DJ lineup booking and building

These are the points specific to lineup building.

• Schedule(s) to cover Even though the event is ongoing from say 6PM to 12AM, maybe there’s only a need for DJays from 8PM to 12AM?
• Desired DJ set length
  This depends on the atmosphere of the event but how long would it be desirable for each DJ to play?
  Set length ideas

  • Shorter (~1h/slot) for artist-focused shows
  • Longer (~2h/slot) for atmosphere driven nights

  Ideally not mixing both kind of lineups in the same event but can be done!

• Number of DJ slots available
  Determined by the schedule(s) total length divided by the desired running time.
  Quick example of an event I helped set their timeslots

  6PM to 2AM ➡️ 8 hours of DJ sets ÷ 2 hours sets = 4 artists to book into a lineup

These are the other bits that must be known for operating the event’s entertainment.

• Compensation available for guest DJays
  Can vary depending on the event but important to note if there is a budget, fixed rates or specific accommodations for guest DJs (if any).
  A good starting point for smaller events is crediting the general admission and base services (like coat checking) as these are easy to absorb in operating costs.
• DJ gear provided by the house
  A bit more rare outside of big events, but if there is equipment available for use by guest DJays, it is important to keep note of it!
• Possibility to run complex / atypical setups
  Can live music be performed with instruments, Launchpads, keyboards and so on? Or maybe it’s preferable not to?
  Of course, this varies by event as some are looking for DJays only.
• Need for video material for animations
  This is a bit less straightforward, but when there are visuals displayed on screens around performers, we usually have a logo from the artist to put up on screen alongside the event’s. Often, the artist will have their own animations to put on screens while they’re playing. So, knowing about that need will be handy later for backline duties.

The main part of the survey or conversation with them.

• Stage name for this event
  What name they’d like us to use for marketing and other public communications.

• Performer bio
  Optional but helps understanding the performer’s context and is often useful for marketing purposes.

• Music style to expect
  Handy for filtering and, again, marketing purposes!

• Other music style(s) comfortable to play (if any)
  More useful for backup purposes than anything if coordinator is not taking on backup duties or there’s any need to extend their slot. It really depend on the level of stakes with the event. Some events just bring the next performers on stage early when someone’s missing and the DJ currently playing will run until that next act is ready.

• Promo / demo recording
  Depending on the platform used, it could be a file upload field and / or a text field to allow them providing a public link.

  Do not forget to mention required specs like length and file format!
  Do not provide a public cloud storage folder!

  It often allows seeing everyone who applied (bad for privacy) and allows applicants to delete other people’s demos!

This last bit is often optional and usually applies only if the event has a social media strategy involving guest performers on posts (like in mentions or collaborative publications).

• Website and / or social media pages
  For @mentions and other links in the event’s posts.
• Social media manager’s contact (if any)
  Useful for coordinating marketing on socials as sometimes the artists have people hired to manage their social media accounts.

Here, we’re rating how skilled the performer was in the recording. We go over different skills on a scale of 1 to 3, higher being better. Of course, I always note down some comments about each rating as it helps comparing and explaining during discussions.

• Basic DJ skill check
  Usually kept at high score but serves as a gate that knocks down points for DJs that regularly misses their beatmatching or other base skills. Any accidents or mishaps that are one-offs (and not numerous) are tolerated.
• Music selection
  Checking on if the music played made sense and enabled the mix to flow nicely.
• Mixing / Transitions
  Looking at how good were the transitions between songs and if there was any surprise that came up during listening (routines, unexpected turns, etc).
• SFX usage
  Verifying if the sound effects used made sense in the mix. Also, if any of them felt out of place, overdone or unbalanced (too loud, out of sync, etc). When none are perceived / heard, defaults to a medium rating to allow candidates that use SFXs creatively (and sounded great doing it) to stand out.
• Overall fit with the event
  Of course, rating if the style sound appropriate for the event we’re looking to build. Incoroporating yearly themes are not always considered as this has forced some DJays to play songs that actually felt out of place or were just not good.

This section only happens if the candidate already played at this event before. It serves as a way to steer toward candidates that were the most appreciated in past editions of the event and also to prevent selecting the same performers for many years in a row. The rating is also on a scale of 1 to 3 where higher is better.

• Perception from attendees
  Checking if they were appreciated by the attendees of the event. We don’t want to book someone that didn’t fit or was not liked by the guests.

• Performance quality
  Noting if the artist delivered a good show at the event in the past. Of course, extraordinary mishaps that may have happened that could have negatively impacted their performance are ignored here. It’s pretty rare to have a bad note here unless we ended up booking the wrong person for the event or they were a no-show.

• Perception from staff
  This one is meant more as a defence line against disc-jockeys that are particularly unenjoyable to work with. We value our staff and we want to keep their working environment sane and safe so that we can keep doing that event next year. It’s pretty rare but it still happens sometimes and when it does, we usually give a year or two of pause before booking them again. It allows some time for things to change on both sides of the equation.

• Booking years streak
  This is the gate used to prevent booking the same people continuously. Every consecutive year the DJ played at the event prior to last edition deducts a point.
  It is meant to allow playing up to two years in a row and discourage booking the same people every time. Showing up under a different alias or in a different formation (b2b with friends for example) does not count as consecutive years.

  Num. years played	Rating
  0 year (never played)	3 (slightly boosting newcomers)
  1 year (played last year only)	2
  2 years in a row	1
  3+ years in a row	0

  Of course, there are cases where an exception can be warranted here. Those are usually only granted to attendees’ favourites when there is a limited pool to select from.

This page would be asked to DJays only if they’d answered to be using their own personal equipment and is meant to gather all of the useful information for AV to prepare.

• Make and model of mixer / console / controller
  I found it was easier to check directly the I/O specifications of their hardware than asking them to provide us all of the details.
  There will be artists who aren’t tech savvy and won’t know anything about their equipment and that is fine. We’re just trying to accomodate and help them.

• Main audio outputs
  If it is preferred to go the route of asking DJs to provide connection details, we’d make it a radio button list with a choice to select.

  Typical connections

  • 2*XLR
  • 2*JACK-TRS
  • 2*RCA

• Booth audio outputs (if known)
  This isn’t always possible to use depending on the show’s setup and also the performer’s hardware. But it is handled the same as the previous question. It is meant to allow them to use their Booth audio outputs and controls on stage.

• Number of needed power outlets
  Usually it would be only one, but we prefer to ask as sometimes they won’t have their own powerbar to power multiple devices at once.

  Controller DJays usually need two power outlets

  One for their computer and the other for the controller.

These questions are really aimed at gathering info on how they plan to use our own DJ gear during their performance as some details may have a great impact on setting up. Of course, please adapt to the gear that is provided.

• Playback library medium
  Usually a radio buttons list containing all of the ways they can / are allowed to use to play on the equipment.

  Example of a fully available AlphaTheta XDJ-AZ

  They’d have the following options to choose from.

  • USB thumb drive on the unit (usual setup)
  • Laptop with Rekordbox’ Link Export mode over the network
  • Laptop with Rekordbox’ Link Export mode via USB
  • Laptop with Rekordbox’ Performance mode via USB

  Check out their instruction manual for the unit for more information.

• Additional equipment / special request (no promises on possibility)
  Again, that is one question that will depend on how the event and the technical side of things is organized and what is actually possible to do.
  But this usually serves as an opportunity for some DJays to mention they’d like to plug in their drum machine or have an effects processor added to the setup (like the AlphaTheta RMX-IGNITE) for example.