Interestingly, it is possible to create an income as a DJ. For a person that has a great fascination for music and performing, DJing can be a great career path for many people. However, there is more to being a DJ than just mixing songs and making a playlist. Platinum djs puts in a lot of work beforehand for each event.
DJs play a continuous mix of music through turntables, parties, concert venues, music festivals, clubs, etc. It is necessary before reaching the height of a professional that you must have talent, passion, regular practice, and hard work in developing your skills; you must also consider developing your business skills too; this is required because you will be responsible for how good and unique you want people to know you for. Hence, you’ll get to negotiate, convince and buy people to believe you are the one for the job.
What Does Being a DJ Entail?
A DJ is a person who is liable for the provision of soundtracks in events such as; bars, clubs, concert venues, parties, raves, and music festivals. As a DJ, there has to be continuous work that will enable you to refine your craft and create even new music. If you want to stay relevant and have a competitive advantage, one has to understand that the world is evolving and lots of changes and new forms will take place; if possible, you have to develop just with the world too (such as continuing to gain Soundcloud followers). Of course, before choosing this career path, you are expected to have the love and extensive knowledge of the music genre to not keep the audience exhausted or blank. The role of DJs has grown with time, from just playing in a radio station to mixing music from a recorded source such as cassettes, CDs, and audio files.
Kinds of DJs
There are different kinds of specialization in the field of DJing.For example, we have DJs that perform at corporate and private events; others would produce mixes in their name that could be performed/played in clubs, residencies, raves, etc. Contemporarily, other genres include hip-hop, reggae, rock, scratch records, etc.
A person can even decide to be just more than one of these:
1. Club DJs
The job of a club DJ is to sustain a lively and moving dance floor. For every club, reference is taken into how their audience should feel; that is, the satisfaction of the audience and the club’s reputation. A club DJ should have symmetry on how to harmonize an active dance floor and a busy bar. The performance of a club DJ may be long mixes or transitions between songs, or other unique tricks to keep people’s feet moving.
2. Radio DJs
The origin of DJing is the radio. The responsibility of a radio DJ varies from every other personality on the radio. Radio DJs host programs on music radio stations, and podcasts, or work on satellite radio. Others play live sets for the entire city/listeners. A radio DJ is expected to have an insight into what trendy songs and popular songs appeal to the desire of the audience.
3. Mobile DJs
Mobile DJs have the license to travel far and wide. They move from one place to another because the nature of their performance does not require stagnation or immobility. It ensures that they produce soundtracks for occasions such as weddings, corporate parties, school parties, or even private parties. Unlike club DJs, mobile DJs are the most approachable, and this is one of the best ways to make more, as getting gigs should not just be relied on one source.
4. Turntablist
Turntablists are also referred to as “scratch DJs”. They perform live, using mixers, headphones, turntables, and special effects. This field requires the skill of using delicate and flexible hand/wrist motion that requires years of practice. They are usually involved in competitions/DJ’s tournaments such as; Red Bull Thre3style.
DJing As a Stream of Income
Before becoming a DJ, you have to be honest about the reasons why you wish to learn how to become a DJ. People choose this path for various reasons: income, recreation, notoriety or recognition, etc. For some people, DJing is a career, a side gain, and one way they can earn additional income.
What is required, just like any other art for a repeatable income, is techniques for a creative approach. Whichever way you earn money, either as a wedding DJ or a Mobile DJ, by throwing shows or making tips in a live stream. The key to success in this is to find out what inclination works for you and then work to be better at it. “The DJ world is highly competitive. “Every man and his dog knows a good DJ, and as a result, getting gigs can be challenging”. (Graham Aubrey, 2018)
To build your prominence as a solid and high-quality DJ, there are a few things you should do to keep the work flowing while still bolstering and building your reputation so that your expectations of getting income will not be challenging. They include;
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Making Known Your Online Presence
A considerable and crucial part of getting the work done and developing an incredible reputation is dependent on building an online presence and promoting yourself.
You have to decide on your own to create social media pages earmarked solely to your vocation as a DJ. You could use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and good platforms like YouTube and SoundCloud, which will enable you to get a massive audience that can be attached to other social media accounts efficiently. From time to time, update people on your experiences, like your mixes, upcoming events, or even events you are performing in regularly so that people know what you are up to. You can also consider buying a few soundcloud plays to kickstart your channel.
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More Networking
As a DJ, your usual friends can never be enough. You can never have the same people needing your services all the time. It is advisable to meet people with existing knowledge about the industry. Create time to network hard, and if possible, reach out to people to be your mentor. Get familiar with clubs around you, bartenders, club owners, and promoters. Let them be aware of your existence. Most times, allow them to listen to your work.
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Building a Team
At the advent of your career as a DJ, you need to focus on creating art and masterworks that your audience will like and would want to listen to. With the help of family and friends, the DJ will need people that will convince others to work along with him. Also, being a part of a team/organization is necessary because it provides you with an opportunity to learn from others. These teams will help in making known to the public any new work that is available from you.
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Scour Every Avenue
With the development of technology, anyone can create a masterpiece, even in our living room. This could be seen as easy and efficient, stimulating thinking outside the box. As a DJ, you have unique and outstanding skills that are not just confined to the physical setting but allow you to build your brand more than usual. It is possible to work as a freelancer. A freelance DJ can specifically create and sell tutorials on DJing with illustrations and necessary techniques that will be beneficial to an online audience. You could also create tracks that could be used for video publicity. The online world is a fantastic platform that spurs rapid growth on all sides. Please take advantage of all its features, put exertion into describing what you do with catchy tags, and design pretty album art. Most importantly, look for constructive criticism; it shapes you to become a better DJ and eventually become apart of a #1 company for event djs.
In brief, DJing is an excellent path to earning income. As long as you are versatile, do what makes you happy. It does not matter that anyone can DJ these days. What matters is that you do it better.
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