SwingDJs

Recently, I was chatting to a friend of mine at a dance, and he said 'I'm convinced guest DJs are just a PR exercise'. We didn't really discuss it (it was at a dance and the music was quite loud), but I've thought about it a bit since. I think he meant that the promoter only has guest DJs in order to look good in the eyes of the public and attract interest from the guest DJ and their friends.

Perhaps he has a point. What do you think?

What is he calling a "guest dj"?

What kind of dance is it: weekly or yearly event?

I think "guest" can mean different things in different situations. I also think that PR is part of the biz of running a dance, and not necessarily a negative thing. By that I mean that having new music collections in the booth can be refreshing. Not that local DJs can't be fresh, but the perception is that a new person means different music.

So are guest DJs just a PR exercise? who cares as long as people are enjoying the music.

...perhaps local DJs have a jealousy complex about "guest DJs"....

Haydn wrote:Recently, I was chatting to a friend of mine at a dance, and he said 'I'm convinced guest DJs are just a PR exercise'. We didn't really discuss it (it was at a dance and the music was quite loud), but I've thought about it a bit since. I think he meant that the promoter only has guest DJs in order to look good in the eyes of the public and attract interest from the guest DJ and their friends.

I suspect you might be over-generalizing just a tad bit. It can work that way, but 1) you are putting a negative glean on what seems a perfectly acceptable bit of PR and 2) not all "promoters" do things for the same reason. The label could indicate that the "guest" is not a regular and thus has lesser privileges.

Why does it matter?

I don't know if this what you meant, but this is what your post made me think of. There is a thought among a lot of people that DJs and teachers are less appreciated in their home town, relative to the cities that they visit.

Hence, a guest DJ or teacher gets a lot of fanfare, while the local DJs do work of similar quality without much fanfare. Only getting the "guest" treatment when they do gigs out of town.

I don't know if there is much you can do about it, I don't know if it is really a problem. Generally speaking, PR is a positive thing for dance scenes. Besides, it is fun to be a Guest DJ elsewhere, so there is not much point in complaining when guests come to your scene.

Nathan

OK, I spoke to my friend again and asked him what he meant. You were right, Lawrence, he didn't mean quite what I thought.

He said he just meant it was a mutual favours arrangement - 'you DJ in my club, and I'll DJ in yours'.