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Got
the New Year’s Eve Blues? How much money would make you
feel better about working while the ball drops at the turn
of the millennium – double your rate? Triple? Five times?
On the other hand, are you a multi-system operator who’s
having a nightmare bribing your DJs to work? Welcome to
the club.
DJ
Times spoke with a handful of mobile jocks and they
revealed their pricing and payment strategies for that once-in-a-lifetime
gig – the Millennium Party.
“We’re
at double our normal fee right now, for systems one through
10. Our next system will be booked at 10-percent more, then
the next at 20-percent more all the way through our fifteenth
system. A lot of my DJs don’t even want to work – they’d
rather be home with their families. I’m offering them jobs
in November, which is usually a very slow month for us,
in exchange for them working on New Year’s Eve. If they
want New Year’s Eve off, then they’ll have the month of
November off as well.”
– Mike Alexander,
Paradise Entertainment, Orcutt, Cal.
“We’re
charging about four to five times our normal rate – and
people aren’t even blinking an eye when we mention it. I
hate to say it, but supply and demand is the reason. I’ve
been predicting since last year that there’s going to be
an entertainment shortage this year. In fact, there will
probably be parties this New Year’s Eve with only home stereo
systems being used. The long-term problem this may cause
is over-hiring – then we’ll have a surplus of DJs next year.
Fortunately, we’re going to be rolling into a year [2000]
that promises to be the most incredible year we’ve ever
seen for bookings in this industry. And, I think, to some
extent we’re going to be able to ask these high prices next
year, because next year will be the true celebration of
the new millennium.”
– Mark Ashe,
Mark’s Rolling Dance Revue, Agawam, Mass.
“I’ve
had a fivefold increase for this night. My main reason for
that increase was that either I wasn’t going to work – and
instead attend a party myself – or else get paid at a rate
that makes it worth my while.”
– Lisa “Do The Dance” Capitanelli,
Los Angeles, CA
“I think a lot of DJs undercharged when they booked this
night at the beginning of the year. Personally, we started
with charging $2,000 for the year 2000 party, but as we
get closer we’re getting $3,500. Our struggle will be bribing
our staff to work. We’ve asked our clients to take care
of our DJs this night, and also told them that we’re allowing
our employees to bring their significant others, too. We’re
paying our DJs major money, but we’re still making money,
too, so that’s kind of cool.”
– Brian Doyle,
Denon & Doyle, San Francisco
“We’ll be getting triple our normal rate. There’s nothing
worse than employing a DJ who’s disgruntled about what he’s
getting paid. So to make our guys happy we’re paying them
three times their normal rate. And we all know that a happy
DJ is a good DJ!”
– Fred and Terri Elwyn,
Music To Go DJs, St. Louis, Mo.
“We
are charging more than we usually do, but we’re not charging
as much as some of my friends are charging. It is one very
important night, and it’s a night that would be a great
night on which to get married – because who else would you
want to spend the new millennium with but your friends and
family? We do a lot of work at this facility, so I don’t
want to hammer them with cost, but I do want to make it
worth my while to be there. Most of our competition has
tripled their rates, but we doubled our rates.”
– Mark Klatskin,
Ultraxx DJ Service, New Jersey
“You know, I could have gotten more money. Every year, I
normally charge $2,000 for a New Year event – which I think
is organized crime. I think I’m probably overpaid now, so
I didn’t ask for more money this year. People are telling
me I could have easily charged $2,500 or $3,000, but geez,
I don’t even use my own equipment – I just go and plug my
Pioneer console into one of their monster systems.
– Michael “Scooter” Miller,
Scooter’s DJ Service, Orlando, Fla.
“Some
of our parties were booked at higher prices, and some were
not. I will say that my guys who want to work are being
paid much more for this particular evening, so I’m charging
more to be able to pay them for this evening – plus, I’m
allowing them to bring their friends along. On the average,
we’re charging about 40- to 50-percent more.”
– Bobby Morganstein,
BMP, Huntington, PA
“I
had to charge more, although I think the typical upsell
for the millennium was way out of line this year. I think
the main reason for that, however, was because the employees
wanted double or triple their normal prices.”
– Adam Weitz,
A Sharp Production, Philadelphia
“We’re
getting triple rates this year. Normally for our New Year’s
Eve events our rates are double anyway. The demand for this
date is so high that we can traditionally do that, and this
year the demand is extraordinary. The other problem is getting
people to work the millennium party unless we offer them
triple their normal amount of pay.”
– Bill Teater,
Great Day Productions, Cincinnati, Ohio
“I’m
getting almost triple my nor mal fee, just because we can.
The demand has been so great, and price-wise we’re still
below what some other DJs are asking. I know some DJs got
on the Internet and started a bidding war to see how much
they could charge. I received offers of up to $5,000, but
those came after the country club gig we accepted for $1,700.”
– Rich Stage,
DJs To Go, Liverpool, N.Y.
“We decided early on that we want- ed the business as opposed
to scaring them away [with high prices], so we kept our
normal charges but required that clients must book for us
that night a hotel room within a six-block radius of the
gig.”
– Dave Pawelek,
Spinnin’ Discs, Chicago, Ill.
“I’ve heard that DJs are making pretty good money for that
night, up to $2,500 for the evening in our area, and I’ve
had offers of up to $2,000 that I’ve simply passed on to
other people. I’d rather make that much money at a bar mitzvah
on a Saturday afternoon.”
– Brian Nicks,
Springfield, Mass.
“I’ve been doing this event for the past 18 years, so I
explained to the owners that this year, since they were
charging more, I felt it was only fair to ask for an additional
10-percent of what they were earning over the previous years.
They felt this was fair, also. So I’m earning $3,000, plus
dinner for 10. After 18 years at the same place, very few
of my friends want to go to this celebration again. This
fee buys them me, plus my best friend/crew DJ Kenny B, power
distribution, 11,000 watts of Crown/JBL distributed concert
sound, intelligent robotic lights (Show-Pro and Martin),
fog, haze, snow, lasers, strobes and projectors. It’s every
stitch of gear that I own. I rent nothing for New Year’s
Eve. Setup is the day before. Tear-down is after the show
until 5 a.m.”
– Bernie Howard Fryman,
Bernie Howard Ent., Northbrook, Illinois
“I
was getting calls and all of a sudden I realized that this
was starting to get crazy! I made a few phone calls to some
DJ buds and a few guys I knew in some bands and asked what
they all were asking. Most were right around $1,500. So
I started asking $1,800, figuring ‘Why not? Let’s see what
happens.’ This is going to be a special, one-time deal and
almost everyone is going to be at a party somewhere. I only
hope that I don’t kick myself for booking up too soon. Some
DJs here are waiting and just telling people that they are
booked figuring that the last-second callers will pay anything.
Personally, I don’t think that is right, but to each their
own.”
– Chuck Lehnhard,
Santa Rosa, Cal.
“We’re charging double to triple our normal rates for two
reasons: Everyone else is doing it, and it’s a night where
we have to pay our DJs more. They are essentially saying
it has to be worth it for them to be away from their families.
So in order for us to do that we have to double our price.
Some venues are allowing our DJs to bring their wives. Some
didn’t want to work, but I do — it’s fun night and it’s
never been a family night for us anyway, and it’s a good
night where you can make a lot of money. For double the
price we’re giving the basic package and offering upgrade
options that include a bigger light show or millennium giveaways
— props with the year 2000 on them.”
– Jose Gonzalez,
Sonida con Elegancia, Port Washington, NY
“We went into it looking to get double our normal price.
That puts us in the $1,800 range. The only time we didn’t
do that were a couple of our house accounts. For someone
that refers me 30 or 40 times a year, I didn’t want to hold
them over a barrel like that for one night. But for Joe
Schmo off the street—we’re charging double. We figure, it’s
a once in a lifetime evening. Every restaurant or club is
going to be charging a lot more, so they’ll be making a
lot more revenue, and they should spread the wealth.”
– Mike Walter,
Elite Entertainment, Eatontown, NJ
“I’m paying my DJs extra money — at least double, if not
a little more, and they are taking their significant others
and being fed, which the clients know. We actually started
booking gigs at a 60-percent higher rate than normal, then
we went to double, and then the next four we booked at 100-percent
more. The last few we booked at 120-percent more – 50-percent
non-refundable deposit. We should have started it at 100-percent
from the beginning. It’s all about supply and demand, and
not everybody wants to hear that, but just look at [New
Year’s] Las Vegas — it’s incredibly expensive.
– Bob Deyoe,
Desert DJs
Did
you double your prices for New Year’s Eve? If so, how did
you justify it? E-mail us your response: djtimes@testa.com
If
you have any questions for TCB, please write to
DJ
Times c/o TCB,
25 Willowdale Ave.
Port Washington, N.Y., 11050
fax 516-944-8372
e-mail djtimes@-testa.com.
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