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Forum: General Discussion

Topic: Taking Requests - Page: 2

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My friend was complaing about that just this weekend because a party he did. He said drunk people kept asking him to play the same song over & over.

I was telling him to put out a tip jar for requests.
 
Same here, if I do get a request its either G6 or Shots. There's always pack of drunk girls asking for "Shots" every few weeks. Man that song makes the older people leave(people my age).

The tip jar normally stops those repeat requesters from coming back. I tell them you get one free request but that's it. If not I say to them if you stick around long enough I'm sure I play all the songs they wanted to hear just because I know my crowd.

-David

 
I agree with all points talked about here. When I do a poolside gig at this resort in the afternoon it's great to have requests, from the kids 5 to 16 and then also the adults and you just keep collecting the requests and creating a sensible mix of the requests. If one of the requests is truly a crappy request then at the end of the gig you say, if they come up to you and ask why you didn't play their tune---------------------------oh my gosh----------------------I forgot!
In the night club at this resort, it's a whole different concept. If I'm reading the crowd very good then I mostly never get requests and I keep them dancing all night. But once in a while I'll get a request and I'll work it in the correct way even if the girl is offering favors--------------------you know what I mean! Obviously when somebody gives you a $100.00 bill to play the next song, sometimes I play it next!!!!!!!!!
Just because somebody requests a song doesn't mean it's next! You have to see if you can work it in with what's happening with the dancers and crowd, sometimes the requests will work sometimes they will not and then you always say---------------------------------oh my gosh---------I forgot to play your best in the world tune!
Peace,
Lex
 
Requests are definitely a strange animal some nights. Saturday's (once a month) usually end up with a UFC event up the road and a country dance down the road. As theses events end around 12:30, the crowd get's big and diverse in a hurry, everybody is sloppy drunk or buzzing pretty good by then. The UFC guys usually want some hard fist pumping stuff, and the Country folk want their "Big Green Tractor" and such. Throw in a couple hundred college students into the mix, and you get your very own UFC!!!! These are usually the worst nights for taking requests. You get the odd one that says "You know that song that goes do-dee-do-dee-do?" or "I was out smoking when you played my song. Can you play it again?" But my all time favorite had to be me with the headphones on mixing while a guy is yelling into my booth "Hey, are you the DJ here?"

I personally, like to interact with people and am very approachable. I don't mind taking requests at all because that is simply what they are. I always take them under consideration even if they are crap, because they come from the customers, and customer satisfaction is important. That is what get's us as professional DJ's our next gig: The Customer.

And some time's you just need to tell that continual nag that asks for a replay of the song you just played 15 minutes ago "Hey, if you want a replay, go buy an iPod."

Loving all your feedback guys. That's what makes this a great community!

Thank You
 
Let me share a story with you. 1990, southside Chicago. I booked a wedding, and hired one of my friends to cover the club, a 5:30a.m. place, until I finished at the wedding. My friend was in an accident and could not cover. Now, keep in mind this was before cells phones, I did not know about the situation finished my first gig and dashed off to the club to end the night. When I get there the manager is jokingly pissed. I turn the corner and see one of the bar backs, in my DJ booth. He was trying his had at DJing, simply because he knew how to turn everything on. He had the dance floor packed! Using all 45s he was not even trying to beat match. Just playing what the folks want to hear.

Now I love, love mixing! It is not always needed when it comes to pleasing a crowd....
 
TearEmUp wrote :
You don't have to blend every song every time. Its more about playing the right song at the right time.

So very, very true.

I don't blend or Beat Mix songs even half the time. For my venues it's ALL ABOUT playing the right song most of the time and pleasing most of the people when I can.
 
I think my explanation on requests explained just that,

Good to have balance, depends on crowd, event, location etc

Jam master Rob - Nice One, been in that situation with a requested songs before, not bloody worth it is it.
 
Its all up to what kind of gig iam doing. If iam supporting the band i work for (as warmup and keeping the crowd warm between the sets) I don't take request. I have some songs figured out before the gig, i only do rock for these gigs.

Otherwise i have a notepad and a pen laying beside me so if someone wants a request i tell them to write it down and also take a look at the other requests if the song is already requested.
 
i just DJ events , Weddings ,Parties

i have a list i made with colum for artist, song and i let people leave requests there that way they can do that and i can keep the music going.
having the netsearch with vdj is a good tool to use for odd requests but its a good idea to preview cause there may be some dj drops in songs

i can rotate request sheet and play songs when they fit the mix. That also lets me use that data as a tool later to determine what people like to hear and add songs to my rotaion. i also have majority of my music in notebooks so they can look for songs they might want to hear.

i just purhced the mixmeister controler and fusion software whitch may not work for a live set but is a valuble tool to make clean edits of songs to file in a clean edit folder. just another tool to make the next gig a little easier

I can see being a Club dj may be hard to take requests thats a whole different world there and mad respect to ur Craft to go to a club and see a good dj is just like going to a concert and wacthing artist do there thing
 
'SHEEPLE' it's not that complicated. As a DJ we all should 'take' requests. It's part of the job. Whether we play them or not & more importantly 'WHEN' we play them is the secret to your success in the DJ world.

I have a crazy girl, & I mean off the hook crazy come in every Friday to my weekly club gig & shove $5 bucks in my pocket 'cause she knows I'll take care of her. She leaves the choices up to me, but when I hear LOUD banging on the walls, I know she's a happy camper lol

Most clubs I do, I usually get 'I know you'll play what I like, but I'm just coming to say Hi' I get at least 10-20 compliments a night from the punters at my Friday Club gig. Trust me when I say pleasing the punters at a Gay & Lesbian Club is NOT easy to do. Took me a while to earn their respect as 'the straight' DJ. Now they wouldn't have anyone else to work their club.

When push comes to shove, I decide what gets played & when as every night is different.

Try taking your playlist from the previous week if you had a great set & play the same set the following week & I bet you dollars to donuts it won't have the same effect. I've tried it for fun. Same set was killer the previous week & I changed it up the following week to adjust to the crowd. That's what we do. Read the crowd! (if you can't do that you are not going to last long as a DJ anywhere, especially a well paid one)

If I have a particularly killer set I will copy & paste it into a folder for future reference. Other than that my sets are ALL mixed live, no pre-thought into what I'm going to play that night other than to throw the new ''bangers'' in if there happen to be any that week.

& yes Charlie even us University & College educated 'Dummies' who have had multiple weekly club gigs for over 20+ years on top of all the other events, karaoke & music trivia gigs, take requests.

 
DJRobin Hamilton, I agree with so much of what you have said, that it's crazy. When asked, "do you take request", I reply "No, but I listen to what you have to say". After they tell me what they want, I reply that "I'll see what I can do". This keeps them from treating me like a jukebox, but let them know I am approachable. The truth of the matter is, if it is a great song, it was going to get played anyway. However, it will be played when I think it fits. Yes, I mix everything. This software allows me to transition from 77 to 144 bpm, without blinking an eye. I would not dream of leaving the booth, and letting the software mix for me. I am not bashing anyone that does this, it is just not for me. If the owner wanted to hear what you selfish people wanted to hear all night, he would not have hired me. He knows my philosophy, and we agreed to it. When I hire a plumber, I don't stand over him, and tell him how to sweat a pipe. I do not play a song twice, ever. I don't care that you just got here. The next person will tell me the exact same thing. I don't take money, because then you own me, and I am beholden to you. If you are an asshole about it, I can be a bigger asshole. When I do weddings, we have agreed that there will be no request. This puts the weight on the bride and groom. I tell them the same thing as above. Some times they make a really good request. Hey, it happens. Do I play it? Yes, when I think it will fit. Sometimes, it may be the next song up. I take it off, so they do not think I played it for them. I don't know about the rest of you, but I need peace of mind when I perform. I do not use play list, I have no idea what I am going to play next. I am constantly re-evaluating the vibe in the room. As said in the previous post, what worked yesterday, won't work today. When you ask me for a request, you are interrupting my frame of thought. No, you were not appointed by everyone in the club to ask for the hottest song. They may actually be tired of it, and you are new to the scene. I did not get this far by being mean, or arrogant, but I am firm and to the point. I do not have time to chit chat, and talk about a bunch of bullshit. I am working here, people. Not for nothing but that thing about the customer always being right, is also bullshit. Blasphemy, you say. Well, I am also a customer, and I know for a fact that I am not always right. We don't even know where that came from, yet we have all fallen for it. It was a good business practice, and something I tell my employees, but it is bullshit. How many of these customers are thrown out of clubs every night, with extreme prejudice? There are clients that I will never work for again. I have had one of my stylist go off on a bride, in my salon, on a packed Saturday, and every other client applauded when she finally left. So enough said about that.


Now, are there exceptions to my rule? Yes there are. If I am doing a little kiddie party, request. Sweet sixteen, request. A gentleman's club in Brooklyn, full of alleged members of some alleged crime family, throwing large amounts of cash at me? Why yes, I am a jukebox. That's it.
 
I approve this message! ^^^^^

Here's a little something to add some humor to this thread. Please note that it has explicit content.
 
Dude's

Request's are just Request's You don't half to play them at all if you don't want to and at the second they request it either.
But there's a one in a million there's always that one guy at the bar/club that would like to beat you for playing the wrong song that he doesn't like (Had this experience last weekend) But his best friend was alcohol so yea Request's are just Request's ;)
 
some of you guys are going about this all wrong.....if your at a club where your going to be busy, just put up a big sign that says " Song Requests £1 each" then see how inundated you become with requests. :D at least that way it puts a lot of people off requesting and those who really do want to, make you extra cash.
 
Drunk people can't read Blu
 
I, at the most, get about 3 or 4 requests a night...normally for something that won't fit into my set unless I trainwreck it (not going to happen)...so I normally just say "I'll take a look and see what I can do", then get back to my set. If I can fit it in, I will - mind you it's normally a remix that they weren't expecting.

For me, I'm there to please the majority of the people, not a minority that want something specialised - I normally play Commercial Dance...
 
Simon Bailey wrote :
I, at the most, get about 3 or 4 requests a night...normally for something that won't fit into my set unless I trainwreck it (not going to happen)...so I normally just say "I'll take a look and see what I can do", then get back to my set. If I can fit it in, I will - mind you it's normally a remix that they weren't expecting.

For me, I'm there to please the majority of the people, not a minority that want something specialised - I normally play Commercial Dance...


+1 on that... Although last night was a different story and I didn't have much choice in the matter as it was for a *spoilt* punter and not the collective customers or venue, I have to say it was hell for me as I like the music to flow and it was impossible to do with this playlist.

I take requests when that I get them, it happens more often with mobile gigs (I've had very few reqeusts in clubs recently)... When you look into the crowed and see what gets them going and stick to it, you find a lot of the time anything that they think up to request, you play before they ask for it.

Saturday night was an interesting one... Someone asked for a song, I said I'd get it in when I take the tempo up a bit (which I did), and then about 5 minutes after that song (and every 5 minutes after that) the same guy kept coming up and asking for the same song (as well as telling me that his son was a DJ and went on tour with JLS)... Don't you just love drunk people :o).

Si
 
The People Pay The Bills In The Club Or Bar. I Take Requests For Me To Keep Up With Whats Hot And To Make Them Happy,I Ask Them To Put It On My Requests/Birthday List Paper,Then I Will Say I Will Try To Play It Before The Nights Over.
 
superaceman wrote :
it's not uncommon to play house, rock, country, soca, reggae, hip hop, R&B, top 40... you name it, they want it! It's a very unique situation.





My man... If you can do ALL OF THAT and pull it off, More Power To Ya!!!

I try to not be in a situation to take requests. It's rare that I get em. I have done shows where I got a rush of people asking for requests and what I did.....

Paused the music and asked for the attention of the crowd. I said " I have some rules for this here. Rule #1 is NO REQUESTS!!! 98% of what you are gonna ask me to play, i'm already gonna play so don't bug me to death. It's coming. The other 2% i'm not gonna play regardless so asking me won't help. Rule #2: PARTY AND HAVE A GREAT TIME!!!! I keep it real simple."

Funny enough, Everyone had a blast cause I (THE DJ) controlled the show. I control the pace, the mood, the tempo. I CONTROL YOUR EMOTIONS....

Believe it or not, we as Dj's hold a LOT of power over a mass of people when we play. I do this for a living. It's my job.

I remember once this drunk lady was getting on my nerves SOOOOO much telling me what I should play and when I should play it. Granted, I have a PACKED DANCE FLOOR. Had a packed dance floor all night.

I says to her, "Look lady, do I go to your job and tell you how to do it? GO PARTY and let me do my job!!!"

Sounds cruel but it worked. She came back to me and said "That was the best analogy you could have said to me. I'm sorry baby. You did your thing tonight. You were rocking all night long. Thank you Mr. DJ"

What can I say, I'm a mean DJ.
 
dunno about the rest of you but.....

personally.......i DO take requests & advertise over the mic that i am ready for them....

ok...i only do pub work....which means you HAVE to connect with the punters 1 on 1...

9.30 - 11pm...any requests are usually older songs - 70's/80's/90's...

11pm onwards we get the younger crowd in....00's + all the recent chart stuff + the odd bit of cheese !.drunk people luv cheesy songs....


i had a group of girls ( 20's ) in 3wks ago......10.30pm...one come up and asks for some bloody song i aint never heard of......ok i said, i,ll have a look and see if i got it...

1000's of songs and nope...not this one......it was some odd ball song from the 50's for gods sake ( bar owner told me later - even she hadnt heard it for years ) .

these girls were sitting with there i-phones texting....think they were taking the piss....prob texting there granny for the oldest song she can remember..grrr.

but, on the whole...i take requests cause it makes the punter feel special when you say there name and request over the mic....easy pleased up here :-).

happy punters...very happy bar owner = constant work for me :-)

also....as for crappy song requsets - susan boyle ect.....it depends who is in the bar at the time......not many people in...i WILL play the crappy song...bar full of 20 somethings..er...no...but if they ask later wheres my song - sorry, its taking me a while to get through all the requests tonight....works every time..sorted


ps...if i was doing clubs i dunno....pub gigs you can get away with the odd cock up ( covered up easy enough with bit of humour )....in a club with 100's people, you miss a cue point or bugger up the flow of music....you stand out like a right twat !
 
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