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Q u a r t e r l y - T i p
- So You Wanna Be a DJ? Part IV
- by DJ Rap
Fall 2009
[Editor's Note: Many people consider DJ Rap to be the top female DJ in the world -- and that's saying a lot when you consider that she's working in a male dominated profession. Starting with the Winter 2008 Quarterly Tip, this and the next series of Quarterly Tips will be authored by DJ Rap, who agreed to have her "So You Wanna Be A DJ" series republished by Disc Jockey 101 (Note: Portions edited by Disc Jockey 101).]
So now you have a basic grasp on production, DJ skills, how to present yourself, blah blah, what next? Should you get a manager? An agent? How do you climb that ever elusive ladder to success? All I can tell you is my own experience, which doesn't necessarily make me right. You have to follow your own path and listen to your gut, because it's nearly always spot on.
I have had managers since day one. Some people are lucky, they find the right person early on and never need another one... I have had four. Some were great, they were extremely connected and really did a stellar job. However, it's easy to be great when you have a record deal and the world is knocking on your door, all opportunities come to you. I think a great manager is one that creates opportunity and lights a fire when the wood is damp so to speak.
One thing all mangers are great at is taking 15 to 20 percent of ALL your income. So, you have to decide if what that person generates for you financially makes that worth while. Bear in mind, you will pay that as well as 10 to 15 percent to your agent. Back in the day when I had my record deal with Sony, I also had a business manager who took 5 percent. They are vital for keeping the books straight when you're on tour, paying all your bills when you're not around, they are a godsend. I'll recommend London & Company who rep all from SLASH, COURTNEY LOVE and tons of the top electronic acts, too many to mention. In the end, I ended-up making very little profit because I paid so much out, however had I known then what I know now, things would be very different. Hence, the reason I write this tip: to help you guys.
Basically, you give away 40 percent, then you are also taxed at 40 percent, you do the math. On paper, you're loaded, but in reality you're not. In the end, my solution was to manage myself. I have spent 20 years in this business and if I don't know how it works by now then I'm fucked and dumb. So I learned, I asked questions from those around me who knew, god bless my publicist for all her endless help: LAINE COPICOTTO @ Aurelia Group. I listened and I hired the best people I could afford and built my own team. A great label manager (Leigh, I love ya) from URBANTORQUE RECORDS, and my partner in the studio TYLER REVATA, and me working my ass off is all I need for now. It's a full time job but I love it, and I take enormous pride and joy in what I do.
I Make My Career Happen Remember, no one is going to care as much as you will about your career. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to finally be the one driving my "car" so to speak, after all, I am the fuel, the engine the whole damn thing is me, so why trust it to other people? ALWAYS stay in control, watch over your books (look what happened to STING, he was stung for 8 million by his accountant who stole the lot!) ask questions, find out what they are doing for you and don't just wait for them to do it, that's hard work for most people and most people are fucking lazy. I make my career happen, so don't sit on your ass waiting for your career to come find you, create opportunities, then implement them into your team. Call me paranoid, but I learned all this the hard hard way man.
Lets talk about agents. God, where to start? Many people don't know that I started out as my own agent, I simply wasn't big enough to get any agent attention so I had to get the work myself. This was no picnic I can tell you, in those days, calling up every promoter, sending mix-tapes, getting on pirate radio stations were all options that worked. Nowadays, without an agent, you are fucked. I have had the best and again the worst agents. TCA actually stole money from me, my rep at COLLECTIVE said no one was interested in me (that made me laugh) and finally I am with a great agent now BULLITT BOOKINGS, started by DEEP DISH which is great because they see it from the DJ's perspective (as well as the promoters' perspective). I guess it's like finding the right doctor, takes some time till your comfortable.
Big Agents Look After the Big DJ's Now I am not always the easiest person to work with, but, I work really hard and I only become difficult when people don't do their fair share. Constantly fucking up simple shit like "should I pick up money at this show or not?" It's not rocket science!!!!!! My biggest hope for you is to find an agent that cares about and likes you and your music, and is hungry to prove him/herself. When someone is batting for you, you'll be surprised how many shows you will get. Don't think that the biggest agent is the best, better to be a big fish in a little pond than a minnow swimming with the great whites (yes I simply love sharks!). I found that the big agents look after the big DJ's and all the other acts don't get the attention needed, it's ridiculous to sign to an agent who reps 100 acts, how on earth can they find the time to make things happen for little ol'e you? Think about it. They say they will when you first meet them, but try to get them on the phone when things are tough, it's not cute at all.
Still, you will need an agent with connections and some leverage so it's a tough decision you'll have to make yourself. I could go on-and-on regarding this subject, but I don't want to sound too bitter, before signing to BULLITT I had almost lost hope and thought I would simply rep myself, I truly felt that all agents were parasites, but the truth is a great agent is worth their weight in gold, and we need them as much as they need us. Within one month of being with BULLIT, I was so busy I couldn't believe it, after being told no one was interested it is now the mantra my team all say when we accomplish anything... "but no one is interested" we all have a good giggle at that!
And that was a mouthful..
Self Promotion I would now like to talk about how you as an artist can really help yourself especially when signed, the biggest mistake all of us musicians make is we tend to think our job begins and ends with making music. It doesn't!!!! As a label owner (PROPA TALENT/IMPROPA TALENT) I had to learn this the hard way for myself, but also have to explain this to my "budding artists" that I had signed on my labels. It is a very different story when you are signed to a giant label that is prepared to spend hundreds of thousands on you to promote your ass and get you to the masses who will in turn, hopefully buy (not steal) your music. Think about it, if you make drum-and-bass for example, the amount of financial return you can expect is very small unless you are PENDULUM, RAM RECORDS, or any of the legends. I know that only a small group of us made it in that genre. Now imagine you own a label, why should you spend thousands of your hard earned money for no return? You begin to see things in a different way. It affects what music you sign, should I go for hip hop... pop? Of course I am sticking to what I know, drum-and-bass, house and breaks, I have spent 20 years around that music! But, when my artist record comes out, I will probably look for help in releasing it, as songs are a different kettle of fish.
So now you have the label perspective, what can you do if you choose an indie label like mine? (stupid to sign to a label that has no clue how to understand your music). You make electronica in whatever form, and you need to let people know you exist so they can buy (not download for free) your music. (of course I nag about stealing music, it's fucking wrong!)
The Value of Blogging The best thing I can tell you is what I have learned, so always look at what other DJ'S are doing who are successful... PAUL VAN DYK, DEEP DISH, TIESTO, check out their website, how they are presented, where they are presented, do they blog? what do they do?
I am a firm believer in the thought that god helps those who help themselves, so set up a MYSPACE, FACEBOOK, I LIKE, YOU TUBE page.... Start talking to your fans, if you have none, make some! Look at all I do, from blogging to podcasts, there is always something to say, so many people are interested in music and want to DJ, or produce, you will never be lonely for fellow humans who wish to share in this topic.Pod-casts are great too (see PROPA PODS) and really help get your sound out there......
The most important tool you have is your website (www.djrap.com) and the internet. It is there at your fingertips and this generation never had it so good. We are in the wonderful position to create opportunities for ourselves, it's so much better nowadays (in a way).Of course, there is a lot more you can do, there is always more, it never ends, from hiring a publicist to an army, I could go on, but for those who do not have the cash to do this, these baby steps will help you in your quest for fame and glory.
Being an artist means you live and breathe being an artist. I have met many people who are in love with the fantasy of being an "artist" -- they are romantics! The reality of being an artist is very different from what most think. Imagine an iceberg, what the public sees is one tenth of it, the performance! What joe public does not see is the other nine tenths it took to get there. The long hours for very little money, the obsession you have to have in the studio, the passion you will need to get you through those tough times and a stubborn iron will to say "I believe in me" when all others say you're finished. We will talk about what the daily grind actually involves later.
Illegal Downloading I am now going to talk about the taboo subject of illegal downloading (click on that and read about the consequences) and how it affects artists... and it does! So if you're one of those thieving a**holes that lives on Kazaa etc. that thinks I am an a**hole for writing this, you could look at it this way: You pay for food, clothes and just about everything else, yet I don't know anyone who can live without music, we all have it, we are the iPod gods, the click generation, so it still amazes me that people expect to pay nothing for this.
Or you should read up on the consequences because the Recording Industry Association of America is coming down hard on you lot with massive fines.
Option three for this kind of person is not to read this tip. I write it for people who hope to make a living pursuing their dream of making music and DJ'ing, just like I am. I will say that it is our choice to live this life, to follow this dream, I could choose to do anything but I personally feel that there is nothing else I could be happy doing except for this and acting. But it is really hard and you would be foolish to think this is an easy job.
The reality is that back in the day there was a lot of money to be made, those were the golden times. Well, today it is very very different. I think much of the upcoming talent still thinks it must be like the good 'ole days and that it's easy to learn how to spin and make cash. I was lucky to be around at that golden time. Most of the huge DJ's are huge because they built reps and produced in those times and are still standing today because of that. And the fact is, they work hard and are bloody good at what they do. Oakenfold, Tiesto, Paul Van Dyk are all good examples. Some have faded into the "what happened to...?" box and there are a million reasons for that too (I will get into that later).
The main reason it was easy is that in England there were a number of Pirate radio stations, mainly because electronic music was new and totally unsupported. There was FANSTY FM, CENTREFORCE, RAVE FM and many many more..... Now I know what you're gonna say, "hey that's illegal!" and it was, but the main difference was that it launched a scene, it made this music what it is today, it also made people want to buy records and did we! It was normal if you had a hit on these stations to sell 80,000 copies of that song because people loved it. So you see, it really helped, the scene got bigger, it created giant raves because of the demand to hear this wonderful new sound, we were outlaws outrunning the sheriffs and it was glorious!
Now it's a different story. Times are tough, police are tough, laws are rough. We do not live in a world that is free, the 80's were our 60's (well, for me anyway).
So how does this all affect you?
You Need to Produce Hit Records to Become a Famous DJ You need hit records to become a well known DJ that people will want to see perform. That means spending as much time as possible in the studio. That means there is no time to do this while you have a job, unless you don't need sleep and I know many that pull this off but it's hard to be consistent when holding down a day job and music is your night job. So many like me opt to commit to this full time, as we have talked about in my earlier tips. It's not only about the music, you have to promote yourself, get out there, handle all those MySpace, Facebook sites etc. It is hard and unrealistic to expect to do all this at night, although I am more creative at night, all the business maintenance happens in the day....(running my labels, etc.).
It's simple, if you don't DJ, then making music is your only income. How can you live if people download it for free? I spent a year producing "UP ALL NIGHT" sold over 30,000 with no tour or real promotion (this was a drum-and-bass record and there is little to no market for that in the states so no point spending my hard earned dosh on promoting it). Yet, I made hardly a dime for my efforts because a lot of those sales were made on sites that pay such a poor return (like 10 cents on every track bought) and because it was downloaded for free by many.
Discouraging isn't it? I question why I put myself through this so many times. I can tell you! I mean that's a lot of sales!!!! I should have been golden....
iTunes is great because it soundscans so you can see real sales as if you were in a store. Beatport does not -- which is sad but they are a great company. Nonetheless, those are the sites to be on and I learned not to supply the "el cheapo" sites from my last record the hard way.Whether we survive in this industry depends on you, and the support we get, the same goes for the music, it will only last and be put out there for your consumption if you buy it, otherwise only the rich can afford to make it, and give it away for free, like Radiohead (who I love and are in that wonderful position -- however, they are alone in that place and can afford to). They wouldn't be here today if no one had bought their music in the first place.
Now I have another point of view, I don't mind giving it away like I do on my mailing list every month (I give a track to any who sign up). If this means people come to the shows -- so maybe that will be the way forward. I certainly hope it all means something because I for one love what I do and all you can hope for is a life spent doing what you love, managing to get by with out the worry of how. This is why many still opt for a record deal, at least they are prepared to offer the financial support needed to keep you on the road which is expensive.
To end this, there is good and bad points to this. If you're a rich artist, giving it away helps you but hurts the lesser upcoming guys and dolls, we need to value our music like we value fashion and food. I ask you this one question -- next time you are about to 'click'... When you play a track that makes you feel wonderful, gets you through a rough day, is it really not worth a dollar?
support music PLEASE.
Luv and Bass, DJ RAP
In the meantime, head over to my website and sign-up on the mailing list to get a free track.
Related Links
So You Wanna Be a DJ? Part III
DJ Rap Interview on Disc Jockey 101
Industry News* Disc Jockey 101 is proudly collaborating with Bar University to assist people that want to learn many of the bar and nightclub trades such as bartending and working as a DJ. See: http://baruniversity.com
* DJ Z-Trip is the winner of DJ Times Magazine's America's Best DJ 2009. He is shown in this photograph receiving a gold plated Pioneer DJ mixer while being accompanied by DJ Paul Oakenfold.
* Gizmodo.com has suggestions on how to rip CD's "like a pro" and improve audio quality. See: Gizmodo
* Serato has information on how-to perform your first night out with Scratch Live. See: Serato
* There is considerable evidence that the first "hip hop" song was recorded in 1978 in Chicago by New York rapper Scott "Casper" Baird on West Coast label AVI Records. It was originally released as a 7" record, but re-released as a 12" record in 1980. The track, entitled "Groovy Ghost Show Part 1," can be heard here: Youtube.com
* Duke University School of Law professor James Boyle has a Youtube video describing some of the legal issues related to borrowing and sampling music. See: Youtube.com
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