Over To You: Best Music For My Office Christmas Party?

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. 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!