The Power of Lists – By Michael Edwards
January 28, 2012
For most DJs, the relatively slower winter months provide an excellent opportunity to work on improving your DJ equipment, stage setup, lighting and even fine-tuning the way you run your office. With so many important things to work on, we often neglect to allot sufficient time to improve the way we organize and access our music. When you stop to think about it, as a DJ, your music should actually be your top priority, because without it, everything else is useless.
Most of you now use hard drives to store your music collections and software that allows you to create playlists. This provides a unique opportunity to create—in advance—hundreds of new playlists, music sets and sub-sets that will really come in handy in the “heat of battle” when you have a packed dance floor in front of you.
Traditionally, the most basic way to separate different types of music has been by genre, similar to the organization of the music we purchase from subscription services. It’s convenient to simply follow their lead and set up comfortable, familiar categories for Rock, Top 40/CHR, Country, Hip Hop/Urban, Dance/Remix, Adult Contemporary, Reggae etc. Back when we used records or CDs, most of us would organize them by Genre and then by Artist, within that Genre. You’d know right where to look for Alan Jackson in the “Country” genre, or Donna Summer in the “Disco/Dance” genre.
MAKING THE LISTS
If the only way you still organize your music is by Genre, Artist and Title, there’s a whole new world of micro-organization just begging to elevate your game to a whole new level. The old, familiar format will still be there for you, but the “go to” songs and “can’t miss” dance floor packers should also be separated out into well-thought out subsets without any weaker non-hits or filler songs that can always still be found in the main collection.
If you do weddings, you should have massive sub-sets of all the most popular songs needed for ceremony music (sets for prelude, processional, recessional etc), cocktail hour music (sets of smooth jazz, rat pack, contemporary etc), introduction music (a list of pre-made intro loops and instrumental versions of the most requested, popular intro songs), dinner music (younger crowd, older crowd and mixed audience sub-sets), cake cutting favorites, centerpiece giveaway set, garter/bouquets favorites, a ton of dance sets and a set of good-bye/exit music. You can subtract or add to each set as new material comes out and use them not just “on the fly” at the event, but to draw from, in advance, when creating a unique new playlist based on your future clients’ preferences.
Ever research the music for a class reunion? If you are booked for the class of ’92, you’d better know that “Jump” by Kris Kross held number one on the charts for eight weeks in a row, right smack dab in the middle of their prom and graduation time from 4/25/92 to 6/20/92…probably a big hit when played at their senior prom. You wouldn’t have to think about it if you pre-organize all major hits in advance by the month and year they came out. That class would also love hearing music from all four of the years they were in high school, not just the year they graduated.
A “#1 Hits Only” list sorted by year and month is also very handy when playing for an anniversary. Imagine the response you’ll get by saying, “This song was #1 on the charts the day you were married in 1977.” Billboard currently publishes a useful book of all #1s from 1955 to 2009.
What about top hits organized by both Type AND by Decade? I found that merely dumping all the ‘70s or ‘80s hits into their own huge list wasn’t specific enough. Fine-tuning larger Decade lists into smaller sub-sets from that decade will make finding the right song in a hurry a lot easier. Instead of just ‘80s, how about ‘80s Dance Music, ‘80s Slow R&B, ‘80s Hair Band hits and ‘80s Hip-Hop hits. Same holds true for ‘80s-’90s Boy Bands, ‘80s Female Artists, ‘80s Movie Themes, ‘80s Line Dances/Novelty, etc.
Once you have an organized music collection, smaller sub-sets can easily be combined so that you can instantly glance at over 60 years worth of a specific type of music. For example: All Line Dances or just “#1 Country hits by female artists.”
How about cross-genre dance sets based on similar BPM? We all use certain songs that mix very well together, but sometimes browsing a longer list of dance songs that are all close to 120 BPM or close to 128 BPM will spark an idea for a brand new mix or set that is perfect for that evening’s audience. This type of dance tempo list is not necessarily limited to any particular decade or genre, thus providing an ideal source for transition songs that will keep the dancers on the floor as you smoothly switch genres or decades as needed.
Needless to say, a good DJ is always watching the crowd and selecting which songs to play next to satisfy the entire audience… including those who might get up and dance if you’d just play their type of dance music too. Having a great list of similar tempo songs at your fingertips is a valuable tool, especially if you’ve already been playing for four or five hours and may be starting to get a bit fatigued.
I even store pre-formatted five-hour playlists for “types of functions,” organized and saved in advance, so that if a call comes in for a last-minute retirement, Sweet 16 or holiday party, I already have a basic music template handy to provide the typical music for that type of event. Such “template” lists do not limit spontaneous musical decisions, since you still have the needed flexibility to replace any number of songs that may not fit the specific needs or requests of that crowd.
I’ll sometimes save the songlist from a particularly successful “specialized” event and rename it as “Country 50th B’Day,” or “Latin/Reggaeton Wedding” so that a similar future event doesn’t take quite as long to format in advance.
I invite you to comment and share ideas on how you organize your music collections. Working together, we can learn from each other and all become better at what we do.
Here’s looking forward to another great year of staying “Ahead of the Curve”!
Michael Edwards is the owner of AllStar Entertainment & UpLighting, located in Andover, MA. He can be contacted at 978-470-4700 or emailed at info@getadj.com. A Member of the American Disc Jockey Assoc. and the Mobile Beat Advisory Board. His company websites include: www.GetaDJ.com and www.GetUplights.com.
Your Best Source of Referrals – By John Stiernberg
January 28, 2012
In the July 2010 issue of Mobile Beat, we talked about generating referrals, and making sure that you and your mobile entertainment business are referable. The fundamentals haven’t changed: 1) Show up on time, 2) do what you say you are going to do, 3) finish what you start, and 4) say “please” and “thank you.” Doing those things consistently make you referable, but do not necessarily assure that your clients will refer you. What do you need to do to generate referrals?
Will past clients take initiative? Are you optimizing online tools? This article addresses these issues and recommends three action tips for success.
WHY REFERRALS ANYWAY?
You know the expression, “The best advertising is word of mouth.” When someone says good things about you, they are providing “third-party credibility.” It’s not you bragging or paying for promotion. Instead, a happy client recommends your service. Prospective clients are far more comfortable approaching and hiring someone that one of their peers has hired successfully. Peer groups are not limited to people who know each other. They can be “friends and followers” in the 21st-century sense.
The relevance of this is at the heart of social media today. Your peers have more street cred than the business that is offering virtually anything for sale. That applies to reviewing and sourcing services (like mobile entertainment) in addition to goods.
So why work at generating referrals? Because they eliminate (or at least minimize) cold call selling. Say that a couple is getting married and needs to hire a DJ. You hear about it or see the engagement announcement in your local media. You could contact them directly, introduce yourself, and ask if you could meet with them to discuss their wedding entertainment plans. Or, you can seed the market with referral sources so that the couple or their wedding planner is aware of your good work and calls you. That ringing phone (or text or e-mail) is a beautiful thing!
PUT YOURSELF IN THE CLIENT’S PLACE
Want to go out for dinner and you’re eager to try a new place? It’s possible that you would ask friends, co-workers, or family for a recommendation before you would Google “restaurants” and take a chance. But sometimes it isn’t practical to make phone calls or chat with trusted advisors. In those circumstances, the next best thing is to check out reviews online. Angie’s List, Google Reviews, YouTube, and Facebook (among many others) all feature reviews of virtually everything. The level of detail ranges from the simple thumbs up “Likes” to lengthy reviews or blog entries with plenty of details.
There are two levels of client involvement in terms of driving referrals to you.
Passive. The client agrees to be a reference when you ask them. They will say good things about you if anyone contacts them, but they don’t otherwise take action.
Active. The client agrees to post a positive review on your website or Facebook page. There are degrees of this. For example, they may simply click a like button or post multiple positive reviews and encourages their friends, family, and co-workers to hire you. This is active promotion vs. waiting for someone to contact them.
HOW TO HELP YOUR CLIENTS PROMOTE YOU
Why would a happy client refer actively vs. passively? It boils down to asking them for their help. Here are three suggestions for how to make it easy for your clients to promote you.
Action Tip 1. Set up your website, Facebook page, YouTube channel, LinkedIn profile, and any other online outlet with places where clients can easily talk about you. This means making your website interactive, which may cost a little time and money, but is worth it.
Action Tip 2. Contact your past clients and invite them to post reviews. They won’t necessarily know about it until you tell them, so take the time to reach out. E-mail blasts and Twitter tweets may get a few random replies. Personal phone calls yield two things: 1) a higher positive response rate and 2) the opportunity to ask them if they know anyone planning an event.
Action Tip 3: Send a thank you note to everyone that posts (referability skill #4—say “please” and “thank you”). Wow, those fans will become your diehard advocates when you simply say “thanks.”
And if for any reason a client refuses to cooperate or posts a bad review, you are immediately presented with the opportunity to do preemptive damage control (hope that doesn’t happen…).
HERE’S THE POINT…
Passive references are better than nothing, but active referral sources and online buzz are competitive advantages. While you need to work at it, there is a big payoff: more gigs and more happy clients. Be sure to implement the Action Tips in sequence: 1) set up your online tools, 2) invite past clients to post reviews, and 3) thank them for their efforts.
John Stiernberg is founder of Stiernberg Consulting (www.stiernberg.com). His book Succeeding In Music: Business Chops for Performers and Songwriters is published by Hal Leonard Books. Contact John via e-mail at john@stiernberg.com. You can find John on LinkedIn, Plaxo, and Facebook and follow him on Twitter.
EDJ Workshop: Rackmount vs. Laptop – By Richard McCoy
January 28, 2012
Electronic DJing (EDJ) has evolved into an integral part of the modern DJ performance. The technology is developing at the speed of light; new hardware with advance capabilities is being introduced by all the major manufacturers on a regular basis. Software companies are constantly updating their products to keep pace with the new hardware. Almost all new EDJ products now have a computer interface to increased functionality. My 45 years as a disc jockey and electronics engineer have taught me much about our industry and its technology. I hope to share this knowledge with you.
Take USB 2.0 as an example of change. It has become the standard EDJ hardware to computer interface. However the limitations of USB 2.0 have been reached, and a new USB 3.0 is available for use. Faster and with higher power ability, USB 3.0 is just one example of the continually advancing computer industry. There is also a SATA600 for faster disk access. Are you going to be ready for the new technology?
Portability at What Price?
The majority of EDJ’s use a Laptop for all their entertainment and control applications. Laptops are small, very portable and self-contained. Just plug-and-play. Unfortunately, laptops have an inherent problem limiting their flexibility when it’s time to advance the technology. It is very difficult to “upgrade” a laptop and many come with a lot of bundled software that can interfere with EDJ functions and operation.
Common upgrades are adding more memory or the installation of externally USB devices. All this puts additional stress on the power supply by increasing the thermal properties of the unit. Laptop cooling pads are now becoming a required piece of equipment to maintain operation. Most low to medium-priced laptop have a slower, 500GB hard drives and “shared” video memory for limited external screen resolution. Laptop CPUs are designed for minimum power usage and not performance. Just remember that loading on more functions, memory, video, HD speed and USB devices requires more power. Power also produces more heat. In addition, different audio, video and karaoke formats require various amounts of computing power to translate and convert.
NOT LOCKED IN A TOWER
There is no question that the portability, along with ease of use and set up are the main reasons why most EDJ’s prefer a laptop computer, seeing the only alternative being a typical tower-style home PC, which would never make it on the road.
But wait, there is a more powerful alternative! Rackmount computers can be configured and modified to adapt to any performance requirement, while maintaining an upgrade path as technology develops. I’ve been using a 2U rackmount computer for six years. Each year I may “rebuild” the entire system to keep current. I can changes motherboards, CPU, memory, video card, disk storage and other functions as newer and better components become available. I keep the case and change the components.
This level of workmanship does require more than basic computer knowledge, but it’s not beyond the capability of many EDJs. I currently have 4TB of removable RAID* One disk storage, two 1-GB video cards, DVD burner/player, wi-fi, 12 GB of RAM (64 Bit OS), 500W power supply, illuminated wireless keyboard/mouse, USB 3.0, fans and a shock mount chassis. All of this is prewired in a single case that also includes a mixer, CD/DVD/CD+G player (backup), Hercules RMX controller, two wireless microphones, power conditioner and monitor holder. I can reconfigure my system any time I wish. And the best part is that no one can pick it up and walk away with it!
Here are some typical laptop and rackmount configurations and their cost. [ Ed. Note: See the January 2012 issue of MB for the full comparison chart. ]
The rackmount system is custom-built and designed for maximum performance, but it can be configured at a reduced cost by using more economical components. A less expensive version may cost about $600 to build (no keyboard or monitor). The main advantage of a rack system is the ability to change and upgrade as technology advances. The case itself can be used again while the boards and card are replaced.
comparison
Using Virtual DJ (Ver. 7.0.5b) software as a test bed in Four Player mode, for the Rackmount High Performance system, I discovered that there is no noticeable performance impact decoding any audio, video or karaoke formats, or while loading VERY large video files from disk. On the other hand, the Performance Laptop did show signs of slow video and MP3 loading but continued to output quality audio and video signals. The Low Cost Laptop did not perform well in the Four Player Mode and was limited in the two player mode. There was “stoppage” in the video output due to the slow disk and CPU speed, but none with the audio. Large files will always cause slower loading time.
IN CONCLUSION
If you are a serious EDJ who insists on providing your clients with the best performance and reliability for Music, video and karaoke, then a rackmount system is the way to go. The higher capabilities of a top-quality system will only enhance your show. You will be able to add games, graphics, PowerPoint, internet music/video search, audio/video recordings, cameras and DMX lighting controls, not to mention a full-size keyboard and monitor to your system without impacting your show. And I’ll mention it again: This system is NOT something that a person can pick up and walk away with.
If a rackmount system is beyond your budget or personal capabilities, make sure to purchase a high-end laptop that will serve you for a long time. A good one should work well for 3-4 years before advancements make it “outdated.”I STRONGLY RECOMMEDND that all EDJs stay away from the low cost laptops just to save a dollar. It is not worth the problems.
There is a lot more that can be said about EDJing and the systems we use. In future articles, I will be addressing many issues confronting computer music users and how to make systems run better and easier.
* RAID = “redundant array of independent disks”
With his company A Sound Spectrum, Richard McCoy has been providing pro DJ services to the California Bay Area since 1966. He has served as a national officer of the ADJA, was a founder and officer of the ADJA’s Northern California chapter, and is the founder and past president of the Bay Area Mobile Music Association (BAMMA). Rich is also a member and major contributor to the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
MOBILE BEAT, #140 – JANUARY 2012
January 28, 2012
MOBILE BEAT, #140 – JANUARY 2012
NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE
In this issue of Mobile Beat, we offer a variety of ways to rev up your DJ engine for the new year….Mike Ficher talks about making a new investment in your primary asset–yourself–in INVESTING IN YOUR FUTURE. The need for BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS with others, in order to build more business, is on Rob Johnson’s mind as we start another year full of mid-week money opportunities. Steve “The Hitman” Brazell, who will be sharing his branding secrets at February’s Mobile Beat Vegas show, asks WHY SHOULD I CHOOSE YOU? and provides some ways to answer the question. Publisher Ryan Burger chronicles, in WRESTLING WITH YOUR EQUIPMENT, one way MB’s production arm has revved things up, by joining with a regional wrestling group for mutual benefit.
In the realm of music, Michael Edwards points out the latent POWER OF LISTS in your DJ software–creating playlists that will make you more efficient and make gigging more fun. Jay Maxwell looks at the relationship between MOVIES AND MUSIC and offers a key tip for staying ahead of the hits. In the category of “getting on the right side of the law”—always good way to improve your business—industry legal expert and featured Vegas speaker Moses Avalon lays down the truth on GIFTING MUSIC to clients. We also feature a great interview with a Top 200 resident, MARCIA GRIFITHS. The positive vibes you’ll feel coming of the page just might be enough to brighten up and power up a dark, dreary winter day.
All this is an a lot more is on tap to help you move with power into 2012. Rock on!
Other interviews include industry leaders ALFRED GONZALEZ (American DJ’s National Sales Manager) and DJ/MC/PR expert TOM HAIBECK, along with Hawaii DJ DAVID LOUIS and his unique networking/marketing ideas.
With some very practical ideas for optimizing the power of your business, Arnoldo Offerman shares the real deal on”swag” in HYPIN’!; Mike “Dr. Frankenstand” Ryan exhorts DO YOUR HOMEWORK; and Jim Weisz runs down how to EMAIL YOUR WAY TO MORE BUSINESS.
On the technology front, we roll out a new column from digital DJ sage Richard McCoy, EDJ WORKSHOP. In his first installment, Rich lays down the gauntlet in RACKMOUNT VS. LAPTOP. His choice for the victor of that contest may surprise you.
Also reviewed in this issue are: the fresh RANE MP26 mixer, STANTON’S SCS.4DJ controller, with computer included(!), the CHAUVET CUBIX, GEMINI UHF-5200 and AKG WMS 470 wireless mic systems, and the new CRANE STAND PRO.
In our continuing FOCUS ON BUSINESS, Jeffrey Gitomer predicts the future in LOOKING FORWARD, Jay Conrad Levinson reveal’s MARKETING’S GREATEST ALLY, John Stiernberg shows how to access YOUR BEST SOURCE OF REFERRALS, and Jason Weldon talks phone etiquette in RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWER?
And finally, Pau Kida, THE DJ COACH is there to encourage anyone who needs to refuel before revving up for greater success with GETTING A FRESH START.
