I'm new and need help

[JAMdisco]

Hiya people of the dj world...

I'm just about to start out doing mobile discos having been in live bands and solo singing ventures for the past 15 years. I've bought a collection of CD's off ebay and also in the process of buying a dual cd machine and mixer etc...

I have lights from my band days but will need to automate them (sound to light) as we used to have a lighting engineer before.

I was wondering, what is a fair prices to charge for a party disco, a wedding disco and a childrens disco. I have a rough idea but am not in the business of ripping people off. I'm thinking around £120 for parties and childrens discos and maybe £250 for weddings? What do you guys (and girls) think?

Cheers

JayDeeDrinker (newbie)

[Ricesnaps]

I guess we would need a little more information to be going along with?

Maybe where abouts you are, what sort of wedding work you are hoping to get, experiance as a DJ (rather than just bands), are you planning to work as a black tie DJ.

It's also worth working out how much your expenditure per gig (based on the number you think you will do) is as that will give you a starting figure that you MUST achieve.

[Shaun]

Welcome to the forum :)

[Corabar Steve]

:welcome1: :approve: :beer3:

It's one of those how long's a piece of string type questions, try having a dig around the various threads on here.


Tell us what lights you have & you'll probably get some good responses for what to use to control them.

[CRAZY K]

Hiya people of the dj world...

I'm just about to start out doing mobile discos having been in live bands and solo singing ventures for the past 15 years. I've bought a collection of CD's off ebay and also in the process of buying a dual cd machine and mixer etc...

I have lights from my band days but will need to automate them (sound to light) as we used to have a lighting engineer before.

I was wondering, what is a fair prices to charge for a party disco, a wedding disco and a childrens disco. I have a rough idea but am not in the business of ripping people off. I'm thinking around £120 for parties and childrens discos and maybe £250 for weddings? What do you guys (and girls) think?

Cheers

JayDeeDrinker (newbie)

Welcome, something to consider before you get going fully is whether to use CD players or a USB reader.

I dont do straight Discos, just a mixture of Country, Party, Barn and Line Dance plus Floorfillers but I have found the new USB readers really useful.

It might be especially useful if you were trying to find tracks quickly, in a Band I guess you would have all your material in your head or written down.

Theres a lot of knowledge on this Forum already about USB readers even though they are new to the market.

Price wise I would speak to local contacts, maybe venues you played at in the Band for starters as prices sometimes vary widely like house prices according to regions.

CRAZY K

[soundscapes]

Welcome to one of the most depressed local markets !!!! As a fellow beverley resident I can tell you that you can expect to net no more than £150 for any of the "better venues" (ie tickton grange, kc stadium, cave castle etc..) £120 for the smaller hotels and as low as £80 to £90 for pub work. Kids party dj's can be had for as low as £50 and certainly no more than £75 for daytime jobs. Even the very biggest and most established companies are only charging around £200 for a top end wedding. This is due in the main to the ridiculous levels of piracy around our area (ie walton st market) and the number of boarded up venues. For around £120-150 you can get a good quality experienced dj, reasonable sound equipment (ie branded stuff like mackie, hk, db etc..) and a decent dmx lightshow.

[Ricesnaps]

Welcome to one of the most depressed local markets !!!! As a fellow beverley resident I can tell you that you can expect to net no more than £150 for any of the "better venues" (ie tickton grange, kc stadium, cave castle etc..) £120 for the smaller hotels and as low as £80 to £90 for pub work. Kids party dj's can be had for as low as £50 and certainly no more than £75 for daytime jobs. Even the very biggest and most established companies are only charging around £200 for a top end wedding. This is due in the main to the ridiculous levels of piracy around our area (ie walton st market) and the number of boarded up venues. For around £120-150 you can get a good quality experienced dj, reasonable sound equipment (ie branded stuff like mackie, hk, db etc..) and a decent dmx lightshow.

I thought we'd moved away from the area based pricing issues? Forgive me if I speak out of turn, but you should be able to get exactly what you are worth wherever you are in the UK.

Dragon's a good example of that!

Welcome to the mad house, sorry forum by the way!

[soundscapes]

I dis agreee with that totally, Nobody round here charges as much as the guys down south do. If a Five star hotel (we do have one ;) ) tells a wedding client that they can supply their contracted dj for £225 then nobody is going to ring around the phone book. Id love to charge "what im worth" . Its a reality however that for the local market price is the biggest single issue.

[soundscapes]

The way it seems to work around here is that if a dj is really really good, he either takes up residence at one of the better hotels or he/she moves away.
If I want to earn more sensible money i have to look at least 30-40 miles away (ie York / Leeds). im sure all the other hull / east riding jocks on here will back me up on this.

[ian8limelight]

Welcome aboard.

[Twinspin]

Hi Jay Dee Drinker. Welcome to The forum...... And also Welcome to the disco business in Hull & East Yorkshire. Im John i Run Twinspin (mobile disco) in Hull

Now in Hull there are a lot of "I Want the cheapest dj out of them all" But the way i see it you dont have to be in that market. and how you dont be part of it is.

1. Up the price above all the djs in that market. (Make sure your more expensive than all of them) Thats what i do. Because then people in that market wont book you

2. People who do have an eye for a quality show and will pay the money to get what they want. I target them. These customers arent stupid they know that quality cost money. When your more expensive than a lot of the competition some people will realise why. (You dont go OTT on price) you make sure your still more expensive than the rest but good value for money.

Btw JayDee if your looking for some advice feel free to contact and we'll have a chat. Or drop by one night to one of my jobs. Im be happy to help

I have some disco gear for sale if your interested.

[Ricesnaps]

The way it seems to work around here is that if a dj is really really good, he either takes up residence at one of the better hotels or he/she moves away.
If I want to earn more sensible money i have to look at least 30-40 miles away (ie York / Leeds). im sure all the other hull / east riding jocks on here will back me up on this.

OK, I guess that's worth a mention. For me I EXPECT to travel up to a 50 mile radius for the kind of work and fee that I want. Maybe it just goes without saying around here. But when you are able to charge up to £450 per gig, the travel actually doesn't really matter.

[Corabar Steve]

I have some disco gear for sale if your interested.

I hope it's on DJ Bids

[JAMdisco]

Wow,

Thanks for the replies - a lot of different views (I suppose that's the whole point of Forums heh)
I'll take you up on your offer John, I'll come and see you soon and then we can have a chat.

One thing I'm finding a problem with is a name for my disco business! All the good obvious ones are taken.

I'm prepared to travel around if the Money is good enough - I used to solo gig around Leeds a lot as I had an agent there. Also I reckon York (where I'm from originally) could pay better and I also have a 'base' there (my Mum and Dad) I was thinking of using my old agent again for the disco's - only downside is the commission at 17% :(

Anyways, thanks for all the welcomes and I'll go and have dig around the forum for a bit.

[PropellerHeadCase]

Names? Jay Dee DeeJay? Too obvious, huh?


I actually have a couple of REALLY GOOD IDEAS for names, but I'll need to be bribed to let them out ;)

[theoloyla]

As I've said on previous threads about price it is a question of supply and demand. If your diary is full you are selling yourself too cheap. If it is empty then either you are too expensive or you just aint any good! As for general pricing there are regional variations and it is very much to do with the affluence of the area. The average price of discos in Thanet is far less than other parts of Kent which is why I seldom work close to home.
Without any sleight against Jay Dee we are all asuming that he is good and can cater for top of the market gigs and charge appropriately. Having been in a band/entertainer he is in with a head start but I would expect most dj's to start with more modest prices and aspirations until they have experience

[Penfold42]

Hello and welcome...
Pull up a chair...

[CRAZY K]

The way it seems to work around here is that if a dj is really really good, he either takes up residence at one of the better hotels or he/she moves away.
If I want to earn more sensible money i have to look at least 30-40 miles away (ie York / Leeds). im sure all the other hull / east riding jocks on here will back me up on this.

I am exactly the same--it just isnt worth me working in my "locality" normally because of low prices, although next week I actually have one only 10 miles away.

30 to 40 miles? my last gig was 148 miles ( each way ) admittedly thats the absolute max I will do using Motorways and probably wont do that again this year.:eek:

But then again im quoting for Canterbury (150 miles each way)

After all if you get paid a good fee why not travel?

We are MOBILE entertainers:D

CRAZY K

[musicmaster]

I usually charge 150 for a three hour show then 30 an hour after. weddings usually run on longer but i usually start at 180 + 30 an hour after 3 hrs