SwingDJs

(Note: I feeling a little frustrated right now. Some of what I write might sound arrogant, it might offend. This is not the case. Please be advised that I'm just blowing off some steam.)

Over the last several months I have been getting fewer and fewer spots at our main venue, to most recently I have half a night in January. I have been one of the regular DJs here for almosts 5 years. My style and has continued to grow, change and incorporate more music. Attendance is up when I spin and I constantly have people coming up to me to tell how much they like what I'm spinning.

Yet others DJs, most of whom I could out spin in my sleep, get multiple full nights, while I'm lucky to get half a night. It's hard not to feel like I'm getting shafted here.

-Kevin

Could you tell us more about the situation?

For example, is there one decision maker who owns the event? is it swing club made up of volunteers? Something else all together?

Kind of hard to agree that you have been shafted without more details.

The venue in question is a ballroom that runs regular swing nights. As far as I know the owner is the only one that makes schedule. Up to this point our relationship has been very good, I would describe it as more of a friendship. She has contacted me numerous times to fill in at the last minute or cover a drop in lesson. In the past she has been very fair with scheduling, despite some DJ pention for playing the same music week after week.

-Kevin

So, what's your best guess on the cause? Are more people DJing?

Cool, venting happens.

Have you talked to the owner about it? You mentioned you've been on a somewhat friendly basis with her, give her a questioning nudge yet?

-FF

funkyfreak wrote:Cool, venting happens.

Have you talked to the owner about it? You mentioned you've been on a somewhat friendly basis with her, give her a questioning nudge yet?

-FF

I agree. You may be getting pushed out because of circumstances beyond your control, or quite frankly, because of things being said without your knowledge. If you've got a good relationship with the owner, you should be able to talk to him/her and find out why you're not getting any time.

Good luck.
Tina

Soupbone wrote:So, what's your best guess on the cause? Are more people DJing?

There are a lot more people spinning now than a year ago. How ever none of them at this writing are being asked to split their nights and some have multiple nights. The other DJ, with more senority, also has a night to herself.

Have you lost touch with the crowd. Not to sound mean, but i have seen DJ's do this and not even know it. It's usually easy to fix once you know it's happening.

I agree with "ask the owner" thing. May be uncomfortable, but if you don't ask, you will keep spinning your wheels. I would suggest approaching it as "asking for feedback"....note that your # of shifts have decreased, and ask if that is a reflection of any concerns about your DJing that he/she has not mentioned to you.

Platypus wrote:I agree with "ask the owner" thing. May be uncomfortable, but if you don't ask, you will keep spinning your wheels. I would suggest approaching it as "asking for feedback"....note that your # of shifts have decreased, and ask if that is a reflection of any concerns about your DJing that he/she has not mentioned to you.

Ah that's a great approach. Just what I was lookign for. Thanks P.

Roy wrote:Have you lost touch with the crowd. Not to sound mean, but i have seen DJ's do this and not even know it. It's usually easy to fix once you know it's happening.

No that's not it. Besides there are two DJs that have lost complete contact with the crowd and still get full nights despite peoepl being very vocal about not liking their music.

Sounds like politics to me.

No that's not it. Besides there are two DJs that have lost complete contact with the crowd and still get full nights despite peoepl being very vocal about not liking their music.

Yeah, I know what you mean Kevin...there are a couple of new dj's (and a couple of older ones including you) that I think are totally awesome at the venue. I am not sure why you aren't getting more play time...I am sure you could talk to the "owner" and figure out why you haven't been in the line-up as much. I agree, there are a couple of other dj's that i see on the line-up that just baffle me and it seems more like kissing ass to get in the line-up or else just habit hiring them...I am not sure. However, I think that they are trying to please all people though...there are a core group of advanced dancers as well as beginners and I know that sometimes the beginners aren't as fond of the music we tend to dj. I used to modify my set at the beginning of the night in order to please the newbies and then get deeper into the cool shit towards the middle-end of the set. I think the "owner" really appreciated that. You are one of my favorite dj's in Seattle Kevin, just talk to the owner and be open...you guys have a good relationship and she isn't afraid to be honest so at least you will get a straight up answer.

I'm in a somewhat similar situation with the main place I've been djing for the last couple of years. It used to be a 3-4 dj rotation so I knew exactly when I'd be up next, and with a reasonable amount of time between nights. For the last 6 months or so, more and more people have been added to the rotation so we're up to 6-7 djs. At least two of them, I'm pretty sure are only interested in djing for the money. The guy that schedules the djs rarely to never comes out when he's not the one djing. I'm guessing the owner of the place wanted more variety, but that's never been communicated in any way. I just keep getting scheduled further and further out. (I do mean to ask the guy arranging the schedule about this but there are extenuating circumstances that make me not want to do it yet). The unfortunate thing is that 3 of the new djs are people that I would rather not listen to. (One plays almost only neo-swing and the night tends to clear out really really fast, one has some decent stuff but pays no attention to how the crowd is reacting to things, and the third I don't think has bought a cd since about 1999 and tends to sound about as random as a mixed cd can) And I'm not the only one. But I'm afraid if I bring up that part that I'll sound like I'm just whining about not djing as often. About every 4 weeks was about right for me, but I wouldn't mind the stretched out schedule as much if they were all djs I wanted to dance to.

Sounds like you guys need to suggest a DJ battle to the promoters/owners up there. Could be pretty fun. And vicious.

And I forgot to add "good luck."