Extremes of Disco quality and market.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

It is quite a difficult question to answer as we will all have different views on what is budget, middle and upper pricing levels. One big factor where I differ to most is that I never look at money/booking too much, I am more interested in my overall income which is what matters to me. I see a lot of high earners making little income yearly, yet also see many budget operators earning a good salary.

If you're full time then your bottom line is literally your bottom line but the thing is, the higher earners need to do a lot less work - as someone with a busy weekday job, I'd rather be out 3 times a month at £600 quid a pop than 6 times at £300.... or 9 times at £200 etc...

[ppentertainments]

If you're full time then your bottom line is literally your bottom line but the thing is, the higher earners need to do a lot less work - as someone with a busy weekday job, I'd rather be out 3 times a month at £600 quid a pop than 6 times at £300.... or 9 times at £200 etc...

But, for full timers especially, high earnings per gig do not necessarily equate to a high income. Charging £1000+ per booking sounds great, but if you are only getting 2/3 a month it isn't enough.
In fact, locally the opposite seems to apply generally.

[mattydj50]

Lucky you. I'm " too expensive/over budget" at £150 for an evening only party, £325 for a part day wedding, and £475 for an all day wedding.

It seems that I am too, now.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

But, for full timers especially, high earnings per gig do not necessarily equate to a high income. Charging £1000+ per booking sounds great, but if you are only getting 2/3 a month it isn't enough.
In fact, locally the opposite seems to apply generally.

If I took on another 4 bookings this year I'd gross the average UK salary, bearing in mind I'm a part timer and have closed my books for the year - I could easily have booked more than those 4 gigs and made an 'average' income whilst doing this part time - if you're full time and pitch yourself correctly, there's no reason why you need to be out Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoon to make a decent living out of it.

[ppentertainments]

If I took on another 4 bookings this year I'd gross the average UK salary, bearing in mind I'm a part timer and have closed my books for the year - I could easily have booked more than those 4 gigs and made an 'average' income whilst doing this part time - if you're full time and pitch yourself correctly, there's no reason why you need to be out Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoon to make a decent living out of it.

Again, depends what you class as decent ;-) although admittedly working 4 days is a bit much and something I like to avoid.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Maybe the people that are earning the big money, are the ones that have invested in things like dance floors or photo booths (for example), and own them outright because they've paid their way?
I use dance floors as an example, because the initial outlay for them is quite expensive, but if they are out regularly, what you've paid out is recouped and then it's profit isn't it?

When I had a bit of money come my way a few years back, dance floors were something I thought about. Then I realised it may be too pricey for me, and storage would have been a problem with where I was living at the time. I had lots of enquiries for them back then, so I contacted a few suppliers, played them off against each other and got the best price I could, plus the best deal I could for any jobs that I confirmed. Everything went through my accounts and that's when I could easily have been mistaken for being one of the top end suppliers.

An evening reception for Disco and Uplighting for 4.5 hours went from being a decent booking, to a very good looking booking when a dance floor was added.
Yes, I could say "I'm doing a booking tonight for £1400.00" (for example), but was I? In reality, in my opinion....not really.
The dance floor may have been £850.00 for starters. I might have got 10% off that from the supplier. Add that on to my fee and it looks pretty good.

It didn't happen week in, week out though.

Again, in my opinion...... the big earners are the ones that have invested and now own the services they supply outright. I am most probably way off the mark, it's just what I think. I can count the number of 4 figure evening bookings I have had where I have just supplied my services, on one hand.

Of course, then there are the multi-ops too.

EDIT: Just to add, when I was living in Hampshire (which I did do for many years), it was classed as an affluent area (even Basingstoke was, believe it or not). There are some very nice venues and wealthy people around. Some people wouldn't even blink about what I thought was a decent payer, others would question why it was so "expensive" (in their opinion). Don't 'they' say, that's why the wealthy are wealthy, because they look after their money!!?!

To me, the whole thing is strange at times.... I did some high class stuff over the years. I couldn't tell you how much some of them cost, I just don't know, but some of the figures that have been mentioned throughout this thread, look familiar. I did a wedding at a lovely venue that must have easily been £40k + and the father of the bride quibbled about the price I gave him. He still booked me though! I did another wedding at a church hall for a couple who (apologies for being blunt), were absolutely minted.... (a friend of mine knew the groom and he told me). The whole thing was a DIY affair, but they didn't skip on anything and it was one of the biggest paid bookings I have done over the years. It was Disco only and it was for 3 hours. They wanted quality (old skool Indie/Alternative if I remember correctly), and they wanted me personally.

Not sure what I am trying to get at really..... At the end of the day, I don't care if I am classed as budget, middle ground or whatever. I am happy to provide a service as and when I want and I know the price I want for doing it.

[rth_discos]

Maybe the people that are earning the big money, are the ones that have invested in things like dance floors or photo booths (for example), and own them outright because they've paid their way?

No, a 'big fee' is not from adding on extras.

We need to look at the fee they are getting as a DJ after the 'extras' like photobooths and dancefloors. In many cases, those who include sweet carts and dancefloors are actually DJ'ing for free! So far from a 'high fee'.

[ppentertainments]

No, a 'big fee' is not from adding on extras.

We need to look at the fee they are getting as a DJ after the 'extras' like photobooths and dancefloors. In many cases, those who include sweet carts and dancefloors are actually DJ'ing for free! So far from a 'high fee'.

Depends if you are running a 'entertainment business' or a 'DJ Business'.

Horses for courses really, I know a lot of people make a good living from purely DJing whereas others find more success having packages which include other services ie photobooths, dancefloors etc. Some will make a little (or no profit) from the DJ side, whereas others concentrate on the DJ service then make little off everything else.

I still believe it is very difficult for a one man DJ to make a good living. Yes there are examples of people who do well out of it but few and far between. In fact I have noticed a lot of the claimed high earners have invested in photobooths / magic mirrors which I find questionable as these aren't as profitable as DJing.

I have looked at add-ons but decided to run as a multi-op instead purely to save the outlay needed for other services. Good move or not ? I'm not sure, however if it was purely me, alone, DJing I couldn't meet my targets and don't know of many lone DJs who could.

[yourdj]

a lot of the claimed high earners have invested in photobooths / magic mirrors which I find questionable as these aren't as profitable as DJing.

The only fee is the booth attendant which is £50, so I can make £425 from that vs £590 gross on the DJ side of things. Lets say i invest 5 hours Doing and 2 hours meeting and prep for DJ (probably more including travel to venues). Lets add on an hour for the Photo Booth for travel & admin. Thats £106 per hour on the Photo Booth vs £84 on the DJ side of things. If i just did the booth no it would not be as profitable, which is why so many booth people have 3-4 out on one night. It may also have a shelf life, which is always a worry for them as it can go out of fashion.

Having said that booths are easy to run compared to DJ and managing formalities and the responsibilities that come with that. No meetings or preparations are required, set up is quicker and easier. The run time is 3 hours vs 5 hours (ignoring meetings & set up). I would rather DJ mind you than do the phootbooth.

[yourdj]

Bloody Hell, Toby, you should have said you were looking, I'd have nipped down and priced it for you.

Thats a shame. I don't particularly like hobnobs, but for you Peter there would be at least one pack a day.

To be fair its just stud walling and insulation going to knock up a toilet too (as it gets cold in the winter and we use it all the time). A stop gap as I have decided to do a proper extension at some point. The LVT flooring and plumbing will be done properly. I was going to crack on yesterday but i dropped a speaker on my foot and have fractured one of my toes!!

Maybe there's room for another price rise soon (I doubt it until I've got a couple of Wedding Awards behind me....but it's worth a punt ).

Mine is going up £100 in Jan (although i am including uplighting). My diary is pretty busy and I feel that it deserves that increase, based on my progression too.

But....what I'm finding at the moment is that weddings (unless you're doing all day which can be long, tedious and stressful) AREN'T the big payers.

They are a lot of work and responsibly. Thats why I love December you don't even have to think!!! BUT I would get bored doing that every week. The anniversary I did this weekend (for very nice fee) also made me think about attracting a few more like that. I have done weddings for 10 years and doing a few more fun functions would be a bit of a change.

I got an enquiry for a new venue I have that attracts a lot of corporate parties. I have knocked up a package that includes DJ, photography, Photo Booth & red carpet arrival pics, uplighting (its a marquee) & a TV with live streams of the drinks pics and Photo Booth. Thats about £1,2/300 for 5-6 hours although I have decided to sub contract the DJ and focus on the pictures as this weekend I found that I can't do both! Thats still £750 + taking off the booth attendant too. the best part, they are usually midweek & other than the TV and lighting I don't have to set anything up! I am hoping that i can combine that with all day conferencing services (mics, screens) and perhaps even evening speaking or awards etc. Looking forward to a bit of a change.



A lot of people are quoting salaries in thieir immediate areas, but I find that I get people from all over the country. i once put their postcodes (from enquiries) on a goole map thing and it was very interesting. Mainly it was Southampton and Portsmouth, but it was also prolific up the M3 and London. But to be fair client from all over the country we making enquiries. I guess the New Forest is a destination wedding area though??

Like any business it all comes down to marketing and reputation. If you have a crap website or are getting leads from AMP DJ then yes you will be going out at £250. If you can show you know what your doing and you are passionate about what you do then chances are a client will book you even if you are the most expensive. I personally think that I could add £300-400 to my fee and make more money, but I don't have balls that big and I have a family to support. Plus my services at the moment are not worth a £1000 a night fee. I would need to make some serious improvements (i.e. choices of set up) to warrant that.