Music Profile - Part 2

As I pick up from last week, I was beginning to elaborate on the fact that professionals never wing it. We do improvise, as I previously stated, but winging it can be disastrous on many levels. Planning for an event, by anyone in the entertainment industry, is a must, especially when you have to perform and keep people happy throughout the evening. As a DJ for a wedding, or any private event, we are usually (on average) only 3% of the budget but we are 90% of the fun. Music will either make or break your event and there is no in between. Also, as a DJ, if I know not only my client, but also whom they have invited, then I am going to be able to please them with no problems.

Now, how do we begin this process? We begin by picking your brain. My initial thought is that I don’t care what you may wish to have played at your event (because I do) but I want to know each and every song that has made you either snap your finger, tap your feet or made you look like a Karaoke star while singing in your car at stop light. And what I mean by each and every song is anything that has made you happy, when hearing it, throughout your life. It comes down to one simple thing, “the more I know, the better the show”. Reason being is that if you like it, then nine out of ten times your family, friends and guests that you have invited, will also be pleased. As a professional, with this approach, it provides me with more leverage to insure music gratification.

My goal is to get to know the makeup of the crowd prior to the evening. By going down a list of music, likes and dislikes, and then formatting what you, the client, wants from the beginning of the event to the end, a formula is used to insure that your dance floor is packed the entire evening. Do all DJ’s use this approach? No and please do not be fooled. If a DJ is only asking for twenty songs and eras of music that you may or may not prefer, then you are probably not going to get exactly what you want. We are not iPods. We are professionals who must be able to put our finger on the pulse of the crowd and, based on what we obtain from you, manipulate them until they wear holes in the bottom of their shoes.

I have said this to numerous people in the past; the difference from a professional DJ and a hobbyist is that a professional plays for the crowd and hobbyists play for themselves.

This all boils down to a simple philosophy. Get to know your crowd. If we are incapable of doing that, then we, the DJ, will not be able to do our job and to do our job well. Talent is only one trait that a great DJ must have, however, the others, such as dedication to one’s craft, are not only needed but are required. We at DJOC insure success for your event by carrying these traits as well as our reputation on our sleeve. Music profiling is our approach and it has been proven effective each and every time.