Streaming Music

The Cost

The single most common question that DJs are asked in the 1st instance is “How much are you?” Now everybody loves worth for resources, but you have not even asked what service they offer yet! Despite the generic image of mobile DJs being all the same, all of us are  profoundly divergent in our approach to the work, and services may change by some distance from DJ to DJ. If you’re on a tight budget of say, £125, then your option will be limited and you may end up with a novice or a person with borrowed and dusty equipment.

Always tempting too is letting a friend ‘have a go’…a recipe for an empty dance floor and a full bar!

Cost-cutting is magnified two-fold when talking of a marriage party. Not only the most necessary day of your lives, but a day where you’ve could spent £500 on a cake, £2000 on dresses and suits and un related amounts on food and drink….seems prefer false economy to skimp on the biggest part of the whole day, the gathering.

In short, do not just book your DJ on price!

A real professional or semi-professional disc jockey will have spent years acquiring their music, learning how to build a dance floor atmosphere, be fully conversant in marriage etiquette and have a kit to be proud of.

To give you some idea of benefit s, to hire a substantially standard disc jockey set -up (2 speakers, amplifier, CD  decks, mixer and 2 light effects) costs £100 per night from my Regional disco center. Add to that a person’s working time (6 hours on average) and travel costs, etc, you start to realise just how valuable a pro disc jockey can be for your event…

For marriage s, look to pay amidst £300 – £450 for a 7pm-12am service. Birthday gatherings, anniversaries, etc may be cheaper as they are less pressure and ofttimes shorter hours.

The Style & Content

It sounds so obvious to say it but I am going to anyway….try to see your disc jockey in action before you book them. If it’s not convenient, then take recommendation from friends who have witnessed the disc jockey’s talents before. After all, recommendation is still the optimum advert for any act.

It’s always a really wonderful idea to chat at length with your prospective DJ about your own music tastes and what you expect from them on the night. Ask them searching questions about the kind of stuff they play, whether they take requests, how they propose to start/finish the proceedings, that kind of thing. A DJ worth his salt will listen intently and take onboard all of your ideas, sometimes suggesting alternatives to things he believes can not work.

If you are theming the evening’s entertainment, make sure your DJ knows in advance…that way he may be sure to carry the right music for the opening , such as a 70’s & 80’s event or a Soul Night. It additionally gives him a opening  to pass the gig on If the type of you decide on is not his speciality.

The more contemporary deejays are furthermore inclined to avoid playing novelty records, such as the Birdie Song and Superman. If you want these included (and you want to sit on the floor and row an imaginary boat…) it’s best to check first !

The deejay Gear

As all of my DJ colleagues know, this is my soapbox subject!

So many times I’ve witnessed disc jockeys putting together some of the cheapest and scruffiest gear you may imagine…throwing it loosely on a folding table, wires trailing everywhere and speakers barely capable of audible sound…and yet still charging £300 a night! They should wear a mask!

In this day and age, the range of equipment available to us is phenomenal, and at unusually reasonable prices for wonderful quality; there are no excuses for a DJ’s equipment looking or sounding bad in the 21st Century.

Right, rant over… in the absence of going too technical, nice things to look for are overhead lighting (nightclub-style moving lights), speakers on stands (raises the sound above the crowd to project it across the whole room) and a tidy stage area  set -up. Cables should be tucked away whenever possible and the better pro disc jockeys have a tasteful cover or starcloth to surround their stand.

Once playing, the sound ought to be crystal apparent on the dance floor, both with music and the disc jockey’s spoken voice.

In some instances the sound will not travel well to the back of the room, but this can be due to the Venue’s acoustics and not really a problem as attendees will invariably want somewhere to chat.

Most DJs have a sound system to cater for up to 150 individuals comfortably. If your DJ is not familiar with your proposed Club, request that he takes a look beforehand, only if you have 200+ evening attendees. Quite often I’ve seen small amplifiers pushed to their maximum trying to deliver to a large room….and it does not sound pleasant!

Finally on the technical side, a large number of Venues nowadays are insisting the deejays have both Public Liability Insurance and a certificate of safety (PAT) for their electrical equipment.

The Business End…

Once you’ve decided on your disc jockey for the night, ask them for a contract to sign and agree a deposit (if one is not already requested). Make sure you’ve listed all of your music specifications and arrival/ending times so that there is no confusion on the day. I would additionally suggest a courtesy call a week prior to the get together if your disc jockey hasn’t called you, just to touch base and reaffirm details.

Mobile deejays have suffered a bad press over the years, when in reality it’s a  profoundly small minority of cowboys who let the side down. Virtually all are hard-working, conscientious music-lovers who will give you a night to recall !