What Would You Expect to Pay for a DJ?

chris73

Hi,

Just a little market research for a DJ Community which I am involved in. What we are currently trying to do is to gauge the publics perception of what they would expect to pay for a Mobile DJ to provide the entertainment for their Wedding Reception .

If you have already booked a DJ, within the last year then if you could post what you were charged, and whether you believed this initially to be a fair price and whether it differed from what you originally expected to pay.

If you have never yet needed the services of a DJ, or are considering booking one, if you could post how much you would expect to pay.

This information would be much appreciated, and will help with an ongoing project.

sarahlouise210

Paid £150.00 for a DJ for our wedding.. they were there from 6pm - 11.45pm. We thought it was a fair price - DJ plus his mate..lightshow ..special effects etc. I would not want to pay more than £60.00 for a kids disco though.

Becles

We run a mobile DJ business. We have a rough price but the actual cost for a wedding depends on how long the disco is on for, distance for us to travel and we charge more for awkward access to the function room, such as carrying all the stuff up a rusty fire escape last weekend!

However, I'd be very interested in the results of your project. Can you keep me up to date with results? Thanks

black-saturn

My ex pigface (boyfriend) was a DJ. He did all occasions and charges £150 for a wedding, £100 for an 18th or 21st party, £75 for any other birthday party and £40 for a kids party.

I was wondering though. If you took mostly your own CDs and asked him to play them (we have very different taste in music to everyone else) would he offer a reduction?

Becles

Whatever we play, we're still going to be there for the same length of time and possibly turning away other full price bookings to do it. Therefore we wouldn't offer a reduction.

My hubby would refuse to play other people's CD's for 2 reasons.

1) The equipment we have doesn't have a CD player. All the music is digitally stored on a laptop as it's far higher quality than a CD. However, before the event we'd ask you for "must have" tracks. If we don't have them, we will go out and buy them at no extra cost to you. The only exception would be if we had to spend loads on music we'd never use again, then we'd have to negotiate, but that hasn't happened yet!

2) It protects the persons CD. We'd feel really awful if someones priceless CD was damaged or stolen while in our care.

black-saturn

In that case I probably will do my own disco.

chris73

Hi,

This thread was aimed at market research, but I am also happy to join in any discussion regarding our industry, having been a DJ myself for over 18 years, but please don't think that i'm canvassing my own services either, because i'm not! (look ma!, no links)

We had a thread started on our own forum regarding prices and with such a wide diversity in charges and with some DJ's charging twice what their other colleagues are charging, I thought that I would do some research of my own, and see the opinion from the clients point of view.

Many clients think nothing of spending £1000 on a venue or £400 on a cake, but seem to skimp when it comes to their entertainment. Bearing in mind that an unprofessional DJ or one who doesn't show at all can ruin an otherwise perfect day then perhaps the clients research should not only be based on the price that the DJ is quoting!.

Many people have a romantic notion that DJ'ing is easy and the money is for old rope. However whilst you are snuggled up in your warm wedding bed, we are often lugging P.A equipment down 2 flights of fire escape in the dark, trying to push past the guests who inevitably congregate in the doorway :mad: and then we have to drive home and unload it all again. Not too mention the other costs such as Public Liability insurance and PAT testing we have to pay for, in order to have the certificates which many wedding venues are now insisting on. So if you are considering doing your own disco, you may also have to take out insurance before the venue will allow you to work there, it's also a relevant question to ask any DJ who you may book to ensure that they fulfil these requirements, because if your venue is one of the growing number of hotel chains which require them, and your DJ doesn't have the certificates then he / she may be refused entry!. Daft, I know but in the world of no win, no fee many venues are simply covering themselves against being held liable should the DJ electrocute a guest or start a fire.

The equipment we have doesn't have a CD player. All the music is digitally stored on a laptop as it's far higher quality than a CD.

Yes, many DJ's are taking the same route, although the MCPS and PPL have declared that DJ's transfering original CD's to MP3 is now illegal. The new licensing laws are rumored to also make landlords and venue managers responsible for policing this new law, or risk losing their entertainment licence. In other words, they are to report any DJ's found using laptops / pc's etc to the authorities. This has all coincided with the release of a new digital DJ licence which, for an annual fee will allow you to back up certain original CD's to MP3 format. Opinion amongst DJ's regarding this licence is, divided to say the least because it effectively forces you to pay twice for your material, once to buy the CD, and again to convert it to a format playable on a laptop.

we have very different taste in music to everyone else

What about the taste in music of your other guests?, surely if we are talking a Wedding Reception with three generations of family present and 150+ people that not all of them will share your tastes?. As a service provider I am more than happy to tailor the event to the requirements of the client and play as instructed, however I am also obligated as an entertainer to point this out in order to try and ensure that the entire audience enjoy the evening entertainment. Occasionally a client will state that they want nothing but rap, metal or some other specialised genre, and then wonder why their grandparents and most of the older guests are preparing to leave shortly after the buffet . However, in answer to your question, yes if you brought a CD(s) then we would play them for you, however our fee would remain the same, since my costs for attending would be the same.

Some clients also think that they will get a huge discount by knocking off 30 mins from the function, then expect to save £50+ :eek: . Sadly it doesn't work like that. Even if you have booked me from 7pm - 12AM, I am working in some capacity on your behalf before I even arrive, from the time I step into the shower, put on a suit and load the van with equipment, not to mention the time I spend driving to the venue and back again. The same applies to functions which run on beyond the original finish time!. If you can get the bar to serve everybody free drinks, I'll do you the extra hour for free!

We also invite clients to send a list of requests / favourite tracks at the time of booking.

Also remember when booking a DJ, that you are paying for the services of a professional, not just for a Human Jukebox!, in the same way that you would pay for a mechanic to fix your car or a plumber to replace your hot water cylinder. Many DJ's have attended 100 or even 1000's of Wedding receptions in their careers and gained vast experience from reading the crowd and dancefloor, and have a wide and varied music selection to cater for the tastes of your guests, and let's face it musical taste is as individual to each person as taste in food, decor etc.

I could waffle on, but I think that given all of this, then whatever you have been charged is a bargain, but hey!, I would say that wouldn't I!, lol :rolleyes: .


Any more prices for me?

black-saturn

I wouldnt expect to listen to my own music all the way through the event but in the past I have booked DJ's and told them what bands I like (I like The Cure and OH likes Gary Numan) and asked them to play a few of their songs. Even when reminded they didnt play them and the disco turned out to be an event for people with mainstream tastes in music like all the others. Sorry but if I was paying a DJ they would play the tracks I'd ask for now and again or they wouldnt be paid. Surely my nan and aunt could sit and bare one of my songs for about 4 minutes?

nearlyrich

My daughter was 18 in May, we hired a room and put on a buffet for family & friends, we chose a DJ at £75 for the evening, he played all the right music, wasn't too loud to upset the less youthfull etc. We were offered a special deal of just £120 by a friend of my sister to do the party.

I think it depends on exactly what type of a do it is how much you expect to spend, we knew that at the 18th no-one would really be listening to the music so paying £45 more would not be a good idea.

Becles

black-saturn wrote:

Even when reminded they didnt play them and the disco turned out to be an event for people with mainstream tastes in music like all the others.

That's the difference between a good DJ and a bad DJ

We did a wedding a few weeks ago. Most mainstream stuff was banned by the couple - no 80's, no party music, no silly dances like YMCA, no cheese, no britpop, no indie, no rock.

In the end we mainly played a bit of Motown and recent R&B stuff all night. Hardly anyone danced and it's soul destroying playing to an empty dancefloor. During the event we thought it had been a disaster. However, the couple were chuffed to bits and said it was the best disco they'd been to as we only played their fave music