On the surface, DJing seems like a one-man job; the perfect field for
personalities who are well-suited to working on their own. However,
behind every major successful DJ is a team of people who work together
to build the DJ’s brand and keep them at the forefront of the industry.
When the time comes to elevate your DJ career,
it’s a good idea to build your DJ team – instead of working harder, try
working smarter and let other people help you out. But who do you
really need on your team, what qualifications should they have, and how
do you find these people? Read on!
A DJ’S MANAGER
Great for:
Balancing the various aspects of your career, providing you with
strategic advice, hustling up big opportunities for you, making sure you
don’t use up all your drink tickets before your set.
Not for: Setting
your beat-grids, deciding what your sound and brand should be, paying
the bar tab for all the girls you invited to the club.
A manager’s main role is to handle the
day-to-day business for an artist. At some point, you may reach a point
where the business of DJing begins interfering with you actually having
time to produce mixes/music and DJ. A good manager will create
opportunities for you, and help to make you money.
At the beginning of your career, you may
not need a manager. Many managers won’t consider working with a DJ until
you’ve established your brand, and have a firm long-term vision.
Although the process of finding a manager is different for everyone, you
may need to have released several successful tracks, videos, or mixes
before you’re able to find the right one. Keep in mind that the right
manager for you may not be an established manager working at a big
company.
For example, Avicii met his manager, Ash Pournouri,
online at a music blog. Ash had no previous experience managing DJs,
but contacted Aviici because he was “more or less curious about what I
could offer creatively to help someone who I thought was talented but
needed direction.”
A manager will help you to oversee many
facets of the business, including your label, shows/tours, merchandise,
music publishing and creation of new content for social media. According
to Ash, “an artist has three legs of strategy that can be built up
separately but make use of each other. One is music, one is performance,
and one is brand/profile.” A manager is going to create strategies to
generate income from these three areas. At the end of the day, you’re in
the business of DJing, and you want to do well.
One key role of the manager is to make you money. Most managers use a
commission pay scale (15 to 20 percent). If you begin making more as a
result of having a manager, then your manager is an income source. If
they’re not bringing in any money for you, it’s time to say goodbye.
Finding A Manager: Word
of mouth. If you’re a talented DJ (and music producer) people will hear
about you. If you’re dedicated to posting up music, mixes and content
for social media, chances are a good manager is already watching you.
Networking. Attend music conferences and conventions, and introduce
yourself to people. You never know who you will meet, or what
opportunities could present themselves. Be open to new contacts and
present yourself professionally.
A DJ’S AGENT
Great for: Finding you gigs in places you’ve never heard of, handling the boring paperwork, sending you cheques.
Not for: Giving you wake up calls when
you’ve got an early flight to catch, making sure you’ve
packed power
adapters for foreign countries, asking for ‘freebies’ for you from
corporate gig bookings.
If you would like to DJ around the world,
you will probably need an agent. A DJ’s agent is responsible for booking
gigs, tours and media appearances, as well as sending out promotional
materials, negotiating and issuing contracts, and arranging for flights
and hotels. A booking agent may work closely with your manager; in the
early stages a manager could also function as your booking agent. Agents
may be freelancing, or work for a larger DJ agency.
Finding An Agent: If you’re focused on your music
and it’s great, chances are an agent will reach out to you. That being
said, it’s a good idea to be pro-active and utilize your network to
establish contact with agents. Do keep in mind many of these people are
already quite busy handling their current DJ roster. Stay in touch with
agents you meet, you never know what will happen down the road.
A DJ’S PUBLICIST
Great for: Making sure that news about you
makes the headlines, pressing ‘send’ on press kit emails, writing your
updated bio because you’re too busy recovering from your big gigs in
Ibiza or Vegas
.
Not for: Ensuring that your new single is
actually press-worthy, creating a hardcore workout plan for you so you
can tone up before press photos, exaggerating the list of clubs you’ve
played at to give you more street cred.
Publicity plays a key role in a DJ’s success, and a publicist is
perhaps the most underrated member of a DJ’s team. A publicist will send
out information about you and your projects to the media, including
blogs, magazines, TV, radio or newspapers. The publicist will work
together with your manager and agent to obtain exposure for you through
interviews, press releases and promotional opportunities. Being featured
in the media will help you to develop a larger audience, and broaden
your fan base. Good publicity is also good advertising, which will sell
your shows, music, merch and mixes for many years to come.
Finding A Publicist: There are many freelance
publicists who work for DJs that you can hire. If you’re not quite ready
for this option, try contacting a music business school and see if
there is a recent graduate who’d be willing to work together with you.
It’s key for a publicist to have a lot of media contacts, or be good at
seeking these contacts out.
A DJ’s ROADIE
Great for: Carrying all your gear out the
front door, packing it into your Honda Civic, unpacking it at the club,
and doing the reverse routine at 4 am.
Not for: Scoring the digits from all the ladies who are crowding around you in the DJ booth.
If you’re doing a lot of gigs where you’re transporting equipment,
you’re going to need an extra pair of hands. Whether you’re a mobile DJ
with a busy schedule, or a touring DJ with an elaborate stage setup,
having a member of your team who can setup and tear down equipment
quickly is vital. Even if you’re capable of doing it all yourself, you
can save time if you have someone who can meet you before and after the
gig to help with the gear. You’ll be able to get in and out of spots
faster with a roadie, which means you can spend your time on more
important things. Like calling the cute girl you met at the end of your
awesome set last night.
Finding A Roadie: If you can afford to hire someone,
try posting on Craigslist or a local DJ/music forum. Otherwise, try
contacting an audio school, and see if they have any recent graduates
who would be able to lend a hand. You could see if they will volunteer
(be sure to offer them a letter of reference if they do) pay them a few
bucks after the gig, or buy them lunch. You just might find a great new
team member!
A DJ’S CRATE DIGGER
Great for: Finding out about new artists,
turning you onto to rare gems, discovering dusty horn samples that are
waiting to be flipped in your next controllerism routine.
Not for: Sending you this week’s Top 10
tracks on Beatport, finding lame records, making sure you’ve got enough
coin in the bank to buy all the dope tracks they put you onto.
These days, there are more records than ever being released. Chances
are, you don’t have enough hours in your day to search through all the
demos, and label promos you’re sent. Listening to new tracks is almost a
full-time job in itself! An extra pair of ears can give you the
competitive edge you’ll need to keep your sets on the cutting edge. A
crate digger can sort through new music and every week send you a list
of tracks that would work with your style.
Finding A Digger: This is a tricky one. If you know
someone who really knows their music, ask them if they’d be willing to
sort through some tracks every week, in exchange for something. (eg. new
tracks) You need to find someone who really has their ear to the
ground.
A DJ’S CO-PRODUCER
Great for: Writing top lines, creating customized presets for you, crash courses in subtractive
synthesis.
Not for: Rolling joints for you in the
studio (they’re going to be too busy programming patches in Massive),
coming with up all of your creative ideas for you.
If you don’t have a big track out yet, isn’t it time to make one?
Hiring someone to make your hit might be a bit too artistically
compromising, but if you’ve been too busy juggling a ton of DJ gigs (and
perhaps a day job), you may not have had time to hone your production
skills. These days it’s almost essential to put out remixes and original
productions to become successful. In 2013, I think it’s safe to say (and a bit sad to say – Ed.) that
the ghost writing industry is bigger than ever. Collaborating with a
studio-savvy producer or perhaps even hiring a writer might be a good
move, if you’d like to go down this route. Even
top DJs like Armin Van Buuren work together with scientists of sound
like Benno De Goeij to make their tracks sound stellar.
Finding a producer to collaborate with: Since
producers are usually locked away in their studio, I would seek out
these type of people online, on music forums, blogs or even YouTube.
You might be able to find them hanging out in local equipment or record
shops.
A DJ’S INTERN
Great For: Keeping your workspace tidy,
researching new genres, emailing other DJs your tracks, and of course,
making sure the coffee’s always freshly brewed.
Not For: Writing your music or business plan, booking your gigs, texting your significant other.
An intern is the person who does it all (and hopefully they do it
right, as they are usually new to the industry) From social media to
online research, from carrying gear to working the merch booth at your
shows, an intern can be an invaluable member of your team. Interns are
usually ‘keeners’ who have just graduated from school, and need some
experience for their resume. They will usually be able to work for you
for a defined period of time, for a certain number of hours per week.
You’ll need to put aside time to properly train them on your systems,
and give them tasks to work on. Make sure you have specific work for
them to do before you try to find one. If you’re lucky enough to have an
Intern, be sure to treat these people with respect. They often have to
do thankless tasks, so be sure to be kind and reward them for good
efforts.
Finding an Intern: If you have a legitimate DJ
business, it should be relatively simple for you to contact an audio
school, and submit a job description of what type of person you’re
looking for. Since Interns usually work for free, in exchange for
valuable experience, make sure you provide them a challenging but not
overbearing workload.
A DJ’s LAWYER
Great for: Deciphering contracts that may make or break your career.
Not for: Making sure you didn’t let uncleared samples sneak into your released tracks (they’ll help you clean up the mess afterwards, though).
The DJ industry has its share of contracts, licenses and paperwork.
Somewhere along the line, you’re going to need professional assistance.
Rather than writing out dodgy contracts yourself (or trying to
understand all the legal jargon they’re written in) it may be a good
decision to reach out to a professional who can help you to negotiate
your way through the maze, and make solid decisions along the way.
Finding a lawyer: Online, backstage at music festivals, or at industry networking events.
A DJ’S SECRET WEAPON TEAM MEMBERS
Great for: Designing your mix tape covers,
modding your equipment, being the MC/host for your
next event, doing the
majority of the ‘behind the scenes’ grunt work and receiving little
credit for it.
Not for: Taking for granted. Do treat these
people like gold, your ‘secret weapons’ could be the most valuable
people you have on your side.
Many famous DJs have had ‘secret weapons’ that helped them succeed in
the industry. More often than not, these so-called ‘secret weapons’
were actually members of the DJ’s family! For example, Richie Hawtin’s
father was a robotics engineer, who helped him to develop many of his
technologies for DJing. Richie Hawtin’s mother used to work the door at
his parties in the early days, so that no one would sneak in.
Finding a secret weapon: A successful DJ usually has
a few ‘secret weapons’ working behind the scenes with them, including
creative directors, stylists, and advisors. Do you have any family
members or friends who could help you out? Offer to take them out for
lunch or coffee, and brainstorm new ideas for your DJ game. That little
brother of yours could be more useful than you think!
GET SEARCHING!
It’s important to remember that once you find your new team members,
that you don’t sit around on your laurels. You need to continue to
produce new music, mixes, photos and videos on a regular basis, so that
you have new products to market. So keep it coming, and best of luck in
assembling your team!
leave your comments down :)
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