Working in the Creative Industries – Research Project
Fortunately for DJ’s there are no qualifications you need to progress in this music profession as you can buy a set of decks and start teaching yourself or watching videos for support. This profession is definitely a great way to get your name out there easily as you can practice in your room everyday, not needing any specialist equipment. For DJ’ing you don’t need any experience to enter the profession but it does require openness to learn new things, dedication and time. So instead of getting qualifications you need to be able to adapt to the audience you are performing for to ensure they are not getting bored. As well as this to make your sets more unique, you will have to incorporate your own musical ideas so that it can set you apart from other DJ’s. And it is not just about spinning songs on the decks, it’s very focused on being reactive and knowledgeable about what type of music the audience is coming to hear.
With DJ’ing obviously having the technical skills to work are very important but to be very successful in this profession, you need a mix of technical ability and other qualities to be set apart from others. One of these qualities is to have passion for what you are doing because without it, it will not be enjoyable and you will most likely not carry on with it. Passion for music will not be enough as you need to live it and share emotional connections with it so you feel excited to do it. It is also about sending a message through the tracks that you play whether that be your background or how you’re feeling right now; it all counts because this will make the audience feel relatable. The type of music you play and how you react to it shows your passion and not only you but the audience will recognise it and it will rub off on them therefore making their experience more enjoyable. Another very important quality to have as a DJ is knowing what makes you unique and stand out from other DJ’s. Trying to sound like other DJ’s is the worst thing you can do as people will write you off straight away and just listen to other DJ’s who have a uniqueness about them. There are huge artists that are famous worldwide because of this exact quality that they all possess. For example, Fred Again is very popular for his ability to storytell through his songs and his idea to include his own vocal samples to make his material specific to him. Kettama is huge for his high energy, hard-hitting songs that do not include any subtlety at all. Most DJ’s would have high energy and then slow it down. He is clever by doing this as it is targeting the new generation of ravers and electronic music lovers that love what he is doing. Another quality that is very important is humility. Not everyone is going to enjoy the music you play and some of them will let you know about it whilst you are playing. This would happen mostly at the start of your DJ career as you will still be finding your feet in the industry. Being able to stand and take the humility and then overcome it is a huge skill as a lot of DJ’s have one bad experience and then give up because they don’t want to be in that situation again. All the big DJ’s you see now haven’t all been amazing throughout every set they play, but they are where they are because they’ve been knocked down by humility and got straight back up again and again. I would say a 3rd quality to have that is very important is being knowledgeable about the business side of things because you don’t want to be performing loads of gigs and you can’t figure out how to control your finances for example. But gigs aren’t the only way you can collect income from, it’s starting businesses, opening record labels, spotting marketing opportunities and many other ways. If you are a lone wolf then this route will be the most beneficial as you have no one else to help you with building up a business or a record label. In this profession this is called having a “business head.”
A day-to-day life as a DJ is pretty cool for the fact that your job is to play music you like for hours in front of a big crowd who are feeling your vibe the whole time. A typical club DJ will book their names to play gigs and clubs, bars and even some pubs depending on what the feel is like in there. As a DJ you will also have to study the audience and the venue so you know what type of music to play and potentially different genres to blend in, but it also has to fit in with the venue’s policy. Not all the time but at some places a DJ will also control the lighting effects to pair up perfectly with the set that they are playing but most of the time it will be controlled by a lighting team. Usually at bars there will be an MC (mostly at beach clubs and bar) who will work with the DJ and sing and rap over the music to give a more energized effect to give off to the audience. Another job the DJ has whilst DJ’ing is to stream themselves DJ’ing live so that their name is everywhere when they are just in one place performing. A club DJ is not the only type of DJ as there is also being a radio DJ presenter which works slightly differently. Their day-to-day job looks like this. In this job they host radio programmes whilst selecting and changing the music simultaneously. As it’s a radio show, there will be emails, social media, call ins and chat from fans of the show that the DJ will have to interact with to keep up the interactive entertainment. It is also their job to interview guests, play news, adverts and liaise with the producer of the show to suggest some ideas that they could use in future shows.
With DJ’ing comes financial issues as the income is not at a fixed rate so it’s quite unstable. So to earn a lot of money from it, you will have to have very good financial planning. DJ gear doesn’t come cheap as decks, speakers, headphones are not very cheap and overtime these essentials will stop working and breaking, so there will be ongoing purchasing with a low budget. The top DJ’s get loads of money, but the ones that aren’t, don’t get too much for the fact that promoters and venue owners like to work on a tight budget which can lead to underpayment or even no payment in exchange for exposure. A lot of DJ’s do it for a side hobby to get some extra money alongside their main job is a more stable option than only DJ’ing. Performing at corporate events such as weddings, birthday parties and so on are also ways they make some extra money on the side. A very important skill to have as a DJ is learning to negotiate fair pay as taking the payment you are given might not be enough and will come back and bite in the future. With this also includes picking certain gigs as some may benefit you more than others.
There are also legal issues that come with DJ’ing such as contracts, copyright and licensing. Copying copyrighted music requires something called a ProDub license. This allows a DJ to transfer copyrighted music over to different formats; so burn, copy and transfer from mp3 and vinyl over to an mp3 for example. Those who obtain a ProDub should keep it with them every time they perform just in case someone asks if they have this license. Also PPL licenses supply DJ’s with recorded music that comes on DVD’s and CD’s and even downloads. The suppliers are authorised to supply the DJ’s with recorded music aswell. There is also entertainment licensing which is usually up to the venue to sort out but a DJ may need to hold this license if they are setting up their own event and promoting it. Public liability insurance isn’t exactly a requirement as it’s not really asked for but some venues may not proceed with your booking as they like a certain level of cover. Copyright laws are also very important to be knowledgeable about as you can be sued for this. Contracts are so important within DJ’ing as this can completely save you from being sued. It is always a good idea to have a written contract and within this it should include your terms and conditions, payment, conditions for cancellation and limited liability. Limited liability is a huge one because if there is no written evidence of it and you can’t make a booking, you could be sued for a huge amount of money.
Marketing and Promoting your work is the way that you’ll attract fans and grow your brand. One way of doing this that has become essential over the last decade is social media. This allows a DJ to show their work to people from the other side of the world with a few clicks. Doing this involves promoting your brand by making posts and posting on your stories. An important thing to think about this though is to not randomly post but to have a structure and a plan of when and what to post. Something called “batch posting” is a method in which you can record a batch of videos and then cut and edit them so you have weeks worth of posts instead of freestyling it everyday. Building a brand is the other part of marketing and promoting and it includes creating a visual identity and finding your sound which will attract people. For the logo it’s important to have colours that match the type of vibe you are going for. For example for darker music you would have dark colours and for lighter uplifting music, you would have brighter colours. And a way to make it look professional is to have initials and/or shapes but to not have too much going on, otherwise it may look tacky. And if you’re not really into graphic design you can also get in touch with artists who can create one for you that are on sites such as fiverr.
There are intellectual and personal challenges that come with DJ’ing that aren’t seen but happen behind closed doors. An intellectual challenge a DJ may face is creative pressure. This is the pressure to keep your sound fresh to stay relevant for a long time. You can overcome this by experimenting with mixing into different genres so your sets become more exciting. Another intellectual challenge a DJ may face is crowd psychology. This is being able to recognise the vibe and energy of the audience. This is a hard skill that is essential to learn. It can be overcome by taking opportunities to perform at small parties and bars to gain the experience before you go to perform at clubs. A personal problem a DJ could face is performance anxiety. This is being anxious to perform in front of a crowd or facing an unresponsive one. The way to overcome this is developing a thick skin and taking the reaction personally.
Some development opportunities for DJ’s can include going from playing bars and clubs to performing in ski resorts and big festivals. They can also go into music production which can allow them to dive deeper into creating their own unique sound.
Sources Used:
https://www.lawdonut.co.uk/business/sector-specific-law/mobile-dj-legal-issues
https://blog.pioneerdj.com/djcareerguide
https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/dj#:~:text=Day-to-day
https://fadr.com/blog/a-guide-to-being-a-dj-with-no-experience https://www.digitaldjtips.com/7-hidden-qualities-successful-djs-share/
