Does A Dj Play Every Requested Song
No! Songs that get requested must at least fit into the criteria of the day.
Now usually most or all song lists that the wedding couple hand over to their DJ will at some stage get played throughout the night, but thats the idea. Its the happy couples big day, so they should be allowed to enjoy some of their favourite songs.
I will encourage my customers to send me a list of their favourites prior to their wedding day with the advice that they make sure their song choices will be popular and recognisable to keep the dance floor full.
The question here is, Will that Black Eyed Peas album track really keep the party going?
Always aim for the big hitters and you cant go wrong.
But what about those making requests on the night?
More often than not, requests on the night will go down fine.
However, it can be a regular occurrence when you can get an out of the blue request for a track which will not go down well.
This has actually happened to me before
Your friends and family are dancing away to Valerie or a classic such as Dancing Queen and all of a sudden over comes a wedding guest, and says Do you have 21 Seconds by So Solid Crew?
Im thinking, Yes I do but will it really go down well with the current crowd that are enjoying these particular tunes?
So in this case its about compromise.
What Do Professional Wedding Dj Services Include
Not everyone understands all the work behind the scenes that needs to happen for a professional DJ to make your celebration truly special. Here’s what a wedding DJ’s booking costs include:
- Time: A seasoned wedding DJ puts many more hours into preparing your wedding that you don’t see. They organize a customized musical selection for your wedding, create just the right script of announcements for your guests, tour the venue with you before your wedding day to plan their setup, arrange all their equipment before the ceremony, perform, manage music requests, and then they pack it all up after you leave.
- Equipment: Your DJ has basic operational costs to keep their equipment in top-quality condition for your service. Therefore, their regular maintenance costs are also a part of their rates.
- Music: Reputable DJs buy their music so that they have the highest-quality music files in their library. Whenever you play music over a loudspeaker, you can clearly recognize the cheap copy of a downloaded song because it sounds distorted. Only original music files preserve the full integrity of the music so that they will sound well no matter how loud you play them over any speaker system.
- Operational costs and insurance: A full-time professional DJ may have to pay rent on their workspace, pay for regular updates on their business license, maintain liability insurance, and cover their own marketing fees.
Can You Be A Radio Dj Without A Degree
Are degrees needed?
If you have a bachelor’s degree in radio, it will be helpful, but it is not required for the job. Those who don’t have a college degree can still work in the radio business.
If you want to be a DJ, there are a lot of radio stations and DJ jobs.
If you want to be a DJ, the job market is always changing.
It’s a good idea to stay up to date on the latest trends and news in the music business.
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How Much Does A Wedding Dj Cost In 2022/2023
How much does a wedding DJ cost, and how much does the average wedding DJ cost? These are two of the top Google searches done by thousands of couples who are looking to hire a professional DJ company for their wedding.
The cost of a wedding in 2022/2023 is expensive. Pricing for every vendor is important, yet surprisingly, very few wedding vendors list their prices on their sites. We get it, service businesses are different, but it sure would be helpful to at least have a price range, or the average cost, when youre planning a wedding, in our opinion.
Becoming A Dj At 30+ Years Old
To become a DJ, you’ll need to know how to make sounds that work with other musicians!
Can you be a DJ when you’re over 30?
You can be a DJ at any age but as you get older, keep up with current music and cultural trends. This lets you connect with the younger club crowd and leads to more gigs!
DJing is not just for people who are rich and well-known.
It’s not just about how much money DJs make, you also must consider your music producer skills.
Your music production skills need to be good. If you’re a DJ playing crap music, or simply a beginner DJ then you won’t make anything per hour.
It isn’t unusual for a DJ to work three to four hours a day and still have another job.
People who want to be DJs should do what they enjoy, have a positive attitude, and play good music to be successful.
You’ll also need to be able to pick up on things in the room, like the mood of the crowd, the type of music you’re playing, and how your audience reacts.
Ideally, you can find a promoter to help you in the begging with selling tickets, as you build your following.
There are many ways to find these people.
Instagram is the most popular way.
Most DJs belong to clubs or events that already have people to play for.
At these places, you should look for club DJs who play the music that you like.
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Factors To Determine Your Average Wedding Dj Cost
When it comes to booking vendors for your wedding, a DJ will definitely be on your list. Whether you want one for just your reception or from ceremony through reception a DJ is essential to you creating your perfect wedding day. So how much does your average wedding DJ cost? Well, the answer really depends on 3 factors.
What Is Included In A Wedding Dj’s Price
If youre feeling some sticker shock at wedding DJ prices, remember theres a lot more to a wedding DJs role in your wedding day than simply showing up to your reception and playing music. Heres a list of what a wedding DJs cost includes:
- Time: Not only does the cost of a wedding DJ include the hours he or she will be performing at your wedding, it also includes the time it takes for your music pro to prepare for your big day. Before your wedding, your DJ will spend time creating your playlist and a unique script for your wedding. And on your wedding day, your DJ will travel, set up, perform, and break downnote that if he or she has to travel a long distance to your wedding, you may incur an additional charge.
- Equipment: The last thing you want on your wedding day is for your DJs equipment to breakso part of a DJs fee goes to purchasing and maintaining the most up-to-date equipment including speakers, microphones, and more.
- Music: Its trueyour DJ actually has to buy his or her music, and you certainly want to make sure that he or she has lots of songs from which to choose!
- Operational costs and insurance: These include things like paying rent on an office, business licenses, and marketing costs. Youll also want to make sure that your DJ is insuredthis protects you, your DJ, and your venue in the unlikely event that equipment is damaged or someone is injured due to your DJs equipment.
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How Much Does A Silent Disco Cost
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If your venue has noise restrictions, a silent disco is one solution. Guests will be given headphones where they can tune into different channels playing different genres of music.
Most companies offer dry hire of just the headphones and a transmitter , starting from around £120 for 25 pairs of headphones. However, wed recommend hiring a live DJ too to mix your channels, provide a PA system and lighting.
Most silent disco companies will be able to provide their own DJs for an additional cost per hour and offer you a bundle price on headphones and a DJ.
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What Affects A Wedding Djs Price
The longer the wedding and the reception, the higher the cost.
DJs tend to charge more if you plan to have an all-day wedding or one that goes late into the night. They need to be present more, thus the pay increases, and its difficult to give a precise answer to how much does a wedding DJ cost.
Another factor of a DJs price is the location, and DJs charge more in large metropolitan areas. If you live in a rural location with a lower cost of living, the price will be less.
Also, DJs tend to spike their fees in busy cities where parking is expensive, making it challenging to load and unload the equipment from their car.
Higher-cost DJs, such as in the $3,000 or more range, are known as celebrity DJs. They have fifteen plus years of experience and are well-trained.
They have an office to meet in, use updated equipment, and have reviews and references online. Most are well-known, flexible, responsive, and will travel almost anywhere.
Additionally, they have business insurance, an on-site music library, and often coordinate with other wedding vendors to assist in planning.
So, pricier DJs will be well-prepared with a clean presentation, a reputable website, a legit email address, and go over a contract with you before collecting a deposit.
In the end, what you pay is what you get, and if youre looking for a quality experience, the pay will reflect their professionalism.
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What Questions Should I Ask When Hiring A Wedding Dj
Hiring a DJ for your wedding is about more than simply checking that they’re available on the right day and suit your budget. You need to select a trustworthy professional who shares your musical tastes and understands your style.
Beyond the standard DJ hire cost, some of the most important questions you should ask a potential DJ are:
Upgraded Dance Floor Lighting
As I mentioned earlier, every DJ should offer a basic dance floor lighting package at no extra charge.
However, certain venues and client requests may require more lighting than the basic package provides.
If a DJ needs to bring additional lighting equipment to meet these needs, there should be an extra charge associated with these services.
Just make sure to ask to see a picture of the basic lighting package before adding extra lights.
There may be a chance you wont need to upgrade your lighting package and you can save some money.
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Extra Wedding Dj Costs That Are Unacceptable
There are many wedding DJ charges that make up a basic wedding DJ package price.
However, in my opinion, you should never be charged an additional fee for a service that is required for a DJ to perform the most basic duties of their job.
With that said, Im going to cover the services that I think you should not pay extra for as well the services that should have additional fees attached to them.
How Much Does A Wedding Dj Cost
Wedding DJ prices can vary greatly depending on many factors including your weddings location, the type of package youre looking for, and your chosen DJs experience and level of expertise. If youre considering hiring a DJ to play music at your wedding, keep in mind that the average wedding DJ cost in the U.S. is around $1,000 with most couples spending between $780 to $1,495. Couples are spending more on their wedding DJ nowadays than in past years as they are devoting more of their wedding budget to their guests experience, focusing more on music, food and more.
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Wedding Specialist Djs $1500 $2000
Of course, Were biased because our team happens to fall into this category, but theres a reason this option costs more.
Wedding Specialist DJ Companies have lots of experience. Theyve performed for hundreds, or even thousands, of weddings and have years of experience. These DJs invest in regular training and skill development in music research, mixing, music production, MCing, lighting setup, audio setup, and so much more.
They make sure DJs are equipped with the best equipment and attend industry events to learn more about weddings and whats happening in the DJ world. To put it short, Wedding Specialists live and breathe weddings. Now thats not to say that they wont work the occasional birthday party orcorporate event, but most DJs in this category will focus the majority of their time on being wedding professionals. Wedding Specialist DJs charge a premium because they deliver a premium service.
Things you can expect from wedding DJ specialists:
- Thorough music planning consultations
- Dedicated customer service staff assigned to your wedding day
- Industry-standard, professional and high-quality equipment, plus backup equipment
- Backup plans for everythinga pro will plan for things that could go wrong, so if something does happen, you never notice
How Old Do You Have To Be To Dj
There are a lot of established DJs and producers who are getting younger and younger.
It’s becoming more and more difficult for these newcomers to join.
In most nightclubs, you have to be at least 21 to go in. All-ages or 16+ events are becoming rarer. So young producers have to use connections, bribe bouncers, and sweet talk venues into letting them in.
If you want to perform at clubs… Get a fake ID.
You still have wedding venues and other events that you can play at during the day!
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Venue Size And Setting
If extra speakers, microphones, or updated audio equipment are needed for a large wedding, this could result in a higher wedding DJ cost.
Additionally, if you need the DJ to set up outside, extra equipment such as electrical cables and other equipment could be necessary, which will raise the cost. Be sure to discuss your venue with your wedding DJ before the wedding day to find out whether these extra charges apply.
What Questions Should I Ask My Wedding Dj
A big part of finding the right DJ for your wedding is personality fit. There are several important questions we recommend asking your prospective wedding DJ or their agency before booking, including:
- How would you describe your style?
- Can we see your song list?
- What is included in your fee?
- Are there specific genres of music that you do/don’t play?
- Will you create a custom playlist for our wedding?
- Can you recommend a first dance song?
- Have you worked at our venue before?
- What equipment do you use?
- Do you require a meal on the night?
- Do you offer additional services like lighting?
- Are you insured?
Want some help choosing the right wedding DJ? Since 2008, we’ve been helping couples like you put together the wedding of their dreams. Let’s talk! Check out our wedding DJs or get in touch with us to discuss your requirements.
- L1, 139/131 Victoria St W
- Auckland CBD, 1010
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