Playing a Christmas party can be a challenge, but big pop favourites is your safest option.
Reader Bronson from Auckland, New Zealand, writes: “I am in charge of the music for our works end-of-year function, and I kind of have a playlist sorted, but I’m not sure how to play it.
“I have a very mixed-aged work place, so I’m aiming to play something to please everyone. We are going to be cruising around the harbour for four and half hours from 7pm, with food, games to get everyone in the mood and then drinking and partying…
“Since I’m still young I don’t have a lot of older music. One of my mates has lent me some old school sounds, but I’m still lost as to what to add to an already full playlist.
“At the moment I have a lot of current music they play on the radio and a lot of dance jams. but aim to play some Xmas carols and older-type music too. Can you shed some light please?”
Digital DJ Tips says:
If you’re planning to play carols, older-type music etc, you should definitely do this stuff as an introduction to the evening, when people are chatting, eating, settling down and having their first few drinks.
Don’t try and play any dance that isn’t big pop crossover dance, as it’s a works Christmas do, not a sophisticated club night.
It might be mixed age group but younger folk are more likely to dance first. The biggest pop records of the year are your friend, moving towards to biggest pop records of the decade (or decades!) towards the end of your set. Certainly don’t try and play any dance that isn’t big pop crossover dance, as it’s a works Christmas do, not a sophisticated club night.
Remember people probably won’t dance too much on a mid-evening boat cruise, so don’t worry too much if people just want to chat and eat. Your job in that case it to set the mood and keep things happy.
Over to you: Have you been in a similar situation? How did you deal with it? Are you DJing your works Christmas party this year? Please let Bronson know your advice in the comments!
Now go to:
How To Play Your First Digital DJ Set
3 Must-Read Books for Every Digital DJ’s Christmas Wish List
What Pop Concerts Can Teach You About DJing
Want to escape the bedroom and play in public - fast?
Our 1000s-selling How To Digital DJ Fast video course shows you how.
Learn to DJ Free - email course plus bonus PDF book
Sign up for our weekly email course for beginners now...
Trouble choosing a controller? Visit the web's #1 guide!
DJ Controllers: The Ultimate Buyer’s Guide 2013.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Sticking to Top 40 Billboard IMO is your best (and safest) bet. Billboard just released their year end chart, you can use it as a guideline. also don’t forget some Christmas anthem (Last Christmas, Children etc.) they would make a nice positive change of mood amidst Top 40 dance tracks. just don’t hit them with dubstep/DnB/etc.
[ link ]I disagree sticking to top 40 is not a good idea start the night with the slower sing a long tunes and Christmas songs til after dinner then some top 40 til people are drunk and bring out the old stuff and then finish with your best stuff for the last hour. I have rocked quite a few of these parties
[ link ]I’d probably play it somewhat like a wedding, only not with all the cheese.
The last office party I went to the DJ simply played Top 40 and plenty of 70s, 80s, and 90s anthems.
[ link ]I aggree. That’s pretty much what I playd last weekend at my company’s Christmas party, and it went well
[ link ]Recently, I somewhat did what DJThirtySeven suggested. I started out with slower music. This wasn’t an office party. During a city event, I played music in front of the bar. I mixed in known versions of Christmas with unknown versions. I even played Christmas in Hollis by Run DMC. I didn’t gather a huge crowd. Yet, I saw people dancing in the parking lot in front of me. Also, some folks smiled when they passed by me. Hope this helps.
[ link ]Played a gig like that last night, 300+ at a skiresort in sweden. I played much like D-Jam suggested, like a wedding w/o the cheesy stuff.
Here are some of the tunes that worked especially good.
Mustang sally-Commitments
You cant hurry love-Phil Collins
Hey Boy – Teddybears
Danza Kuduro
Rockafella skank-Fatboy slim
Moves like Jagger – Maroon five
Bad moon rising-John Fogerty
La bamba-Los Lobos
Shoop shoop song – Cher
Poker face-Lady gaga
Summer of 69-Bryan Adams
Hey ya-Outcast
Blame it on the boogie-MJ
What is love-Haddaway
It’s my life-Bon Jovi
Beds are burning-Midnight oil
Long train running-Doobie brothers
We found love-Rihanna
I din’t feel like dancin´-Scissor sisters
More tunes at http://www.djflyer.se/mest-spelade.html
[ link ]Yes you really cut all the cheese…
[ link ]That what Bronson needs to learn
[ link ]I played skrillex, swedish hm, avicci, calvin harris, chuckie, afrojack too but that would not help him…….
I love that list and after a gig I played on December 10th, I totally get it.
I was following a fantastic live band that was doing a Blues Brothers tribute. I had lots of classic soul and blues lined up to play and I did play *some* but I had a lot of requests for modern R&B and some old 70′s UK pop songs. I played those and they went down a treat.
Seeing happy folks on the dancefloor really does reward the hard work involved.
[ link ]Im sure they wouldnt mind if you melted their faces with a hard hitting set
[ link ]Ive been doing loads of christmas parties this year and have found that no amount of prep for a playlist of sorts works as The best thing to do is to aproach the organiser of the party upon arrival and ask what type of music they would like to start off the evening. Then while they are eating and you are playing backround music you can dig out some tracks that they like then play it by ear sfter that ie current charts with 80s and christmas mixes thrown in
Most of all have a good time
[ link ]School of rock, FASHO!!! Ya, I agree. People come to party around the holidays I mean its not a funeral and people dont want to start off by going to sleep. Hit em and keep em all night long! Merry Christmas…DJ Malarky out!
[ link ]When people are eating you def want to take it with the happy slow holiday jams. When 50% people are done eating and standing up, pick up the pace with some classic funk if you want to be safe. Keep an eye on your crowd to see how they react. Suggest they step up and make a request.
[ link ]I had a group this weekend that suggested Shakira and reggaeton which TOTALLY threw me for a loop as I only had about 30 minutes of that style. But they were all dancing….sometimes you just dont know. Apparently the year before people were wasted and getting crazy. The venue knew about it and told them to keep things tame. Kinda made the night boring, especially since they told me I couldnt drink. Weak.
I played my own office party the last two years in a row… this year I am guest of honour!
I think you don’t have to stay completely mainstream; don’t forget DJ Fresh is drum and bass and that was number 1 for some time. As I write this the UK number 1 is an electro house stomper (Rihanna and Calvin Harris). As long as you keep the dancefloor, anything goes, that’s what I say!
PlusDJ
[ link ]A little bit of advice that might help you out, Don’t forget your Michael Jackson tunes. They are gold for both the young and old crowd. And if you want some ideas on mixing young and old tracks together, watch some videos of DJ AM on youtube. Though he gets bashed after his death from over dosing, Adam Goldstein was a genius for his ability to mix all different kinds of generes of music all from all eras. Think MJ with some Johnny Cash into some a-ha take on me and drop into some Calvin Harris or some other kind of EDM style.
[ link ]Any Christmas set must include “Disco Christmas” by Universal Robot Band.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NEnSkpbmCY&feature=youtu.be
[ link ]For early evening there are some great Motown soul versions of Christmas classics. Just type “Motown Christmas” into youtube and you’ll get the idea.
Then there are some compilations out there of electronic cover versions of old Christmas classics. Check out “Merry Mixmas” for example.
http://www.amazon.com/Merry-Mixmas-Various-Artists/dp/B000B66PR0
They work well, cos average-Joe punters recognize the tracks but are impressed that you sought out interesting versions of them.
As the party gets going, feel free to get mainstream cheesy! It’s an all-ages, all-tastes crowd, so they’re gonna want to hear what they know.
Good luck!
[ link ]We normally go with a DJ, but back in 2011 we decided to go the live music route instead. Such a huge change in atmosphere, all of our employees had such a great time. We went with a Top-40 variety “mix” type of band, they played the 70′s, 80′s, 90′s and current stuff, took song requests, etc. They even packaged in a DJ that played music between breaks, I believe we booking them through a company called Spektra Entertainment http://www.spektragroup.com but they specialize in live music for holiday parties and such. Either way, having a DJ only vs. live entertainment is a no brainer anymore. This year I am thinking we go with an 80′s cover / tribute style band.
[ link ]