June 3, 2014

How Should You React To Bad Requests When DJing?

For every successful moment in a DJ’s career, there are many more times when they have failed or have been booed off stage.  Many DJs, in fear of this type of event, put in loads of practice and work before they ever step foot on stage.  Still, this will not prepare them for the reality of being a DJ in a public setting – there are going to be people that are hard to please.  Even if you were the perfect DJ, there are still things that can be found wrong with the way you are doing it.  One miserable part of being a DJ is dealing with unhappy fans who want their song played.

I guess people assume that the DJ is a jukebox that simply plays music on request.  Most of the time, the song that is requested is something that will not mix with the current song playing.  This means you have to abandon transitions into music for the sake of playing a popular song.  What hurts even more is when a simple song gets more response that any sort of thoughtful mixing behind the decks.  I guess DJs have to realize that the lowest common denominator often wins the war.