One of my favorite things about DJing is the fact that you can get started making money with just a little bit of skill, music and gear. You’re not going to be making the big bucks, but you can earn enough to upgrade your setup and work your way into DJing full-time.
If I were starting from scratch as a DJ today, here’s the absolute minimum I would need to get my first paid booking:
- Music
- Music you already own (free)
- Spotify Premium ($10/month)
- Promo Only ($10/month)
- Gear
- Anything you own that plays music (free)
- DJ headphones ($20)
- Pro speakers (~$100 rental)
- Skills
- Practice with what you’ve got (free)
- Digital DJ Tips (free to $500)
- Bookings
- Find someone you know who needs a DJ, and get paid!
#1 – Some Music
Chances are very high that you already have enough music in your collection to get started now. You might not have everything anyone would ever want, but that’s okay. It wasn’t that long ago when DJs would physically carry all of their music with them. There was a finite amount of songs you could have.
Nowadays, the entire history of music is only a few clicks away. That’s amazing when you are sitting at home, but it will only cause you trouble at an event. Having endless choices means you will never be able to choose. DJing is an art, and art thrives under constraints.
Spotify and Promo Only
If you need more music to bulk up your collection, there are two really cheap and easy sources to get more music. First, Spotify Premium is only $10 per month. You need Premium so you can download songs offline, and you don’t have ads. This is the cheapest way to get every freakin’ song in existence right now!
Two drawbacks to Spotify: you will get the most options if you have wifi and you’ll need the Algoriddim Djay app to really mix with Spotify. You can get by with just Spotify on your phone or tablet if you have a mixer and a second music source.
There are a zillion music pools out there, but Promo Only is my favorite. It’s super cheap! You can sign up for $12 per month and get access to the last 2 years worth of music in your favorite genre. They are great because they have clean versions of all of your most popular songs, which is really helpful for mobile DJs.
Don’t Overdo It
You only need enough music to get you through the event. I will sort through my collection in advance and make playlists with enough music for about two times the length of the event. This gives me plenty of options without getting stuck diving through the depths of my hard drive.
You will need some organization to make the night easier for you. Start at a high level: separate the music you will DJ with from the music you just like to listen to. I went through my music collection and said to myself, “Would I ever play this at an event?” If the answer is no, the song got filed away.
Once I sorted my collection, I went back through the music I will DJ with using a BPM and key finder. Many of the DJ software programs can do this for you automatically, but the standalone programs tend to do a much better job. I use two free programs, KeyFinder and MixMeister BPM Analyzer. I set up the options to write the detected key and BPM to ID3 tags that I can see in my DJ software.
#2 – Something to play music on
Obviously, you need some sort of gear to play out loud. This is another area where you might already have what you need. The basics are just some kind of speakers, one or two music sources, headphones and a way to put them together.
Speakers
There are lots of speaker options when you are first getting started. I played a number of house parties using just my home stereo at first. It wasn’t fancy and it looked awful, but it got the job done. I did quite a few for free, and I think the first one only paid me $100 for four or five hours. These were those “Hey, I know a guy who’s a DJ” kind of parties.
Be VERY careful if you are using speakers that weren’t designed for a professional setting. It’s easy to turn the volume up too high and blow out your speakers. I only did very small parties back then, and kept a close watch on my levels. If you need to DJ anything bigger than a small house party, I’d recommend renting pro-level speakers. Check out my rental post for advice.
Use whatever you already have if it is a halfway decent option for the event. Most of the people you will DJ for early on will be friends and family anyway. Be honest with them about what you have and what you can do.
Sources and a Mixer
Ideally, you’d want to have two different sources of music and something to mix them together. Mixers and devices have gotten ultra-cheap these days. I carry a mini-mixer from Monoprice in my DJ backpack as my emergency backup. It would be a great option if you are just getting started. If you want something more professional, any 2-channel battle mixer is an excellent place to start. I got my first Stanton 2 channel mixer for $50 new and it still works over 15 years later.
However, many programs like iTunes and Spotify have a built-in crossfading effect that you can turn on. So, you could get by with just a laptop or tablet and a single music source. I did my first few events and even a wedding just using iTunes and dragging the next song under the one currently playing. You effectively become a playlist curator at that point. It definitely limits what you can do, but it works.
My first choice would be something with DJ software. Buy, borrow or rent a DJ controller and a laptop, if you can. If you have a good tablet, you can get also 2 sources with many DJ apps and a simple splitter cable. I recommend the Native Instruments splitter cable. Next best option would be any 2 sources (laptop, smartphone, tablet, iPod) and a cheap mixer. Finally, you can get away with one music source if you have a way to select the next song and crossfade in the software.
Don’t worry about not having the perfect gear. Learning to DJ with what you already have is incredible experience for your future. You will quickly learn how to MacGyver a killer set out of any rig, so you’ll never be intimidated by an unfamiliar setup.
Headphones
You need headphones that can block out outside noise if you are using 2 sources. That way you can listen to the next track while the current one is playing. Most headphones that cover your ears completely will work just fine. If you don’t have any already, buy a pair of my favorite headphones from Monoprice for less than $20.
#3 – Some Skills
Once you have a setup where you can find music, control it and play it out loud, you need to practice with your setup. Every DJ’s gear will function a little bit differently, so you need to get very familiar with yours. You don’t want to be scrambling on the day of the event to remember how to do the most basic stuff. Make sure you can find a song, play it, find another song while it is playing, and get from the first song to the second one smoothly. Do this a bunch of times in advance of the event to make sure that you will be calm on the day of. If you’re playing off a laptop without a DJ controller, you probably want to learn some of the hotkeys for your program. It will help you when you need to do something quickly.
The key here is to make yourself comfortable with your gear and your music. You should know where everything is and be able to DJ with some confidence. The only way to do that is to practice. And, you’ll be surprised how much you want to practice when you’ve got an event coming up really soon!
If you are just getting started as a DJ, I highly recommend Digital DJ Tips. They have some free and low-cost courses to get you started, and many levels of advancement as you improve. Their new “Taster” courses will show you basic skills on specific equipment for free. These basics can apply to almost any DJ setup you have.
If you want to get paid while you learn, find an established local DJ company that is willing to train you. I learned the basics of DJing at my high school radio station, but I didn’t become a DJ until I got my first job with a DJ company. I wasn’t very skilled but I knew how to operate a CD player and a mixer. The owner said I was way ahead of his normal trainee. Don’t be afraid to reach out and learn from someone, even if you are a total newbie. The hands-on skills I gained at that first company stick with me today, and gave me what I needed to break out on my own.
#4 – Someone to pay you (maybe…)
If you are going to be a professional DJ, you need someone to pay you. At the very least, you need someone to play for. I did a couple of free events for friends when I first got started. Even after I was charging, I had a friend who needed a wedding DJ at a place I’ve always dreamed of playing. I did that one for free too.
I’m fine with DJ’ing for free to learn and get experience at first. You should feel like you are getting a lot out of it, though. For me, it would have to be for someone that I knew and I would want to help out. Beware: there are a lot of club promoters out there who prey on new DJs. They ask them to DJ their clubs for “exposure.” They sometimes even require them to bring a certain number of guests. They may even promise you paid work in the future. Be very careful with these people. Realize that if they can convince you to DJ for free, there’s nothing stopping them from getting someone else when you ask to be paid. If you are being asked to play for free by someone who’s making money off an event, that’s a BIG red flag.
You’re likely going to start with friends and family, doing small events where they may not have hired a DJ to begin with. You can ask for a token amount if you feel you can get it. I was making $50-150 per event back then. I eventually settled on a $50 per hour rate while I didn’t have pro-level gear. The best event I did was a nine-hour hotel party, they paid 450 bucks! For reference, I charge $150 per hour with a minimum of 3 hours now (and I’m probably still too cheap).
Take on something low-stakes where you can make a few mistakes and it will be okay (read: NO WEDDINGS, unless the bride and groom super chill with you screwing up royally!). You will learn as you DJ, and hopefully make a few bucks that you can reinvest into more training and better gear.
Your Action Plan
Want to get started right now? Here’s what you need to do:
- Organize your music. Get all your songs that you want to play in the same place, so you can load it into your DJ software (or whatever you have).
- Sign up for Spotify Premium or Promo Only (if needed). Is your music collection too small, or too “out there” for the general population? Sign up for a new account on Spotify or Promo Only now.
- Decide on your playback setup. Do you have at least two sources of music and a way to switch back and forth? Are you going to buy a controller or new software? Make the call and move on. You can always do something different later. Don’t worry about pro speakers, yet.
- Practice with what you’ve got. Now is the time to learn the skills to pay the bills. If you kinda know what your doing already, schedule an hour each day to practice with your new setup until you feel confident. If you haven’t got a clue how to DJ, look for tutorials on YouTube or take a course from Digital DJ Tips.
- Now, find someone to play for. Once you’ve got a little practice under your belt, you’ll feel much more confident selling yourself to paying clients. Talk to your friends and family, and find someone who needs a DJ. Be honest about what you can and can’t do. Avoid weddings, but go after birthdays, barbeques, pool parties, reunions, and any other low key parties. Try to get paid (especially if you have to rent gear), but at the very least, get out there and play!
- Once you’ve got the booking, rent the gear. With the date set, now you can rent pro speakers and anything else you don’t have. Guitar Center is my goto spot for rentals. They are cheap and everywhere. Scope the price out ahead of time so you can charge enough to cover your rental. Pro tip: I always get a full weekend rental. That way, I never have to rush to return gear and I have an extra day to make sure the setup works.
- Practice more! You’ll be surprised how easy it is to find practice time with an event date coming up. Practice, practice, practice until you are ready to go.
- Plan for failure. Remember that you are brand new at this and something is definitely going to go wrong. Give yourself a TON of extra time for setup and try to have a backup plan if something isn’t working. I always have extra music downloaded to my phone that I can just plug in at a moments notice to keep a party going.
In summary…
You need very little to get started. It’s really just some music to play, something to play it on, some knowledge on how to play it, and someone to play for. The most important thing is that you get yourself out there as soon as you have those things ready. Start talking to people you know, see who needs a DJ, and offer your services. You’ll be surprised how quickly you can pull something together once you have a deadline.
