The term “DJ” originally referred to people who worked at radio stations playing records on air (vinyl disks) but the role has now expanded widely to describe those who mix music from any recorded source, such as vinyl, cassettes, CDs, or digital audio files, including music sampled from other sources. While the earliest DJs used record players and cassettes played on boom boxes to create their mixes, there is now specialized music software available that allows DJs to listen to and manipulate digital audio files.
There are Mobile DJs, Producer DJs, Bedroom DJs, and Celebrity DJs. There are still on-air Radio DJs who play records and specialize in fading from one record into another. Some Radio DJs have been considered historically important since they ultimately get to choose the (new) music that people get to hear over the airwaves.
I squeak my living
I squeak by. I make my living. It’s very humble, but the audiences that I get are people I can really sit down and enjoy conversation with them. It’s like an intimate dialog. I’m not like Khaled or DJ Cuppy where I can go and play for like a hundred thousand people, but I love the dialog that they have with their huge audience. I’m just over here with my little two to five hundred club capacity of people and totally loving it Becoming a superstar DJ is basically the same as becoming a Rock Star. To get there, you make music people love, attract a loyal fanbase who comes to see you spin live, word of mouth spreads, and as your audience grows, you’re more likely to get a label deal or get signed by a Manager who can help you get more money from live gigs.
The king of the slack
If you’re a music curator, enjoy getting people on the dance floor, and love to party, a career as a DJ can be perfect for you. You have fun, get paid well, and a good DJ is the life of the party. Like any other career, it’s not 100% a party all of the time. You need to build your DJing services into a business, which means you’ll be handling invoices, doing email, and dealing with clients. But if you love DJing enough, those admin tasks will be worth it.
The stouts of Rock Stars
Well-established DJs can command huge fees for providing the music at events, clubs, venues, casinos, cruises, and raves. Popular DJs are like Rock Stars, and come with a strong loyal following of committed fans. Top DJs can earn six figures a night in places like Las Vegas, where they might hold down a residency of weeks, months, or even years. Like the rest of the music, entertainment, and sports industries, there’s a “winner-take-all” effect where a small number of highly successful people take home the majority of earnings.
Every club has a different feel
Every club has a different feel, reputation, and audience… which means they vary in what’s expected from their musical selection. Normally, the club DJ’s job is maintaining a moving dance floor. Club DJs may perform long blends (called transitions) between songs, or some other trickery to keep people’s feet moving.
