The Craziest Advice About Sydney DJ Hire You’ve Ever Heard
Okay, so we all seek advice for everything these days. But what about advice about.. DJs?
Before listening to your nearest and dearest about Sydney DJ hire advice, let us clear a few things up. Not everything you hear is necessarily true. And to be fair, not everything you hear is necessarily wrong. The key here is to take everything with a grain of salt.
Back to the topic at hand today, let’s explore some advice we think is crazy, without knowing the full facts!
“You don’t need a DJ – just use an iPod/Spotify playlist!”
We hear this thrown around plenty – and we want to set things straight! If you’re hosting a party with a few friends and family, and the tone of the party is relaxed, without much dancing, then this option is absolutely viable. An iPod or spotify playlist will be just fine to create atmosphere, with the need for someone else to lead the entertainment (like a DJ or MC). The playlist will run in the background, and there won’t be much to stress about. However, if you’re expecting dancing at some point in your event, or if there are any key moments (traditional dancing, cake-cutting, special performances), a DJ is…absolutely essential!!! We place great emphasis because the role of a DJ is often overlooked as someone who simply ‘hits play’.
The DJ is in charge of the atmosphere from start to finish. When booking a Sydney DJ Hire expert, they should have a thorough discussion with you to understand the music you’d like throughout your event. This should include music at the start whilst guests are mingling, special songs for special moments (speeches, cake-cutting), and songs to get the dancefloor started, without stopping! Now, your DJ should be an expert in all of these areas, so you’ll be able to leverage their expertise if you’re unsure of songs for a particular part of your event – just ask them for their recommendation!
Hint: Most Sydney DJs should also have a list of their recommended songs. This could be found online on their website, or even organised in an online playlist like Spotify. We recommend asking your DJ if they have this resource available to you.
“I have a friend you should hire”
We wanted to title this blog with something relevant, and we think this piece of advice fits in perfectly. In some instances, hiring someone’s friend can be absolutely great. After all, referrals are often the best channel when seeking anything! But, be weary. We use the word often with great care, as this is not always the case.
If you are exploring the path of using someone’s friend, we highly recommend that you do some research on their experience first. Ask for a website, and a profile of the events they’ve played for, including referrals from clients and reviews. Having a look at photos and videos helps to really see what they’re like in action.
Now, in most cases, when people suggest they have a DJ friend you should hire, it’s simply because they know they DJ. What does this mean? This means that knowing a DJ is cool these days. And suggesting you know a DJ who can play at someone’s party is very common. But. Suggesting a DJ without knowing how they play, how they interact with the crowd, how they handle difficult and unforeseen curveballs. This is what matters. A lot of ‘DJ friends’ are referred simply because they DJ, and sorry to say, but the quality of work isn’t there. They arrive in a ‘less than ideal’ outfit, the equipment quality is lacking, and the DJ technique is that of a ‘bedroom DJ’.
We say the above with absolute respect. DJing is awesome, and we recommend everyone have a go! But, the above are also our observations, and experience within the industry. Occasionally, we’ll have customers call up, requesting for a DJ profile, requesting photos and videos of us in action, requesting to have a discussion about music.
And we happily oblige.
And we’ll complement them for their organisation…
And we’ll ask them how they happen to be so organised?
And they give us their advice – ‘don’t just hire a DJ friend without first doing your research’.
We agree. Solid advice. When listening to Sydney DJ hire advice, be mindful of the ‘friend DJs’ that are recommended to you. Take everything with a grain of salt, and do your own research.
DJs just press play
This one is still thrown around. It sort of ties in with the first point of this blog. DJs don’t just press play. We have to load the songs first, then press play – lol!
No, seriously, DJing is an art in our eyes. It’s a creative outlet that combines technical skill, creativity, and emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence – what’s that got to do with this?
I’ll tell you.
It’s not just about playing music. Spotify, iPods, playlists, they just play music.
DJs use their technical skills, creativity, and emotional intelligence to play the right song, and the right time.
Are guests eating dinner? Yep, an ambient background track.
Is the birthday cake about to be cut? Yep, cue the celebrant’s selected song, and get ready to go.
Is the dancefloor going to open after the final speech? Yep, prepare to bring all the guests in with a song that matches the demographic. Not just any ‘party starter’, but one that matches who’s at this party.
Throughout the party the DJ needs to be picking up on cues from the guests.
- What era of music do they enjoy and dance to?
- What music are they not so fond of?
- What songs do they sing along to?
- What cultural music involves all friends and family?
And it takes experience, and playing at countless parties to build up a knack of what’s going on.
Wrapping this up
People love chatting and sharing ideas, best practice, and with this, comes advice. We’re absolutely not against this by any means. But we do want you to be careful so you’re on the good end of the stick when it comes to entertainment at your party.
Our advice: Don’t listen to everything when it comes to Sydney DJ hire advice. Take everything with a grain of salt, and do your own research.
We wish you all the best, and hope you have an awesome party!