bgs1372
Just need a little advice as to what others have done to handle these situations.
I did a New Years event last night at a Major Hotel in my city. About 300 people were there.
The whole night went great and the management commented on how great a job I did was.
So here is the problem. The General manager of the venue the guy who hired me had a reserved
table with 8 people at it. He told them during the night that they could request any song that
they wanted during the night and that I would play it. It was ok during the beginning of the
night cause they only requested a couple of songs and I was able to fit them in. At the end of
the night the Manager had left and gone home. The dance floor was packed and rocking after
midnight everyone was having a great time. This table of friends of the Manager started to get
very drunk then they kept coming up every 5 minutes requesting different songs. Most of these
songs did not fit in so I wasn't going to play them. I tried to tell them this but they thought
I was their personal DJ cause they knew the Manager. When I wouldn't play their requests
they started to get very angry with me. I have an assistant who helps me and he told me that
they were verbally insulting him. At one point the one girl stood right in front of me glaring
with a few other people and said they wouldn't move till I played their request. I tried to diffuse
the situation as much as possible. The whole thing did not affect the night or my performance
everything went smooth and everyone had a great time. But this did affect my night cause they
were being drunken idiots. As friends of the Manager I didn't want to piss them off too much.
What would some of you done in this event. I hate doing requests in general but when people
are assholes about it I need to find out how to handle these situations. Do any of you say no
requests and make that your policy. I would like to have a no request policy but how do you
go about such a policy without pissing people off. I love playing music and getting the crowd
pumped up and dancing but I can't stress how much I hate taking requests
Thanks
Derek
I did a New Years event last night at a Major Hotel in my city. About 300 people were there.
The whole night went great and the management commented on how great a job I did was.
So here is the problem. The General manager of the venue the guy who hired me had a reserved
table with 8 people at it. He told them during the night that they could request any song that
they wanted during the night and that I would play it. It was ok during the beginning of the
night cause they only requested a couple of songs and I was able to fit them in. At the end of
the night the Manager had left and gone home. The dance floor was packed and rocking after
midnight everyone was having a great time. This table of friends of the Manager started to get
very drunk then they kept coming up every 5 minutes requesting different songs. Most of these
songs did not fit in so I wasn't going to play them. I tried to tell them this but they thought
I was their personal DJ cause they knew the Manager. When I wouldn't play their requests
they started to get very angry with me. I have an assistant who helps me and he told me that
they were verbally insulting him. At one point the one girl stood right in front of me glaring
with a few other people and said they wouldn't move till I played their request. I tried to diffuse
the situation as much as possible. The whole thing did not affect the night or my performance
everything went smooth and everyone had a great time. But this did affect my night cause they
were being drunken idiots. As friends of the Manager I didn't want to piss them off too much.
What would some of you done in this event. I hate doing requests in general but when people
are assholes about it I need to find out how to handle these situations. Do any of you say no
requests and make that your policy. I would like to have a no request policy but how do you
go about such a policy without pissing people off. I love playing music and getting the crowd
pumped up and dancing but I can't stress how much I hate taking requests
Thanks
Derek
geposted Wed 01 Jan 14 @ 2:21 pm
kradcliffe
These things happen unfortunately. I work in a club and when the dance floor is rocking I get people coming up asking for songs that would kill it. You just have to tell them respectfully your job is to keep the dance floor busy and being friends of the manager doesn't give them carte blanche to ruin everyone else's night.
Keith
Keith
geposted Wed 01 Jan 14 @ 2:50 pm
Bren F
Carry on taking requests but exercise your role in deciding which are played, as people can't be reasoned with when they're drunk, consider limiting peoples access to the DJ booth, either through re-locating the booth or with the assistance of security. No professional wants to be interrupted when they're playing unless it's absolutely necessary. If this isn't possible just tell them you don't have the song "Gods honest truth" remembering to keep your fingers crossed.
geposted Wed 01 Jan 14 @ 3:11 pm
groovindj
I had a few requests last night too that didn't fit in with what I was playing, or what others were asking for.
In this particular instance though, it didn't matter too much because no one was dancing* anyway, so I played them.
* apart from four women who danced for two songs (during another part of the evening) then sat back down.
In this particular instance though, it didn't matter too much because no one was dancing* anyway, so I played them.
* apart from four women who danced for two songs (during another part of the evening) then sat back down.
geposted Wed 01 Jan 14 @ 3:16 pm
wildcountryclub
requests are a good thing even if you don't get around to them all. until you get to the point where you can read their minds, you NEED them.
they give you a gauge to help read your crowd. when its actually part of the crowd
happens time and time again when groups feeling they're "special" for whatever perceived reason totally kill a night and there are many ways of dealing with them and sometimes you just gotta do it.
extreme cases however call for the buildings security staff to remove people before they become a risk - managers friends or not.
they give you a gauge to help read your crowd. when its actually part of the crowd
happens time and time again when groups feeling they're "special" for whatever perceived reason totally kill a night and there are many ways of dealing with them and sometimes you just gotta do it.
extreme cases however call for the buildings security staff to remove people before they become a risk - managers friends or not.
geposted Wed 01 Jan 14 @ 4:56 pm
Tear Em 'Up
A couple of things. Number one, never, let me repeat that NEVER, tell a drunk you refuse to play their request. It never ends well. Number two, smile, tell them you love that song and you'll try to fit it in but, there are a lot of other requests and you are trying very hard not to play favorites.
geposted Wed 01 Jan 14 @ 5:21 pm
bgs1372
I tried saying I have few few requests head of you and I will play it as soon as I can fit it in. But she said " No Play it now " Then I said I have other requests that I have to play before yours to be fair to everyone and she said " No Play it now " The she came back every 5 minutes to ask when the song would be played. I know this was an extreme case and most nights are not like this. I was just looking for how people on these forums handle the 1 percent who are asses
geposted Wed 01 Jan 14 @ 6:56 pm
scarboroughdjgimz
Any song can go well with other songs as long as it's popular. It may even work on your favor by throwing an element of surprise. song selection is more important than beat matching all the time. Remember you can't make everybody happy. Unless you ask for guest request months ahead of time and make that a policy (this eliminates guessing) but some clients might not want to put in effort. In your case since it's the manager's friends. that's a little hard to deal with. I'd love to hear what anyone else have to say.
geposted Wed 01 Jan 14 @ 11:40 pm
jmavila02
What was the song she wanted? Were you bringing the house down with say "Shots" by LMFAO and she wanted "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie?
If she was being rude and obnoxious I would have played her song and keep the energy going with some motivation for the crowd. Talking on the mic while fitting in the request would have made the transition smoother. If everyone left the dance floor then I would have pulled them in with a "Secret weapon" song.
QUESTION
OK DJs, if you would have done things my way which song would you have chosen to "pull" the crowd back into the dance floor? I know it's a little off topic but it helps us all. lol.
If she was being rude and obnoxious I would have played her song and keep the energy going with some motivation for the crowd. Talking on the mic while fitting in the request would have made the transition smoother. If everyone left the dance floor then I would have pulled them in with a "Secret weapon" song.
QUESTION
OK DJs, if you would have done things my way which song would you have chosen to "pull" the crowd back into the dance floor? I know it's a little off topic but it helps us all. lol.
geposted Thu 02 Jan 14 @ 1:36 am
TVD UK
Part of life being a mobile DJ. Obtain the guests name a publicly dedicate it to them if you do play it so other party goers know it is not your choice.
If someone gets really annoying ( i have only ever done this once) hit the kill switch so that the matter is brought to everyone's attention. This should solve the issue and let others know you are having the hassle too.
If things get nasty in my contract the client signs i would be within my right to start packing up as i don't get paid danger money.
If someone gets really annoying ( i have only ever done this once) hit the kill switch so that the matter is brought to everyone's attention. This should solve the issue and let others know you are having the hassle too.
If things get nasty in my contract the client signs i would be within my right to start packing up as i don't get paid danger money.
geposted Thu 02 Jan 14 @ 3:08 am
Charlie Wilson
Just hit the pause button next time pick up the mic and explain the situation to everyone in the room, then tell them (those responsible) to sit down and stay away or you will have to call the manager to come back and remove them from the premiss. Done it many times
geposted Thu 02 Jan 14 @ 3:23 am
groovindj
The name and shame method!
Ask the name of the culprit.
Turn the music right down, or off.
"Hey everyone, this is Jane Doe. Jane wants me to play Clear The Dance Floor by Awful Group. Do you all want me to play Clear The Dance Floor?"
Ask the name of the culprit.
Turn the music right down, or off.
"Hey everyone, this is Jane Doe. Jane wants me to play Clear The Dance Floor by Awful Group. Do you all want me to play Clear The Dance Floor?"
geposted Thu 02 Jan 14 @ 7:24 am
i tend to lean toward TearEmUP's avoid confrontation and don't insult the drunks......
i did a firefighter's event once in my hometown and to my surprise it turned into a real pain....
the guy who hired me was the assistant chief and after he got liquored up he turned into a real jerk
he kept requesting inappropriate hard metal and dorky 70's when everybody was dancing (including his wife)
fortunately i enlisted the help of the crowd and his wife and managed to end it before it got too bad
at one point i announced how i had a 3rd request now from my bud asst chief hardass ......and the crowd groaned.....
he heard all that of course and relented , said play something for my wife ( which i had already lined up a crowd pleaser with her that she liked)
so that ended that .....at the time i did not have a "tough" contract like i do now ......thanks to Tear i state unequivocally that i am
in charge of the music and all new customers pay 100% in advance and everyone is on the hook financially for any damage
always bring a portfolio with the signed contract and a neat printed list of the requests asked for in advance......
check off the requests as they are played any bad requests should be addressed at the time of getting the list, not at the gig.....
the 200 people having a great time dancing ......are more important than the one guy with poor taste and judgement
even if he's paying .........
the contract says that i have taken there requests and any other requests will cause the time to exceed the limit....
this wil invoke the overtime clause, which has to be paid for now, in advance .....
of course if the venue can't accomodate the overtime, then they aren't going to be willing to pay for ot , just for a request or 2
of course sometimes you can get overtime from these requests, so now the requests are helping you make more money
learning to negotiate is an excellent skill for business and life , you can study, take courses etc
i did a firefighter's event once in my hometown and to my surprise it turned into a real pain....
the guy who hired me was the assistant chief and after he got liquored up he turned into a real jerk
he kept requesting inappropriate hard metal and dorky 70's when everybody was dancing (including his wife)
fortunately i enlisted the help of the crowd and his wife and managed to end it before it got too bad
at one point i announced how i had a 3rd request now from my bud asst chief hardass ......and the crowd groaned.....
he heard all that of course and relented , said play something for my wife ( which i had already lined up a crowd pleaser with her that she liked)
so that ended that .....at the time i did not have a "tough" contract like i do now ......thanks to Tear i state unequivocally that i am
in charge of the music and all new customers pay 100% in advance and everyone is on the hook financially for any damage
always bring a portfolio with the signed contract and a neat printed list of the requests asked for in advance......
check off the requests as they are played any bad requests should be addressed at the time of getting the list, not at the gig.....
the 200 people having a great time dancing ......are more important than the one guy with poor taste and judgement
even if he's paying .........
the contract says that i have taken there requests and any other requests will cause the time to exceed the limit....
this wil invoke the overtime clause, which has to be paid for now, in advance .....
of course if the venue can't accomodate the overtime, then they aren't going to be willing to pay for ot , just for a request or 2
of course sometimes you can get overtime from these requests, so now the requests are helping you make more money
learning to negotiate is an excellent skill for business and life , you can study, take courses etc
geposted Thu 02 Jan 14 @ 7:28 am
dizzyrocks2001
That's a good approach chucknorris. One thing I always tell my clients is that they need to trust me to use my discretion when taking requests. After all, you don't want your dance floor emptied because of the whim of one intoxicated guest. And when it comes to corporate clients I tell the person who hired me that there are two types of complaints they'll get on Monday after the party… "the dance floor was empty", or "the DJ didn't play my requests". I think the second complaint is the lesser of two evils if it meant the dance floor was full. Sometimes you really have to take the following approach with clients… you can have a great party, or I can play every request - you can't have both - take your pick. Sometimes you have to make it very clear ahead of time that you are a DJ, not a human iPod, and that they've hired a professional who knows what they're doing and they need to trust your judgement. Also, an empty dance floor reflects poorly on me. If the dance floor empties because I'm playing a lame request everyone at the party will think it's my fault, and in a way it is because I didn't deny the lame request, but I can't really get on the mic and say "ladies and gentleman, the reason the dance floor is empty is because some drunken whore keeps insisting I play Dashboard Confessional and I just want her to get off my back!" Part of being a good DJ is knowing what NOT to play, and clients need to understand this, so I do everything I can to alleviate problems in advance by educating the client. I know my approach seems somewhat militant but I make it work for me. I've been doing this a long time and I know what the **** I'm doing, and the client can either leave the music selection up to someone who knows what they're doing, OR let their guests who have no clue dictate the music that gets played and have a shitty party. Thank you for hiring me, I appreciate your business, now let me do my ****ing job lol.
Another thing I educate clients on is cultural music. I live in a very culturally diverse market (Toronto, Canada), and I hear the following from clients all the time… "There will be a lot of guests of different cultural backgrounds so we need the DJ to play a wide range of cultural music". I tell them trying to cater to every culture's music is the last thing I should do. If you have a 300 person party and you play a set for the 12 Greek people in the room then you'll have a dance floor with 12 people or less on it. Then when you switch it up to accommodate the 10 East Indian people in the room then you alienate the other 290 people in the room. And I know what you'll say: play songs from those cultures that every one knows like "Zorba the Greek" for the Greeks, or "Beware of the Boys" by Punjabi MC feat. Jay-Z for the East Indians, and sometimes I will, but I know that as soon I do then I've opened the floodgates for the people from those cultures bugging me for the rest of the night to play more and more of their music (because of course THEIR culture's music is "the best"), and then you'll get people insisting you play music from every other culture too. The best approach is to play music with the most mass appeal which is for the most part North American music. There are exceptions like Reggae and Latin music, but the moment you start playing Iranian music you've opened the floodgates for the party turning into a "it's a small world" party with an empty dance floor.
[Moderated: Please do not use bad language in your forum posts. Please read the forum rules]
Another thing I educate clients on is cultural music. I live in a very culturally diverse market (Toronto, Canada), and I hear the following from clients all the time… "There will be a lot of guests of different cultural backgrounds so we need the DJ to play a wide range of cultural music". I tell them trying to cater to every culture's music is the last thing I should do. If you have a 300 person party and you play a set for the 12 Greek people in the room then you'll have a dance floor with 12 people or less on it. Then when you switch it up to accommodate the 10 East Indian people in the room then you alienate the other 290 people in the room. And I know what you'll say: play songs from those cultures that every one knows like "Zorba the Greek" for the Greeks, or "Beware of the Boys" by Punjabi MC feat. Jay-Z for the East Indians, and sometimes I will, but I know that as soon I do then I've opened the floodgates for the people from those cultures bugging me for the rest of the night to play more and more of their music (because of course THEIR culture's music is "the best"), and then you'll get people insisting you play music from every other culture too. The best approach is to play music with the most mass appeal which is for the most part North American music. There are exceptions like Reggae and Latin music, but the moment you start playing Iranian music you've opened the floodgates for the party turning into a "it's a small world" party with an empty dance floor.
[Moderated: Please do not use bad language in your forum posts. Please read the forum rules]
geposted Thu 02 Jan 14 @ 8:49 am
take the "Godfather" route and keep it business, not personal .....
everything is already in your contract (right?) , so there really are no surprises .......
all the requests are already in the contract......extra contractual requests can be handled at the time according to
your overtime provisions .......
you can even get info at the time of signing the contract, as to who the requests specifically are for .....
comes in handy at the gig.......
to borrow a phrase from FlashPoint (see that i worked in a Toronto link) ...... don't escalate
so ..... you do what you know is right, and you don't second quess yourself........
and since you don't reinvent the wheel every time out ..... you incorporate these considerations
into your contract
everything is already in your contract (right?) , so there really are no surprises .......
all the requests are already in the contract......extra contractual requests can be handled at the time according to
your overtime provisions .......
you can even get info at the time of signing the contract, as to who the requests specifically are for .....
comes in handy at the gig.......
to borrow a phrase from FlashPoint (see that i worked in a Toronto link) ...... don't escalate
Quote :
you can have a great party, or I can play every request - you can't have both - take your pick.
Quote :
If the dance floor empties because I'm playing a lame request everyone at the party will think it's my fault, and in a way it is because I didn't deny the lame request, but I can't really get on the mic and say "ladies and gentleman, the reason the dance floor is empty is because some drunken whore keeps insisting I play Dashboard Confessional and I just want her to get off my back!"
so ..... you do what you know is right, and you don't second quess yourself........
and since you don't reinvent the wheel every time out ..... you incorporate these considerations
into your contract
geposted Thu 02 Jan 14 @ 8:58 am
dizzyrocks2001
chucknorrisyouwimps wrote :
take the "Godfather" route and keep it business, not personal .....
everything is already in your contract (right?) , so there really are no surprises .......
all the requests are already in the contract......extra contractual requests can be handled at the time according to
your overtime provisions .......
you can even get info at the time of signing the contract, as to who the requests specifically are for .....
comes in handy at the gig.......
to borrow a phrase from FlashPoint (see that i worked in a Toronto link) ...... don't escalate
everything is already in your contract (right?) , so there really are no surprises .......
all the requests are already in the contract......extra contractual requests can be handled at the time according to
your overtime provisions .......
you can even get info at the time of signing the contract, as to who the requests specifically are for .....
comes in handy at the gig.......
to borrow a phrase from FlashPoint (see that i worked in a Toronto link) ...... don't escalate
Quote :
you can have a great party, or I can play every request - you can't have both - take your pick.
Just curious, how do you get requests in the contract if the client signs the contract 3 months prior to the event? For example, if a client booked you in September for a Christmas party in December I would think they're not going to get a request list to you until a week or so before the party, never mind even start thinking about requests until closer to the date. Also, with most corporate bookings you have to strike while the iron is hot. You're trying to tell me that you'd tell the client they have to take a week to compile the requests before you can draw up a contract?? The client would just move on to the next DJ company. Can you explain?
geposted Thu 02 Jan 14 @ 9:18 am
at the time of meeting the client you discuss there requests, take the list, handle any problematic requests and get info
as to who they are for ... face to face can be anytime.......
i don't do last minute white knuckle stuff not because i'm so great , but because it's not necessary to do things that way,
or because i refuse to get any more gray hairs from that ???
everything's in the contract ..... requests not in the contract you have no obligation,and can invoke overtime
as to who they are for ... face to face can be anytime.......
i don't do last minute white knuckle stuff not because i'm so great , but because it's not necessary to do things that way,
or because i refuse to get any more gray hairs from that ???
everything's in the contract ..... requests not in the contract you have no obligation,and can invoke overtime
geposted Thu 02 Jan 14 @ 9:23 am
dizzyrocks2001
chucknorrisyouwimps wrote :
at the time of meeting the client you discuss there requests, take the list, handle any problematic requests and get info
as to who they are for
as to who they are for
But what do you do if they don't have the request list ready for you at the time of the meeting? Do you ever have problems the client not agreeing to providing the requests so far in advance?
geposted Thu 02 Jan 14 @ 9:27 am
of course ....
ok i quess we need to turn this around .... i am thinking to myself .....dizzy's got it goin on , does a really good job......
but he's getting pushed around .......i hope not but seems like it
look the clueless rude uncaring-about-there-party don't give us problems , because .....we care and we handle it
you don't have to just not get the gig.....just control the process, don't reinvent the wheel each time out.....
anyone with a shred of decency will be a little guilty about not being prepared .....
there is no "provisional" anything, including deposits..... there is a retainer fee non refundable, there might be a balance,
if so it's paid in full before the gig..... if no requests are specified on the contract, then there could still be requests but they aren't
an obligation , and they would cause you to run into overtime ......i have an "appeaser" clause .....if any circumstances result in less
music getting played i still will play the requests on the contract.... this means i drop some of the tunes i picked to go with
there requests and, i don't charge them for my lost time
ok i quess we need to turn this around .... i am thinking to myself .....dizzy's got it goin on , does a really good job......
but he's getting pushed around .......i hope not but seems like it
look the clueless rude uncaring-about-there-party don't give us problems , because .....we care and we handle it
you don't have to just not get the gig.....just control the process, don't reinvent the wheel each time out.....
anyone with a shred of decency will be a little guilty about not being prepared .....
there is no "provisional" anything, including deposits..... there is a retainer fee non refundable, there might be a balance,
if so it's paid in full before the gig..... if no requests are specified on the contract, then there could still be requests but they aren't
an obligation , and they would cause you to run into overtime ......i have an "appeaser" clause .....if any circumstances result in less
music getting played i still will play the requests on the contract.... this means i drop some of the tunes i picked to go with
there requests and, i don't charge them for my lost time
geposted Thu 02 Jan 14 @ 9:53 am
DJ Koz
If the song doesn't go with what I am playing at the moment or I think the song will bomb then I just tell them I'll try to fit it in. If they persist then I'll play it before or after a break (dinner, toast, dessert...) so my dance floor isn't really affected. This way it's played and everyone is happy.
geposted Thu 02 Jan 14 @ 9:58 am
