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The Golden Rule of
DJ's
January 2001
In the disc jockey
world, there's an unwritten rule that most "established"
DJ's follow: A DJ shall never undermine another DJ.
If you're new to this
scene, let me point out a few things. In every major city, there
are only a handful of the most popular nightclubs. These clubs
only have a few "happening" nights a week. Thus, there
aren't that many prime DJ shifts available. Like an acting job,
the competition is fierce for the few job openings that materialize.
Even after you get the job, your club manager will get an unsolicited
DJ resume/audition CD (for your position) often. To make things
worse, there are other DJ's at your club (and even wannabe DJ's
that bar-tend or bounce) that want your shift(s).
As my friend Aaron
Schofield recently mentioned, advances in technology have made
it easier for just about anyone to become a DJ. As a result,
the entry level has lowered and there are a lot more DJ's competing
for shifts. This doesn't mean that it wasn't competitive in the
past. I've seen DJ's:
* Get their friends
to bad mouth an employed DJ (to get him or her fired).
* Sabotage another
DJ's equipment (such as tweaking the DJ's equalizer prior to
his or her shift, replacing good cords with bad cords, turning
the compressors up to create distortion, etc.).
* Engage in disinformation
(such as starting rumors about other DJ's).
* Lie about their
DJ background and experience.
* Selective isolation
of DJ's (such as getting record stores to not service a particular
DJ).
* Engage in shift
manipulation (such as using his or her clout to reduce a particular
DJ's shifts on a schedule).
* Undercut a DJ's
price or work for free (to take his or her job).
However, these problems
are rare. If the system sounds poor, be sure you're not playing
it too loud (don't blame other DJ's without clear evidence).
Club managers and owners don't want to hear about problems in
the DJ booth. If you run to the managers every time you think
another DJ has "wrenched" your night, you risk appearing
as a trouble maker (and a rumor monger).
Perhaps because of
the competition, most established DJ's respect the golden rule.
I point out "established" because the DJ community
is very small. Once a DJ is known as a trouble-maker, that DJ
risks isolation. In addition, any DJ that needs to "wrench"
another DJ probably lacks talent and won't last very long as
a professional jock.
In sum, this month's
tip is to inform new jocks to respect the golden rule.
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