iPods Threaten Wedding DJs

Wednesday, Sep. 21 2005 | Author: Dave

An interesting post on Techdirt, that totally makes sense to me. Why hire a DJ when you can get a nice playlist on your iPod and hook it to a nice speaker system?

Digital technology is posing a challenge to wedding photographers as people seek to get around the prices they charge for reprints. But now their compatriots, wedding DJs, are under attack too, from MP3 players. Couples are increasingly not seeing the point of paying somebody to load up a playlist with songs when they can do the same thing themselves, and play exactly what they want. Professional DJs — like photographers before — say there’s quite a difference between an amateur loading up an iPod and the services a pro DJ can provide, though the line here seems a lot more blurry than in the case of a photographer. Apparently the biggest problem is that people want to play their own favorite music rather than “songs people want to hear and that people want to dance to,” says one DJ. She recommends playing songs like YMCA and Whip It. If that’s professional advice, no wonder people are going the DIY route.

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14 Responses for "iPods Threaten Wedding DJs"

cliche

September 21st, 2005 at 11:26
1

Some people actually like those “YMCA” and “Whip It” songs. Have you ever wondered how so many people at weddings know the exact dance sequence to the cliche wedding songs? It’s them. Playing your “Snow Patrol” and “British Sea Power” will piss off a heck of a lot of people.
Jason Marble

September 21st, 2005 at 13:28
2

I worked as an A/V Tech/DJ at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel a while back, and, we increasingly experienced guests using their own iPods/Computers to que up a playlist. It’s certainly less expensive than a DJ, and if all ur looking for is some good background music, it does the job.

You just can’t beet what a DJ can bring to the table when it comes to putting on a good dance party.
John

September 21st, 2005 at 16:06
3

The argument(s) here are comparing the quality of service a professional with experience can provide vs. an amateur with little to no experience. I’m more interested in the digital replacement aspect of things; what if you are a professional DJ that is getting married? Would you be able to setup a sound system and an iPod on auto-pilot that could be of a similar caliber to the service provided by a live wedding behind the decks/CDJs?
mookie

September 22nd, 2005 at 15:37
4

I say, let them play their ipods. They are the one’s paying for the party.

Most (not all) of the weddings, bar mitzvah, showers, etc. that I have been to have had terrible DJs. It’s usually some high school/college kid that plays some crappy wedding tunes or music that doesn’t suit the intended audience.

A good professional DJ not only plays good music but has to have a great emcee to keep the party movin’. Especially when the crowd is very young or very old. The emcee can get people on their feet and keep the crowd busy (OK, cue the dreaded “YMCA”, “Electric Slide”, “Macarena” and the “Coke/Pepsi game” or “Simon Sez” for the kids)

Back in the 80s-90s I used to be a party DJ for spare cash. So when it came time for my wedding, I deejayed my own using a laptop computer (a few years pre-ipod).

I pre-created a playlist of lounge music for the cocktail hour followed by some motown to get the crowd groovin’ followed by some 70s-80s-90s dance tunes. Mid-wedding, I could easily speed up or slow down the party mix with a simple drag-n-drop.

The people who worked for the caterers kept walking up to me and asking where the dj was.
The wedding guests were dancing all night. They all loved the playlist.

For parting gifts I gave everyone (pre-burned) CDs of the music from the wedding.

Everytime I go to a friend’s house that CD is sitting in their CD-changer.
Ben Askins

September 22nd, 2005 at 19:09
5

When Karen and I got married we hooked up her laptop with about 5 hours worth of mixed music to a rented sound system. We didn’t even consider getting a DJ when we knew we could take this route to get the exact music we wanted to hear.
Matthew Cox

September 23rd, 2005 at 17:09
6

Every wedding I’d ever been to had the same thing – cheesy/lame DJ. So when I got married, we ripped our cd’s into iTunes, burned about 5 cd’s of stuff we ripped and some individual tunes we bought, and gave a friend a bottle of vodka to play certain cd’s or certain songs at certain times. The money we saved on not hiring a DJ meant we could add more to the menu and an open bar.
very young

November 14th, 2005 at 06:33
7

I’m new to this site, just browsing around
SeriousSoft

February 12th, 2006 at 11:30
8

That’s obvious
please do not abuse this website.
frank

September 17th, 2006 at 21:32
9

More on this subject…

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4803824
Ron Grandia

September 27th, 2006 at 00:58
10

If your ONLY choice is a lame DJ, then by all means, do it yourself – especially for just background music. But that is not your only choice. There are thousands of really great and talented DJ’s in every market who are really good at handling all the details, bringing the right equipment (not counting the backups, I have about 10k in gear alone, and believe me, if I could get cheaper equipment to do the job, I would.) and playing the right music for everybody in attendance.
Kris Bravo

October 3rd, 2006 at 15:35
11

@Ron,

Yeah, I’m pricing these “talented DJ’s” out in Atlanta. $100 an hour to manage a playlist and say “alright, it’s time for our couple’s first dance!”? Plus $100 an hour for 1.5 hours of setup and teardown?

We tried to negotiate the price and they took time off accordingly at $50 for 30 minutes! “so I am willing to lower my rate to $500.00 for 3 Âœ hours of DJ entertainment services”. That’s nice, but we asked for 4 hours. That’s not a rate lowering, but a cut in time!

And don’t give me that it-takes-time-to-develop-a-playlist crap, a quick google of wedding playlist, an hour of editing and a trip to iTunes and the old cd collection and you’re playlist is set.

These guys are a dying breed and after what I’ve experienced, good riddance!
Ron Grandia

October 4th, 2006 at 00:09
12

Good Riddance? Ouch! You must have suffered mightily at the hands of an awful DJ. Maybe I suck too – that’s not for me (or you) to say. I do have a lot of bookings from people who do think I’m worth it, and repeat business from their family and friends.

I noticed that you were “pricing.” Interesting choice of words. If you have no belief in the value of a good DJ, then $500.00 will seem like a lot of money. I think the best way to find a DJ is engage them in a conversation. You just might find one you like – THEN talk price.

I am not unaccustomed to people who call me and think “negotiating” starts with insulting what I do and then asking me to lower my rates without any concessions in return. I kindly refer them to the scores of DJ’s on Craigslist who will fulfill their every expectation.

Renting my equipment from an A/V house would cost more than $500.00, so even if you thought my service was worthless, you’d have to agree that I’m at least entitled to fair market value for use of my gear. Never mind the library I’ve been toiling over for decades. (Note: My rates start at $1300 in the off-season)

I can crap playlists better than the ones you Googled, but I like to dig into my stacks, research music through several (legal) online services and bring stuff that suits the taste of my clients and their guests. I come to the event prepared, and create the paylists ON THE FLY. No iPod in the world can do that. You might not think it makes a difference, but I do, and again, the public is voting with their dollars and confidence.

I do good work and run my business like a business. I sure hope I’m not a dying breed

But Just in case you want to do it yourself, I’ve just published an article on “By Recommendation Only. that might help you get started. I’d even be willing to spend some time with you on the phone making sure that if you do it, you do it right.

http://www.byreconly.com/features/weddingtopics/wedtopic_ipodMusic.htm
Wallace

December 18th, 2006 at 12:42
13

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DJ CUE

January 3rd, 2007 at 00:32
14

Probably in a different vein, I provide my customers with an array of mixes, cuts, and scratches at an intensity that can only be found at the most cutting edge night clubs. (Once the pleasantries are over with, ie YMCA, Macarena, etc) I hit em’ with a barrage of music that causes the crowd to erupt onto the dancefloor and keep them there for the rest of the night until they stagger to the bar to cool off. I am known in some parts of Georgia as the dj who caused a middle aged partygoer to suffer what at first appeared to be a heart attack while on the dancefloor at one of my Christmas parties. So go ahead…cue up our ipods, thats your right. But some people know the true value of the true professional dj, and what he/she REALLY brings to the party.