Any promoters out there??
I have been toying around with the idea of booking a big DJ for some time now.
I have run nights but with local dj’s and I have been involved with events that big dj’s have played but honestly I find the thoughts of booking one myself a bit intimidating.
Obviously don’t post how much you know dj’s are getting paid for playing here, as im sure they and their booking agents would be less than impressed by that, but if anyone out there has booked any house dj’s along the lines of Dj sneak, Dennis Ferrer and gramophonedzi id love to hear ballpark figures of how much it costs these days.
Cheers
Put it this way we at Fnoob Radio asked a top Techno DJ to mix our new album - they asked for 500 euros - we told him to jog off
[quote]Mr. Nobody (16/04/2012)[hr]Any promoters out there??
I have been toying around with the idea of booking a big DJ for some time now.
I have run nights but with local dj’s and I have been involved with events that big dj’s have played but honestly I find the thoughts of booking one myself a bit intimidating.
Obviously don’t post how much you know dj’s are getting paid for playing here, as im sure they and their booking agents would be less than impressed by that, but if anyone out there has booked any house dj’s along the lines of Dj sneak, Dennis Ferrer and gramophonedzi id love to hear ballpark figures of how much it costs these days.
Cheers[/quote]
Things to remember:
1) You will be on the hook for their transportation to and from as well as their room and board.
2) These DJ’s have agents and managers who take care of their billing for them. Contact their booking agents for rates:
It doesn’t hurt anything to pop them an email and ask for generic booking rates. They will likely ask you when and where before giving you any information.
I have been involved in booking DJ’s for independant nights and I also used to work at Ministry of Sound Singapore and can tell you it’s a minefield.
Never, ever under any circumstances ask a booking agent how much a DJ is as they will instantly know you don’t know what you are doing and treble the cost at least. You need to make an estimate of what you want to pay (start low obv) and offer that to the agent. Also give a rough timeframe, be flexible to within a few months. You need to work out your figure based on the capacity of your venue and how much you are charging on the door as this is what they will want to know before deciding how much to charge. A 2000 capacity venue will have to pay more than a 200 capacity venue for the same DJ.
Also once you have emailed the big agency’s they will add you to their email list and send you emails when they are trying to put together tours for DJ’s. This is much more cost effective, the worst thing you can do is target a specific international DJ and try to book them. You want to book them when they are in the area anyway, i.e a gig in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle etc, then the promoters can in theory split the cost of all the travel which is cheaper than one person paying for it all.
For lesser known DJ’s you could try and put together a tour for them if you have enough contacts. Some US jocks might not have an international agent as they’ve never neeeded one before, approach them with the idea of getting them 4 gigs in the UK over the course of the week and offer them a total figure for all of ther gigs. You then charge the other promoters a price per night and split the transport cost between everyone. If you can do this well enough you can sometimes end up getting your gig for free and then it’s all profit on the door.
Also try and get a '“landed” figure. This means you are paying a single price for the DJ and the airfare all in one. The chances of them going for this are slim, especially if you are in independant promoter but it’s worth a shot. Time after time people get stung on the flight costs as they usually outsource the flight bookings to someone in a random place like Greece where the tax laws are different and they book the flights. They will always use the same airlines so they can collect the airmiles and will book quite expensive flights on purpose so they can get more airmiles or “bonus” points or whatever they are collecting. They especially do this to newbies who don’t know any better. You can end up getting fleeced, but by then you are stuck as you will have to sign the contract ages before the flights are booked, be VERY careful with this if you are flying in DJ’s from the USA.
As much as you might say it’s not about making money, it is definately about not losing money. Remember, it all adds up, hotels, ground transport, food and drinks, posters, flyers and then most of your mates will want to be on the guestlist anyway… You will end up counting every head that comes in trying to get every tenner posible and still struggle to break even.
The nights that seem to have lasted that people I know have ran are then ones they have based around themselves as strong residents and then just booked a high profile DJ every now and then when the time is right. Remember, if you book big name after big name it won’t be a special event anymore and people will come to expect it. You need to build the foundations of the night yourself and then pepper it with big acts. Try and book up and coming UK acts where possible as it will be cheaper. Remember, just because someone isn’t a “big” name doesn’t mean they won’t have a following. Look at what tracks are hot and if someone has just released a few popular remixes, you might be able to get them cheap and still attract a crowd.
Also as a last note, big acts play over here allot and most people have seen them. If you book someone who rarely comes here or has never been here then people will travel from all over the country for it. Maybe try and give your night some kind of “theme” (not fancy dress, I hate to use the work theme as I don’t mean it in a cheesy way, I mean make your night something different!!). I AM… in Manchester have there guest DJ’s play the entire night with no support act from when the club opens at 11 till it closes at 6. That means a seven hour set when the DJ can really take the music into different places. I think there nights usually sell out in advance. When I went there there was people like me from Glasgow and loads of people from London. Also another thing I have seen is creating a facebook page for your night and asking your regulars to vote on who they would like to see (within reason) and then booking that DJ. This will obviously work as you are booking someone people want to see. There’s another new night in Manchester where they just use one turntable and play the record from start to end, no mixing then the next one. Greg Wilson did the first one, the mix is on his Souncloud, I’m not sure what it would be like to be there, but I believe the night itself was succesfull.
Don’t forget, be prepared to say NO if someone is taking the piss, there’s hundreds of DJ’s you can book so don’t get bogged down on trying to get one if they are pricing themselves to high.
Good look and let us know if you try to get something started!
Fantastic post Alan! 
Brownie points to Alan for his great post!
Cheers lads, quiet day in the office today!
WOW… Alan
Thats one hell of a post mate.
I seriously doubt i could have hoped for a better response than that…RESPECT.
Unfortunately you have pretty much confirmed every fear I had about how it all works,
For a start I am closer to the 200 mark than the 2000 mark capacity wise, around 350/400 id reckon (I have played to 300 in this venue before). I would have definitely just emailed an agency asking a price if i didn’t read you’re post.
I am in Ireland so getting a couple of promoters included could prove pretty difficult as Irish clubbers do travel pretty well so having a popular DJ playing 2/3 nights in a row within a 30-50 mile radius could effect the numbers of each club pretty substantially (I do not know any promoters outside of a 30 mile area). Although i have taught about asking a local Pub owner who runs House nights occasionally to front some money on the promise of organizing a pre-party in his pub before hand, stick a couple of mates in there playing music until 11:30 im sure he would get a heavy return from his investment from behind the bar. Even if his contribution covered poster/flyers and or a hotel room it would help.
Its actually the flights that freaks me out more than anything, the costs of those could mean the difference between the whole thing working or not…,…
I have seen a very very successful night put on in this venue before, unfortunately the promoters went in a completely wrong direction that was rite for the area…they moved from a successful House night into Hard-House and it flopped…,they shut down 3 gigs later, but I am still very very cautious of doing it, as if it flopped I would be putting myself under serious financial pressure, i am not in it to make money but you are rite i dont wanna lose money.
Maybe I am thinking about this at the wrong moment in time what with the high volume of emigration and a very high unemployment rate in the area…
After reading you’re post Im thinking now my best course of action is to get myself on those agencies mailing lists you talked about and sit on it until the rite DJ at the rite price falls into my lap and not kill myself by focusing on 3/4 targets…
What’s the best way of getting on those lists?? Should I blag or spoof them a bit or is it best to be upfront about everything??
I wouldn’t bother blagging it because there’s no need to, agencies are always looking for people to “sell” their artists too, it works out better for them to have more potential customers. I’ve just had a quick look and MN2S managment still looks like a good place to start if you’re looking for house DJ’s:
http://mn2s.com/dj-roster/
It’s a different looking website then when I last used them as it’s now like a booking form rather than just emailing someone, although it’s probably just worth sending an email to the main addressoutlining you’re plans and asking for info:
info@mn2s.com
Elite have quite a few people as well:
http://www.elitemm.co.uk/artists_exclusive.php
http://www.elitemm.co.uk/contact.php
You could always just call them for an informal chat and see what they say.
Living in Ireland could actually work in you’re favour as you will be able to piggy back on gigs that are running in England/Scotland, you’ll often see international DJ’s do London on a Friday, Manchester on a Saturday and then you could do Sunday at your place or however it worked out.
If you wanted to approah lesser known DJ’s who don’t have big managment firms, again being in Ireland won’t affect you, you don’t need the other gigs to be near you,just go onto forums like Resident Advisor and look at who’s running what nights etc, make contact with them and see if they would be interested in doubling up in the future, or you could always just approach the agent saying there’s a few of you interested in DJ X and look for a good deal. People are usually quite open to these kinds of deals as they work out well for everybody involved.
If you were really cheeky you could check the forums and see if anyone is advertising there night months in advance which alot of indie promoters do, if they are, contact the agent and see if you can get them cheap for the following nightas they are over here anyway. If someone is coming from Chicago and playing London on a Saturday, they will deffo be up for a Sunday gig as it’s more money for them and they have already done the travelling. I know a lad who paid Hippie Torralles about 50 quid doing something likethat!
I will say again though, to make money you need to have a solid foundation and make your money on the resident nights and then perphaps lose a little when you book Dennis Ferrer or whoever. It will probably balance out money wise over two nights, one resident, one guest DJ. If you just try book name after name you’ll find it hard to break even, everyone I know who has tried it like this has struggled and has usuallylost money.
As it’s coming up to the summer season a good idea is usually boat parties. If you’re near a river chances are someone will rent out boats that you can have weddings on etc. See how much it is to rent for the night (usually less than you would think as they will take the bar money and be glad of the booking) and run a bank holiday boat party in August. People love that kind of thing (usually…) and will come even if it’s just local lads playing. Approach the other DJ’s/promoters in your area and see if they would like to do something do together. Get one or two DJ’s from each night and have a boat party where you all play together, that way you should get a crowd, as even if just a few regualars from each night turn up you’ll be laughing. Obviously you’ll have to split any money but this will give you a chanceto get some exposure by playing to other peoples crowds and then when you run a night on your ownthey will already know your name etc.
Another idea is try to organise a night DJ’s would like to play at, for example Kenny Dope is well known to like to DJ at freestyle anything goes type nights rather just house nights, DJ Spinna seems to love a Jazz/Funk night, try thinking of ideas for nights rather than just another house night (although there’s nothing wrong with that if it works). Look at the crowds the likes of Mr Scruff get,he plays to thousands, often selling out in advance and plays straight up Jazz! Greg Wilson has just done an audio visual thing in London which he might want to take on the road and he always pulls a crowd when he plays, plus he always plays to the crowd which is a good thing especially at an independant night. Nothing worse than someone turning up, seeing it’s not packed and then just playing to themselves without any attempt to play to entertain those who have turned up.
You could always chance your arm and send someone a message on twitter or facebook and see what kind of night they would like to play, they can only ignore you and you’ve lost nothing if they don’t reply.
Alan - Another great post. 
Mr Nobody - A good source of DJs that have some cache are DJs resident in large, well know clubs. If you can put on you flyers DJ such-and-such (Resident at SPACE IBIZA) or Berghain Berlin or whatever, even though people might not know that DJ, you are bringing a bit of those big clubs to your night. Lots of these guys don’t use agents and will play for a few hundred Euros, an easyjet flight and a cheap hotel.
[quote]TheAnt (18/04/2012)[hr]
Lots of these guys don’t use agents and will play for a few hundred Euros, an easyjet flight and a cheap hotel.[/quote]
Thats what I charge plus a big fat hooker 
I know who lad who is resident at Space and would probably do it for a few pints of Guinness… (hooker optional… If you offered he’d take…!)
I have recently had my hours at work cut and I am literally on the verge of unemployment so this idea is well and truly put on hold,
As for the hooker being optional, djs who play in Ireland don’t need a hooker, an hour on the pedestal of a dj box is enough to dampin most female clubbers knickers haha
@ alan, and co.
I forgot to mention thanks very much for all yer responses, some really good posts on this matter, im sure it will def help some people out big time,
Thanks for taking the time for yer great replys… cheers .
[quote]Mr. Nobody (25/04/2012)[hr]
As for the hooker being optional, djs who play in Ireland don’t need a hooker, an hour on the pedestal of a dj box is enough to dampin most female clubbers knickers haha[/quote]
man I need to move to Ireland 
I am talking to some semi popular techno Djs in London for an event and it seems 400 quid is the norm with a 200 deposit 30 days before the event
I remember in Manchester these two dikheds wanted to put on a trance night with big name DJ’s etc, i found out that apparantly it pretty much bankrupted them and one of the guys dads/investors.
But one the other side of the scale, i remember being in a dodgy club in Leeds for a ‘new’ trance night and well Digital Society is doing pretty well now lol…
[quote]slender (18/04/2012)[hr][quote]TheAnt (18/04/2012)[hr]
Lots of these guys don’t use agents and will play for a few hundred Euros, an easyjet flight and a cheap hotel.[/quote]
Thats what I charge plus a big fat hooker :P[/quote]
LOL!
[quote]jjdejong0 (27/04/2012)[hr]I remember in Manchester these two dikheds wanted to put on a trance night with big name DJ’s…[/quote]
yep :hehe:
wooh lads this is a serious post, i always wanted to try run an event but didnt know how it worked!
@Mr. Nobody, im living in Ireland myslelf… in fairness in terms of deep/tech house gigs over the last year, the irish promoters have done very well… Subject got Maya Jane Coles and Kerri Chandler ( i was at both and it was packed ) then Animal Tune got Eats Everything and now Huxley is coming over… as wel as PYG getting Deetron and Delano Smith etc… what venue are you thinking of?
and maybe very new artists would go down well like Claptone?
or some very successful ones like Maceo Plex/Tale of Us etc would be huge i’d say