When to Say No to a Gig: Smart Reasons to Turn Down DJ Bookings
When you're new to DJing you'll want to take every opportunity that is presented, but when do you need to start being more selective? Not all DJ gigs are worth taking, learning when to say no can save your reputation and energy. DJs also need to consider the strategic approach to accepting bookings that align with their goals. Here's some advice for new DJs to help you spot red flags, time wasters and get the most out of every DJ gig.
1. Should You Take a Free DJ Gig?
When you're a new DJ, you need to play as many gigs as possible to help you learn how to perform to a live audience. Gig experience is incredibly valuable and formative early in your career. The best advice for new DJs is to take all the gigs you can, paid or not, to allow yourself the opportunity to learn on the job and experience real DJing. It's one thing DJing in your bedroom but sooner or later you need real-world gig experience to grow.
It's also often a chicken-and-egg situation where promoters want to see gig experience before booking you. This is one of the reasons we organise DJ gigs for all our DJ course graduates, so they can gain valuable experience and appear on professional marketing materials, such as flyers for Ministry of Sound. These first-gig opportunities are exclusive to LSA and one of the reasons our DJ courses have a high success rate in kick-starting the DJ careers of so many artists.
Promoters don't often pay new DJs because you're not a known name yet and no one will pay to see you play. This is normal, it's the business of selling tickets after all and it's a risk for a promoter to book a new DJ who hasn't proven their skills. There are plenty of DJs who will play a free gig to gain experience early on in their career and there is no harm in doing so as long as you avoid some pitfalls mentioned later in this blog. However, you can't play free gigs all the time so once you've built confidence DJing live you need to formulate a plan to get paid DJ work.
For many entry-level DJ gigs there is also a requirement for the DJs to sell tickets to their friends to make the event busy. This is again normal practice, as these DJs haven't got a following of fans who will buy tickets to see them they should start by getting support from their friends. This is fairly easy to do for one or two gigs but your friends will soon tire of supporting you. This is another reason why there is a time-limit for doing free DJ gigs and why you need a long term strategy.
I recommend saving the promo power of your friends support for the best opportunities or biggest gigs because they will lose interest quickly.
2. When to Say No to a Free DJ gig
Once you've gained the experience from playing a few entry-level free gigs you will stop gaining anything from doing free gigs. In fact, it costs you time and money. This is the moment you should enact your long term strategy. The only exception here would be trial gigs for resident DJs, charity work or gigs where you think the networking or promotional opportunities are valuable and will lead to paid DJ work.
When you are offered a DJ gig you can calculate a fee based on how much money you think the event would make on average. For example, if the venue holds 500 people and the tickets are £10 each you could calculate how much the door will make when the venue is full or half full. Let's say you expect half the tickets to be sold, that is £2500. Now calculate how much you think the venue would cost to hire, you could always ask the venue. Let's say that was £1000. Now calculate how much money you think the promoter is spending on any extras like decor, marketing, etc. Let's say that is a further £500. That leaves £1000 left for DJs and the promoter to be remunerated for creating and managing the event. It's not a lot is it! Let's say a 50/50 split is average so there is now £500 left to pay DJs. Divide that by the number of DJs playing and you have a starting point for negotiations. If this is a regular event that is sold out, then you can start with a higher fee, and so on. Try and work out a rough budget for the night to help you decide on an appropriate and fair fee.
3. Use Leverage to Get Paid
Once you start saying no to free DJ gigs and 'exposure bucks', you'll be faced with limited opportunities. There is a sort of DJ Death Gap where many DJs will give up, realising it's very hard to find paid work unless you've achieved a certain level of fame or notoriety. Many DJs give up at this stage and hang their headphones up, but it doesn't have to be this way. This is a natural growing pain and a hurdle you can overcome with a strategic and positive mindset.
Instead of flatly turning down an unpaid DJ gig, learn how to negotiate with leverage. A DJ gig is a business transaction, both sides need to benefit, so if you want to be paid, ask yourself, what is the benefit for the promoter? Many DJs will say the actual DJ set is the benefit, however the promoter would argue there are hundreds of other DJs who are willing to do it for free. This is true, so the DJ has to come up with extra value to offer the promoter. By planning ahead and having these extras ready you can use them to justify payment. Here are some ideas for leverage and the argue the case for payment or an even higher fee.
Mailout: Do you have a mailout list to whom you can promote your appearance for adding event marketing value?
Social Media Followers: If you have a large following on social media, or a smaller following that is highly engaged, you can offer promotional help to the event organiser which is valuable advertising.
Text List: Perhaps you have a large database of contacts you can send a text or WhatsApp message to or create a friends chat to promote the gig, offering highly engaged promotion to your negotiations.
Group Chats: Do you have access to a popular forum or community chat which they don't? You can use this access as a way to promote to an audience the promoter doesn't have access to.
Press Contacts: If you have any important or noteworthy contacts perhaps you could invite them to the performance. Promoters will see the value in getting music journalists, bloggers, vloggers, influencers, celebrities and industry bods at their event.
A Live Element: Do you have a live element to your DJ set that makes it stand out, like a headline set? Try to elevate your DJ set above the competition and by adding a live element, such as an MC, sax player, percussionist or vocalist. It could even be as simple as a cow bell, a sampler or just something eye catching.
Do you have a unique look?: A unique look can go a long way. DJs can communicate their creativity through music and through the way they dress and style themselves. Do you have an iconic and memorable look that makes you stand out like a headline act? If you do, you will find it easier to charge more. Promoters want your kudos to rub off on their brand.
Skill Swapping: Can you think of any other way you can bring value to the table, perhaps you can design great flyers, take photos, film content, edit video, create interesting club decor or simply be there to help give a hand setting up on the night. Roll up your sleeves, get your hands dirty and pitch-in to make it a team effort.
4. Don't Always be The Warmup or Graveyard DJ
Some DJs will find themselves caught in a trap or always being the warmup or closing act. While these set times can be fun and creative times to experiment with the esoteric art of a warm-up or closing a club, they are often the least busy times to play. It's great experience to play all set times during an event and master all situations but if a promoter is consistently booking you for the least popular slots you risk stagnating. Instead, talk to the promoter and see what you can do to play a peak-time slot.
5. Check The Promoters Reputation
When offered a DJ gig, paid or not paid, first check the promoters reputation. Is it their first event, do they have a positive track record? New promoters might promise you the world and then fail to pay you when no one turns up. Worse yet, their event might go horribly wrong and leave you with a bad reputation by association. It's crucial to be diligent and run a background check. If they are not established, be wary, get paid in advance and say no to the gig if you're not sure. Better to wait for their brand to grow and for them to prove their professionalism before you play.
6. Walk Away When They Won't Pay a Deposit
When booking a paid DJ gig, you should be paid a deposit and have a clear written contract. This contract will confirm your fee in writing and a payment schedule. It's normal for DJs to take a 50% non-refundable deposit for the DJ booking and then the final 50% after the event, within a set time frame that you negotiate. If the promoter doesn't want to pay a deposit then walk away, this is a clear sign they are not sure the event will happen or make money. DJing costs you time and money so sometimes walking away from a gig is cheaper than taking it and not getting paid.
7. Check The Gig Fits Your Brand
Make sure that the gig fits with your style of music and the crowd you enjoy playing too. Every brand has an audience and their branding will rub off on you, make sure it's a scent you want to wear! It's better to say no to a gig if it doesn't fit your style of music or your creative goals. Don't confuse your audience or upset the fans you have by playing something they were not expecting. It's also worth checking that the political view point of the promoter or venue fits your own. For example, I wouldn't want to play for a venue known for discriminating on the door. Your fans experience and your reputation matters more than one gig.
8. Say No If You Are Not Feeling 100%
If you're not feeling great about anything such as your mental health, level of practice or you're just getting a bad vibe, trust your instincts and turn down the gig. Protect your mental health and don't put yourself in a pressured environment that could be detrimental to your confidence. Furthermore, don't accept gigs that don't fit with your schedule. For example, if you've just finished a 12 hour shift, it's not a good idea to wait around till 3am to DJ for two hours, you'll be exhausted and won't deliver a great show.
9. Be Wary of Last Minute Bookings
If you've been asked to play last-minute be wary. If you accept a gig in a rush you might not allow yourself enough time to prepare and practice, resulting in a sloppy performance. Make sure you have ample time to prepare and organise that deposit and contract.
10. Say No to Boost Your Value
Scarcity breeds value. Play hard to get an you might just find offers from promoters start to skyrocket. Similarly, if you're the DJ who spreads themselves thin and plays every gig available, you'll quickly find your value plummeting because you're perceived as easy to get, common and nothing special.
What do you think of this advice on when to say no to a DJ gig? Did we nail all the potential pitfalls, or did we miss something important? Contact us if you want to add something to this article.
