It’s still happening …

I had a phone call last Saturday lunchtime from someone needing a DJ for a wedding the same evening.  It appears the call was from an agent who had taken the booking at a very respectable local venue.

I’m not sure what the clients were paying for the disco but I was told by the agent “there’s only £180 in it”.  The call came in while I was on my way to drop Joe, our son, back at Uni in Loughborough and our day was planned out already. I declined the booking but did text the caller back an hour later to make sure the booking was covered – it was, thank goodness.  

So why do I feel the need to share this here …

As I indicated I don’t know the full story – how much the couple were actually paying, why the original DJ wasn’t available, or how much was being taken by the agent as their fee. I just think it’s sad this happens so often and that couples don’t seek out entertainers who they can trust to deliver on their wedding day.  I’ve never let a client down and, in the event of a major personal disaster and I can’t make a booking I have a long list of colleagues I can call on to step in and take over.  This isn’t necessarily about how much a DJ charges, it’s about how much you can trust your DJ.

 

Record Store Day

“Where do I begin to tell the story of how great a love can be?”

Music has always been a huge part of every day, for most of my life records were the medium that produced it. I’ve been very fortunate to have parents that fed and nurtured my passion in my early years and taught me how to cherish and care for their and then my vinyl. What a fabulous time to grow up and experience the joys of shopping for music, taking it home and carefully putting it on to hear the joy in the grooves.

I DJ’d on vinyl for twenty years, I worked for record companies promoting and selling to shops across the South West, visiting many stores most of which no longer exist – a few do, and I salute you!

I had my own store, along with my partner Mike, The Disc & Tape Centre in Lymington. We shared some fantastic times in the ten years it lasted before the economy shifted and the supermarkets forced out of business selling the big titles at discounts for longer hours. My friend Steve sold his shop, Pinpoint, in Eastleigh about the same time. Two other friends Steph and Piers, who started before us are still going and I got my Record Store Day t-shirt form their amazing shop in Bridport. BRIDPORT MUSIC.

Today I can find almost any track in a couple of minutes and buy it for less than a pound with a click of my track pad. That’s fantastic, but there is no sleeve full of information to read, no fabulous 12″ artwork to soak up, no message on the run-off to laugh at … I could go on!

Times change but one things for sure ~ Life sounds better to music!

Thinking about the future …

I’m just back from a week away with my wonderful wife in Ibiza. We had a great time chilling out and just taking time to think. I finally got to experience Cafe Del Mar and a beautiful San Antonio sunset.

The weekend before our holiday I was at BPM, the UK’s trade show for DJ’s at the NEC, where I saw lots of lovely shiny new toys and sat in on many very interesting seminars and I also attended a workshop hosted by my good friend and coach Derek Pengelly. One of the BPM seminars was hosted by show organiser, and again good friend, Mark Walsh who spoke about the state of the DJ industry and how we are perceived by the general public. The truth is that people still think of DJ’s and mobile disco’s as scruffy blokes in dirty jeans with piles of untidy gear, just Google mobile DJ and look at the images section – it’s horrible. Derek also touched on the image of the DJ in his workshop.

Now I’ve had these next 2 pictures for a few weeks and I’ve agonised over sharing them with you, but I feel I must just so that I can say that I care and I would never do this to a client, and all the DJ’s I know would never do this to a client either, BUT there are still people out there who are calling themselves DJ’s who think this is acceptable – so here goes …

This picture was taken on Friday 28th September, less than a month ago, at a function in Wigan …

Even scarier is this next one – taken on my birthday (17th September) at a very good local venue that I’ve played at, this was a midweek wedding. I don’t know the DJ concerned personally and I’ve blurred out the name board as I don’t want to start a witch-hunt. The rest of the room looked beautiful, the tables were dressed and the chairs had covers with sashes. How can anyone think this is acceptable!

So, it’s been a crazy few weeks – I have no idea what the coming years hold for the UK mobile DJ industry, but I know there’ll be plenty more beautiful sunsets especially off the west coast of Ibiza.

How Much Is A Disco?

Most of the enquiries I receive ask just that one question – “how much is a disco?”. Couples frequently ask for a quote before talking or meeting with me. This is very difficult because my service usually isn’t just a ‘four hour’ type of operation. I’m often on site from a couple of hours before the ceremony until at least an hour after the finish of the evening party. 14 hour days aren’t uncommon. Price isn’t an easy thing to discuss without me knowing exactly what is expected and helping the couple realise that I can probably help them achieve an experience way beyond what they’re expecting.

That 14 hour day is, of course, after I’ve already done the 20 to 30 hours of preparation, which includes meetings, planning, location visits, communication with other suppliers, correspondence, phone calls, emails, buying additional music, providing insurance and of course equipment maintenance!

Communicating this well in an email seems to be almost impossible, and over the phone isn’t much better. In a meeting, couples start to really ‘get it’ and begin to understand the importance of the entertainment as a considerable percentage of the overall success of their wedding day. Once they see that value, the percentage of the overall wedding day budget starts to make sense and my service becomes a very viable investment because I offer great value for money.

Many couples choose to spend hundreds of pounds on chair covers with beautiful sashes to match their colour scheme, but they are reluctant to spend even the same amount on a DJ to get people up from those same chairs to dance!

I guess the problem is that many people have never seen a good DJ and they think we are all the same. The truth is anyone can be a wedding DJ ~ YOU could be a wedding DJ! There are no exams to pass, no qualifications to secure, even things like insurance aren’t legally required, so many people DJ as a hobby not as a professional business and just do what they do. They have limited experience, training and skill, they just do it because they like it and can make a few quid on the side.

I’m not cheap, and there are a lot of reasons for that. In fact I’m one of the most expensive wedding DJs in the area, and I usually work around 30 weddings per year at prices that mean I can offer my clients a totally unique and personalised service. People hire me to ensure that their wedding will be unlike any other celebration that they and their guests have ever been to. They book me to ensure that their day flows perfectly, that their guests don’t leave as soon as the DJ starts and that everyone feels like they are part of something truly special and memorable.

So that’s why I offer a free, no-obligation to anyone who wants to check me out. More information can be found on my website CLICK HERE Why not get in touch and we can get together over a cuppa and you can tell me about your dream wedding celebration.

SCREAM 2 & 3

UPDATE …
The guy looking to book a DJ for the Wedding on Saturday has now found another (cheaper?) supplier and cancelled my colleague.

Scream 3 ~ This morning I took a call from a lady looking for a DJ for 20th August in Southampton. It was for her Wedding, she had paid a £100 deposit for a “friend of a friend” she thought she could trust … She has lost her deposit and is frantically looking for a replacement. Unfortunately I am booked, as are most of my contacts, and her budget really isn’t enough to book anyone but a “hobbyist DJ”.

If you are looking for a Wedding DJ PLEASE don’t risk booking a cheap DJ – book a professional who you’ve met, who you like, and who you can trust. Anything else is a false economy.