How well do you plan your DJ sets?

I plan...but not in the conventional sense. I usually have "showcase" pieces which are usually a group of 4 or 5 songs that go really well together. I then string my showcase pieces together in a series of songs and pick 1 or 2 songs to chain them together. I find that this allows me to switch genres every 5-10 songs depending on the showcase. The showcases i pick are directly related to the time of the night I am playing. Opening sets are more funky and melodic with good bouncy songs while the closing showcases are more about banging out and getting that really high energy sound.

I'm only new to the whole DJ world, but here's my take on it.

I used to be a turn up and play guy. I started off doing houseparties like that, and it was actually good, cos it made it easy to sort out requests. However, I started noticing that people at the house parties I played at said the electro-house stuff I was playing was "fucking ace man!" So, as electrohouse is my personal favorite, it became my weapon of choice. I then played 2 gigs in a club that's known for having alternative music nights, i.e., specialist dubstep/house/electro/reggae nights. That allowed me to do an entirely electro-house set, but i still did a turn-up-and-play. At this stage though. I became more and more familiar with what songs go with what other songs, and just became increasingly familiar with my library.

Recently, now that I've some time away from studying (failed my finals btw, so it's back to uni in january, fml) I've started putting much more effort into song/set selection. After that lengthy discussion about "to mix live, or not to mix live," I've got a pre-prepared set for a gig on saturday. I've a few requests from people I know that are going, so this actually gives me time to think about it, and see where to slot them in, and even make a few remixes for the night. To be honest, I like this arrangement of pre-preparing sets.

At this point though, let me get to my concluding/most important point. Prepreparing a set works in this situation. Why? Because I'm known for playing electro-house, and i'm being employed/requested as an electrohouse DJ. Now, if I'm playing through my set, and decide to mix it up a bit, I've the confidence in my own skills (not 1337 skills, but i can do it) to mix live, if i feel the crowd going in a different direction. HOWEVER, if the crowd are liking my set, it can just play through, and I can have fun with effects, and have 1 more drink than usual. (I STRICTLY limit myself to 2 drinks during a set - enough to relax, nowhere near enough to get me drunk.)

Show up. Hit the big green flashy button and let'er rip.

Okay, there is a wee more to it then that... I always load up my set from the last time I played the venue to make sure I'm not playing the same things in the same order. I was guilty of getting stuck in ruts back in my CD days and now with digital keeping a history file for me, those ruts are no more.

I have a few "must play" tracks (usually some brand new bangers) but thats about the only planning I do. I've always got Traktor playlists that I can refer back to.

turn up and play i usually jump genre's at the beginning to way up if i was right about what the people would like once i see a reaction i plan ahead from there if you plan your sets then may as well mix it at home pop it on a cd and just go play the cd in my opinion. practice is needed but not song for song

I sort my songs out in playlists labeled New (Month). I only buy 5-10 songs a month and I play the crap out of them so it helps my sets evolve slowly.

I put my songs in folders by artist if I cant remember when I download them. If I know when I downloaded them, then I sort them by date. I then just go through the folders during my set. I know my songs well enough to know what songs fit what mood.

I got all my music pretty well sorted so it's very easy to pick things up on the fly, as well as a star rating to tell me how intense a track is. In addition to this though, I also create a seperate playlist with everything I'd like to play that night plus an extra hour or so of music. That playlist would be my main go to, the genre breakdown lists are more for last minute changes that can be done quickly.

I always plan every second of the mix, down to the last beat, then when i get behind the decks every time without fail it all goes out the window! Nearly always stick to and opening one or two tracks that are planned, but then between the vibe on the nite/crowd reaction, i invariably go off on one and see where i end up! Having said that, all the practice on certain mixes and tune-selection helps immensely when you're 'on-the-fly', i suppose at the end of the day it always come back to the number one rule of DJ'ing, know your tunes!!! ;-)

Starting out only recently, I planned everything and tried to keep to my playlists rigidly. I found out quickly that 'rigidly' doesn't work any better in DJ'ing any more than any other walk of life I've encountered. If I make myself open to requests I get them and my set changes, sometimes drastically. Now I find it more stressful to have too much of a set built so I use virtual folders in VDJ 7 to give myself a backup in case my mind goes blank (usually a possibility), get some surefire winners lined up and just take it from there...

I don't so much "plan" as "organize extensively". I sort all of my music on the actual hard drive in a fashion that fits my workflow and makes it easy to find the right tune at the right time. For example: My Electro House folder is sorted into lower energy tunes, mid range "grooving along" tunes, trance-y "feel good energy" tunes, and hard heavy bangers.
Each of those folders are then sorted into vocal tracks, instrumental tracks, and recognizable (ie. Top 40) remixes. When playing, I just need too look up the folder for the type of tune I'm feeling like playing.

It's no substitute for knowing your music of course (though sorting through all those tunes is a good way to get to know them), but it sure helps!

I never plan any sets (except if I am making a CD that I will make hundreds of copies of or a competition). My library is to big for that. What I have done is I have organized my go to music into playlist. The playlist are sorted into categories of genre (Mainstream, Urban, Dance etc). Each one off those genres is broken down into BPM ranges. This way I can jump around between genres and BPMs and find most stuff pretty easily...

So I show up...pick something that matches the mood and start playing and see what happens.

I have my music far too organized, but that allows me to move around quickly and not waste time agonizing over the next song. I don't plan ahead though, but I do pick a few songs that I want to be sure to play and then can jump through my music till I get to the perfect spot to play those "must play" tunes.

If I have time, in the week before, I might practice with any new songs I've picked up in the month previous to make sure I know what works well together and if the songs have any tricky bits.

I create a playlist but rarely tend to use it. I am more of a turn up and play but use my pre-created playlist as my 'get out of jail' card. Os when i am running out of ideas, or have a DJ blockhead or running out of a track, i quickly revert to my playlist.
It works so well for me as i can easily adapt to the floor when i play on the fly

I plan to the point that I have certain types of music in certain folders, but beyond that I kind of make it up on the night. Requests always throw rigid playlists out of the window anyway, and I like to be eclectic. There's nothing worse than a DJ you can set your watch by.