Why DJing for Free Is a Bad Idea

DJing is the best job in the world. You get to play music you love for other people, and seeing them dance to it, smile and enjoy themselves is a huge reward in and of itself. Add to it the sheer glamour of being the “Mr./Ms. DJ”, and getting paid for your work becomes an afterthought at best. So much that you might be willing to play for free just to get another fix of being behind the decks. It all helps your exposure, you tell yourself.

Don’t do it.

Don’t get me wrong – I know that most of us are in DJing for the love of music, dancing or both. But DJing is real work, and it deserves to be paid for. Here are 4 reasons why I believe that you should never DJ for free.

1. Free work is not appreciated. Dan Kennedy, a marketing guru, likes to say: “Do nothing free.” He doesn’t mean that you should be a selfish bastard demanding payment for every little thing that you do for others. But professionally, you might as well be. You see, work done for free is generally not appreciated and respected, and you are likely to get pushed around much more than when you charge for your services. Dan likes to repeat that the customers who happen to get to his events for free consistently end up being the biggest pain.
2. DJing for free hurts your self-image. Every time you DJ for free, you tell your inner self that what you do is not good enough to be worth paying for. That impacts your self-confidence, which in turn negatively impacts your performance as a DJ. Don’t position yourself as an amateur, both to yourself and others.
3. It’s not sustainable. To stay on top of your DJ game, you need to buy music and take care of your gear. All of it costs money, and if you’re not making any money DJing, then it has to come from other sources, e.g. your day job. It’s OK if you perceive DJing as a hobby on the side, but don’t expect any extraordinary results with this kind of attitude.
4. You hurt other DJs. By playing for free, you contribute to lowering the perceived value of DJing and put additional pressure on other DJs who are charging for what they do. And when DJing doesn’t pay money to anyone, where are the quality music and showmanship going to come from? (See point 3 above.)

Now that we’re clear that DJing for free is not an option, should you always insist on being paid in cash, or getting a free drink or a taxi ride home instead is also OK? I prefer cash, but whatever the case may be, you should always be getting something tangible in exchange for your work.

Beware the Pay to Play

You might think that playing for free is bad enough, but you may actually be offered to pay for a chance to get your foot in the door of the DJ booth. Paying to play comes in many forms – from an actual cash payment to playing an out-of-town gig for free where you have to pay for travel and accommodation yourself. Mixmag has a whole piece on the evils of pay to play, but the bottom line is the same: don’t do it.

To sum up, I can’t think of many situations where it would be OK to play for free, apart from maybe DJing at a family event. Otherwise, DJing for free hurts yourself and others and is a burden to your DJ career. Do us all a favor and stay away from it.

Would you DJ for free? Have you ever been offered to pay to play? Share your stories in the comment section below!