can tell them it's not really the format of what you play, if they say what if I tip you, you now have control, tell them if they make it worth your while you will throw it in, you can make up something like the manager will gripe at you for playing it but a tip will justify it. I have known some guys say they work off tips, that's a bit desperate but some people are.
The whole way you go about this determines how much you will make...you are getting paid anyway so it's all a bonus. If the tip you show is $5 then they can match it or go higher, same with a $10 or $20. This gets rid of the pests that want to request over and over and it fattens your wallet. Once you get a few people tipping you for songs you can easily make an extra $100 in a night, I have made up to $1000 in a night doing this.
Now if you don't want money, you can easily replace the $ with shots, drinks, beers and the like. It's a game have fun with it. The best part is it shuts up the ones that are constantly hounding you to play a song. To me that is worth more than money. And when you do get the big spender throwing $100 per request and wants to make sure others see it, it does start a buzz in the club which will get them talking out of the club which means more will want to come to your club as you now have some buzz on the streets.
Tipping varies from locations and countries you are in, you may be surprised what you are offered. And the best tip are from the ones that give you money just for doing a great job and not requesting a thing. The "feel good tip" I call it.
I hope some of you can find this useful and remember this is not a 100% guarantee that you will make a lot of money but it sure does help and that is the Gospel.
The first scenario is this.....To do this you may want to have a tip jar or just have loose money in your pocket this works best for me, a $5 or $10 bill is all you need. If someone comes up and offers to tip you with a couple of dollars you can turn this into a bit more by using psychology ( remember they are drunk most of the time ). Usually they want to hear a song that has already been played, you simply tell them a couple bucks isn't worth it, because others have requested songs and if you play that again you will have to deal with the others wanting to hear their song again. This now puts the ball in their court, they can either up the ante on tip money or will leave you alone, it's a win-win situation. If they do ante up and the others come up you can flash them the tip and say you were tipped to play it. Now you can repeat the cycle with them and have a good chance of making extra cash.
The second scenario is this.....You are playing a song and someone does not like it, you can show them the tip and say wanted to make sure they heard it and tipped me. Usually a girl will try to argue with "But I'm a hot chick, you should play it" I tell them their hotness does not pay my bills, once again they can ante up or leave you alone. Another win-win situation. Again have the $5 or $10 ready to show them for this to work.
The third situation is this.....Someone requested a song an hour ago, not a great one but something you would more than likely play. When they come back wanting to know if you are ever going to play their song, let them know you will get to it, but right now you are playing the requests for the ones that tipped you first. Once you bring up money it's a put up or shut up deal. They can tip you or leave you alone. Either way you come out the winner.
There are many other situations you can use to your advantage, once you have done this a few years you will know which ones will be wanting to pay you to show off to friends. Those types tell themselves off by asking "How much will it cost to get _____ played". That statement should be money to your ears. The ideal location for this to happen is in a busy club.
If you are in a slow club or a small one you can try this. When someone asks for a song you can tell them it's not really the format of what you play, if they say what if I tip you, you now have control, tell them if they make it worth your while you will throw it in, you can make up something like the manager will gripe at you for playing it but a tip will justify it. I have known some guys say they work off tips, that's a bit desperate but some people are.
The whole way you go about this determines how much you will make...you are getting paid anyway so it's all a bonus. If the tip you show is $5 then they can match it or go higher, same with a $10 or $20. This gets rid of the pests that want to request over and over and it fattens your wallet. Once you get a few people tipping you for songs you can easily make an extra $100 in a night, I have made up to $1000 in a night doing this.
Now if you don't want money, you can easily replace the $ with shots, drinks, beers and the like. It's a game have fun with it. The best part is it shuts up the ones that are constantly hounding you to play a song. To me that is worth more than money. And when you do get the big spender throwing $100 per request and wants to make sure others see it, it does start a buzz in the club which will get them talking out of the club which means more will want to come to your club as you now have some buzz on the streets.
Tipping varies from locations and countries you are in, you may be surprised what you are offered. And the best tip are from the ones that give you money just for doing a great job and not requesting a thing. The "feel good tip" I call it.
I hope some of you can find this useful and remember this is not a 100% guarantee that you will make a lot of money but it sure does help and that is the Gospel.
Friday, January 6, 2012
How to be a DJ when everyone is a DJ
Today DJ's are up against a somewhat never ending line of obstacles that have made it hard to remain a real DJ and keep your sanity. With the influx of new DJ's thanks to new and cheaper technology it seems anyone with a laptop is capable of adding the DJ moniker to their name by arming themselves a controller for a couple hundred bucks then they blanket the town looking for a gig. So the big question is how can you still be a DJ when everyone else seems think they are one? I could easily make this four pages long but lets keep it simple.
1. Research - Know what is trending in music and what is going on in your town, it's good to know what is hot on the charts but you do not want to be a clone of every other DJ in town make your set unique. Anyone can look at the charts and play what is hot if you do this you are a playlister not a DJ you have to be able to mix it up and know what will work. Read your crowd.
2. Knowledge - Know your equipment regardless of how much it costs you have to be able to get the most out of it. It's pointless to use a controller with 40 buttons and only use 4 of them. There will always be someone with better and newer equipment the key is knowing how to use it and get the absolute most out of it.
3. Performance - Be able to give a crowd something to talk about. Just as back in the day before the internet was around word of mouth was the best for way of promotion and it still is. Get your crowd involved in your set, encourage them to sing along ,dance and just go crazy. Regardless of what genre you are playing if they can dance to it you can get them to go to another level.
If you follow these 3 things that means you have the passion to be a DJ. Passion is the one thing many DJ's lack there are way too many DJ's that are doing it for the money and the fame and those will always fall by the wayside because without passion they have no desire to maintain what it takes to be a DJ.
These things are what separates you from other DJ's if you agree with this then you are already a peg above the others, if you think this is just bullshit then you need to do us a favor either learn to take your game to the next level or get out of the way. Abide or divide in these lessons, the choice is yours and that is the Gospel
1. Research - Know what is trending in music and what is going on in your town, it's good to know what is hot on the charts but you do not want to be a clone of every other DJ in town make your set unique. Anyone can look at the charts and play what is hot if you do this you are a playlister not a DJ you have to be able to mix it up and know what will work. Read your crowd.
2. Knowledge - Know your equipment regardless of how much it costs you have to be able to get the most out of it. It's pointless to use a controller with 40 buttons and only use 4 of them. There will always be someone with better and newer equipment the key is knowing how to use it and get the absolute most out of it.
3. Performance - Be able to give a crowd something to talk about. Just as back in the day before the internet was around word of mouth was the best for way of promotion and it still is. Get your crowd involved in your set, encourage them to sing along ,dance and just go crazy. Regardless of what genre you are playing if they can dance to it you can get them to go to another level.
If you follow these 3 things that means you have the passion to be a DJ. Passion is the one thing many DJ's lack there are way too many DJ's that are doing it for the money and the fame and those will always fall by the wayside because without passion they have no desire to maintain what it takes to be a DJ.
These things are what separates you from other DJ's if you agree with this then you are already a peg above the others, if you think this is just bullshit then you need to do us a favor either learn to take your game to the next level or get out of the way. Abide or divide in these lessons, the choice is yours and that is the Gospel
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