dj_rubish

I do not enjoy my day job and yet I take money for it. I believe establishing a payrate accomplishes three things:

1. Shows that you are committed and professional. You are showing that you realize there is a business side to this endeavor and you approach it correctly with respect to their needs and how you can fulfill them.

2. It resolves this notion that we have with quantifying everything. The human psyche, in order to gain a grasp of things, quantifies everything, ie. A person is good looking on a scale of 1 to 10, my son is graded from 1 to 100, a movie gets two thumbs up. We cant help that. You are resolving this quantifying notion with your prospective clients by giving them a scale by which to judge you. Money is as good as any other quantifier.

3. Lastly, it is your worth as an entertainer. You should valuate yourself according to what is fair for your location and experience which should not be at 0. It gives you a quantifying scale that you can use to improve yourself. It provides you with confidence when someone pays you for the work you do and it makes you work that much harder because you know that it is a paying gig.

Remember the old adage, you get what you pay for and this is what some may think if you valuate yourself at 0.

SttayPhresh-More than likely that was a matter of the local and state laws governing employment in that type of establishment. Not many an owner/manager/promoter would risk fines and closing their business. But there are laws that do allow 18+ to work in establishments where it is typically 21+, I would verify with the local/state laws to find out the specifics for your area. Unfortunately for 17, the options are more limited. Again it does not hurt to ask though. Your local government employment office may have all this information. Other than that, I would take all the advice above.

Building a scene is a good way to lead. What Phil states is valid though. The unfortunate reality is that if you want a crowd you have to play to what the crowd wants. Even though building a scene sounds good, it is work and it is lonely because if you lead, you isolate yourself from the rest.
D-Jam has a great article on building the scene and it is clearly not for the faint of heart.
Currently the music the OP enjoys is being made, it has not been that long since it was the scene. Think about it, even up to a year or two ago, grunge was still being made! Music and scenes, like everything else is cyclical; you talk about 50 techno parties in NY? I remember when new wave and goth was the scene and there were 50+ parties in NY on a Saturday night for that. Or disco, when there were 150+ parties in NY for that!
He can play out whatever he likes and he does, the OP was upset about the lack of crowds not the lack of his being able to play the music.
Anyone can mix a tape with any type of music, what does that have to do with playing a gig for a crowd.

Bottomline is you can lead and make the scene which is hard work and can provide reward as well as risk or you can play what the crowd, current scene, club management wants you to play and receive some reward with smaller risk.

There is a final third options; do both. Try to build a scene but dont give up the paying gigs that are less than stellar in your eyes.

But ultimately, this whole male bravado thing is unbecoming and crass. Especially considering that there are many very good female dj’s out there.

Take an empty case of Hieneken (or any other beer) and cut the bottom of the box out. When the monitor is not in use, put the box over it, making sure the box is closed and instant hiding place.
Lights are a bit trickier; buy a potted plastic tree with alot of leaves that is about 5 ft tall and place it in front of the lights when not in use.

I do not think it is a matter of agreeing to disagree but more of very experienced people trying to assist the OP with not making an expensive investment that is not worth their time for what they originally stated was the reason for the purchase.

Slate 4 is the Gemini version of the Mixtrack Quad but at the price of the Mixtrack Pro II.

My top ten things that excite me about Digital DJing?
10. Access to music everywhere, music pools, retail, soundcloud mixes.
9. Technology allowing you to do things you couldnt pull off ten years ago.
8. Cost to start has gone down substantially.
7. Library size is not limited by the size of your house anymore.
6. The lines between Djing and production mixing are being blurred.
5. You can produce a live remix on the fly during a live set; setting the stage for the DJ as an artist.
4. Skill takes precedence over having a pair of MK’s.
3. Genre is less of a line (can be) than when vinyl was king.
2. It is the logical next step in the growth of DJing.
1. It is fun to learn something new.