How to get Bookings
As a new DJ one of the most intimidating tasks is getting yourself noticed by promoters and getting bookings. Here at My DJ Academy we understand this from fist hand experience and know that the struggle is real.
Here's our top 5 tips below:
Identify your market and the events that promote your style and genre angle. Try to be realistic here, huge brands such as Defected or Toolroom are not going to look twice at you at the start of your journey!
Network, Network, Network. Buy a ticket to the events you have shortlisted and go say hi! We think you'll be surprised at the response you get if you tell the promoter that you have bought a ticket to his gig for the sole reason of introducing yourself!
Sending out mixes to promoters. Now this one is really important, don't record 2 hour mixes, of music that's in the top 100 Beatport chart, then send a download link to a file that is HUUUUUGE! No-one is going to to download it, let alone listen to tracks their hearing all over the place already. Make your mixes short, to the point, powerful and most importantly showing skill straight out of the gate. Upload your mix to one of the many cloud platforms and send a private link. Bingo!
Keep in touch! Make a point of following up maybe a week after sending your mix. Be polite, be friendly, ask questions. Maybe even go to the next event and say hi again! Life loves a tryer but humility is key!
Play for free? Now this one is divisive but to us its a no brainer. Offer to play warm up sets for zero fee. You wont believe how hard promoters find it to get quality, talented DJ's to play the opening few hours. This is a great way to get in the door and even possibly build your way to residencies.
