Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the person playing the songs on the iPod the "DJ"?

Posted by: pussyctrl at August 24, 2007 7:15 PM

The problem will DJing is that there are just so many bad DJs. With other musical endeavers, you get the good and then you get a lot of mediocrity -- mediocre rappers, mediocre rock bands, mediocre singers, etc. With DJing, there are so few good DJs and so many that are just plain bad. Since people aren't exposed enough to good DJing, it's not all that appreciated. What most "DJs" is really simple, so the whole concept of DJing ends up appearing simple to most people. This leads people to believe that they can be DJ by doing simple things.

With rap, rock, etc., there are built-in ways to hide that you're just not good or creative -- you can mimic others that and tweak it just a little, you can fine tune your songs, you can mess with the sound, etc.

With DJing, you can't hide the fact that you can't mix or cut, don't know enough about the music, don't have rhythm or coordination. It's really transparent.

A good DJ will creatively and precisely blend and scratch (what the f does a CD or iPod DJ do? Scroll through tracks and hit play?) through a sequence to make it sound fresh and lively. But being a good DJ takes a lot a dexterity, rhythm, enormous music knowledge and understanding, and spontaneous creativity. And you can't take lessons for most of that or coattail the work of others.

You shouldn't be paying a wedding DJ. Anyone can buy a bunch of popular hits and hit play a bunch of times. Plus, shouldn't a music writer have connections you can use to get a talented DJ at your wedding?

Posted by: Nen at August 25, 2007 3:06 AM

I'm getting married next year and considering the playlist approach, so I'll definitely wanna hear how it turns out for you, Tom. Playing shit like "We Takin' Over" at a wedding sounds like a horrible idea to me, though, I'm trying to draw a very fine line between the 5% of the music I like that's appropriate at that kind of event and everything else I should just listen to on my own time.

Posted by: GovernmentNames at August 25, 2007 10:50 PM

I wish I lived in a parallel dimension where I could get Amon Tobin to Dj my wedding just to see the expression on all the old folk's faces. I think it would scare the bejesus outta all the old codgers in my extended family. After seeing Tobin annihilate the Rocks off cruise a week ago it definitely refreshed my memory as to what a really good DJ/Music junkie is capable of pulling off behind the turntables.

Posted by: Panthro at August 26, 2007 9:42 AM

As a Wedding DJ for over 20 years, I can tell you unequivocally from reading this article that it's author is a PIB: pain in the butt.

That being said, it doesn't mean he doesn't have a point. The truth of the matter is there are more good parties than there are good DJ's.

A good wedding DJ should be able to do it ALL; that is, switch to a club mode, just as soon as being able to switch into cheese if needed. What works for a young couple from Tribeca won't necessarily work at the Fire Department fundraiser in Ronkonkoma.

But ours is an art...the art of successfully being "all things, to all people." It's a virtually impossible task.

My personal opinion/advice regarding wedding music? Give your DJ a list of DONTS (example..."no cha-cha slide") as well as the DOs.

If your guests are into it, and want a chicken dance after a few cocktails..heck, let him roll...it'll make for a memorable fun day. You've got the rest of your life to show off your eclectic music tastes to your friends and family.

Eg:

"You've just GOT to hear this CD I picked up on my fact finding mission to IBIZA last spring."

Good luck with it!

Posted by: djbuddy at August 26, 2007 2:50 PM

Congrats on getting married! I got married about a month ago, and we faced a similar dilemma. We decided to go with the ipod playlist approach, and it worked out great. In contrast, the DJ'ed weddings that I've been to lately have been a bit lame. The industry is sort of an aging one, so the DJ's tend not to be very hip to what a young, smart crowd wants to hear. Another good option is having a friend DJ as a wedding present. A guy like you has got to have a friend or two who aspires to DJ, no?

Posted by: jamie radford at August 27, 2007 9:51 AM

*sigh* this stuff again. Every time a new technology comes out, people sound the death knoll for the DJ industry.

Good DJs aren't going anywhere. Good Club DJs know how to bring crowds up and bring them down through transitions and seleciton. Good Mobile DJs do the same thing, only through a different, usually vocal, type of interaction.

Until an iPod/Computer/whatever the heck else pops up can read a crowd better than an experienced human, there will be work for both Club and Mobile DJs.

Posted by: MC/DJ Walter Varner at August 27, 2007 5:32 PM

As a wedding DJ for the past 13 years, I'd like to make a comment or two.

First of all, in order to be hired by a nightclub owner, a club DJ must have talent. To be hired as a wedding DJ, most couples are only concerned with one thing--cost.

The reason you see poorly skilled DJs at most weddings is the simple fact that most brides and grooms are unwilling to spend the money necessary to hire quality entertainment. They have already spend most of their budget on ice sculptures, chair covers, and illegally copied CDs that they give out as favors.

Actually, DJ'ing at a nightclub is a breeze when compared to doing a proper job at a wedding. At a nightclub, you do not have to take requests, you do not have to interact with the crowd, you have an age range of maybe 5 years, you have only to play the latest and greatest hits, and everyone is there to get drunk and meet the opposite sex.

At a wedding, in addition to creating the dance, you have to do cocktail and dinner music, perform Master of Ceremony duties, satisfy the musical tastes of people from 1 to 91 from all kinds of geographic areas and ethnic backgrounds. You have to know all musical styles and genres from the 1930s until what came out yesterday--not only what's on the radio but also what's hot on Youtube and on iTunes and other areas.

And it's gotten harder due in part to the current generation's concern being mainly about their own musical tastes instead of what their guests may like to hear. Everyone thinks that their taste in music is the best and that their guests should be subjected to 3 or more hours of what the groom's favorite artists are. Kind of like how everyone thinks they can sing and decide they are good enough to try out for American Idol.

Like in any industry, there are good and bad DJs. Unfortunately, its only the bad ones that you ever hear about. Same as the evening news where 58 minutes are devoted to bad news and only 2 minutes at most is about what's good.

Start a trend, spend at least 10% of your wedding budget on the person who could make or break your event.

Posted by: George Nielsen at August 27, 2007 8:39 PM

I'm sure you're hoping for the best with your solution for your wedding, but I fear that instead of getting the "best of both worlds," by your solution, you'll end up with nothing but a bad compromise.

Hiring a DJ to 'read the crowd' was a smart move. But you've hand-cuffed him by insisting he play from your short list of songs.

If you took the playlist from ten average weddings and compared them, you'll discover that a large percentage of the songs played at each of those weddings were also played at some of the other weddings. Sure that sort of duplication leads people to think all weddings DJs are the same or play the same music, and they all play cheesy music, but that's just not the case.

A good wedding DJ can play the Chicken Dance without it being cheesy. Similarly, a good wedding DJ doesn't need to play the Chicken Dance at every wedding.

Posted by: Teddy Bear at August 27, 2007 11:28 PM

Although I'm not married and won't be anytime soon, this seems to me like a common problem I, as a music-obsessive, come across all the time when I have to hand over playlist-programing to someone else. For example in a long car trip or even a house party at someone else's house. I think for me, it's been about learning to trust another person's music selections and admitting that as awesome as I think my taste in music is, maybe another person could have awesome taste in music too. A DJ perhaps?

Posted by: magnetclub at August 28, 2007 10:17 AM

Always remember, you get what you pay for. If you want a cheap no frills wedding, and you want to remember it as such, as well as your guests thinking you are Mr & Mrs Cheap, no matter how much you try to sell them on the idea that you were just being frugal, then please by all means hire DJ IPOD. When you have no one to direct and lead your event and your guests are not sure whats going on, you'll wished you had hired a DJ. At my weddings, when things are going as the bride had hoped, I step in and ask how I can help. If there is a catering issue, a cake issue, they forgot to plan something, whatever it is, I step in and try to solve the problem for them. I feel it is my duty as the MC and DJ, to keep the situation under control even if it is not my Job, and make the bride happy. I go way above and beyond the job of a DJ. I pretty much act as the wedding coordinator. Now I know a lot of DJ's won't do this, but this is what separates the good from the bad. I don't charge outrageous prices either, as I think I am being paid a fair amount, and don't mind throwing in the extras. My point is that, you will never get that chance to have any of this if you hire a friend who thinks he just needs to press play, or set up an ipod. Do you really want to take the chance and hope everything goes well on the most important day of your life? Just a thought. Best of luck on your choice.

Posted by: DJ Chad Allen at March 3, 2009 12:13 AM

I have an idea. Have your iPod wedding and just push play. Then wait for all the fantastic memories at your stupid wedding reception. Get your dress at Target. Get your cake from Chucky Cheese. Get your flowers from behind your mobile home trailer. And get your fiance from MySpace. Oh and congratulations on your engagement.

Posted by: Tex Tone at March 3, 2009 9:45 AM

This post is so good I'm copying and pasting here again. Being a mobile dj, published songwriter and musician I couldn't have said the following better myself:(nice post George whomever you are:)

As a wedding DJ for the past 13 years, I'd like to make a comment or two.

First of all, in order to be hired by a nightclub owner, a club DJ must have talent. To be hired as a wedding DJ, most couples are only concerned with one thing--cost.

The reason you see poorly skilled DJs at most weddings is the simple fact that most brides and grooms are unwilling to spend the money necessary to hire quality entertainment. They have already spend most of their budget on ice sculptures, chair covers, and illegally copied CDs that they give out as favors.

Actually, DJ'ing at a nightclub is a breeze when compared to doing a proper job at a wedding. At a nightclub, you do not have to take requests, you do not have to interact with the crowd, you have an age range of maybe 5 years, you have only to play the latest and greatest hits, and everyone is there to get drunk and meet the opposite sex.

At a wedding, in addition to creating the dance, you have to do cocktail and dinner music, perform Master of Ceremony duties, satisfy the musical tastes of people from 1 to 91 from all kinds of geographic areas and ethnic backgrounds. You have to know all musical styles and genres from the 1930s until what came out yesterday--not only what's on the radio but also what's hot on Youtube and on iTunes and other areas.

And it's gotten harder due in part to the current generation's concern being mainly about their own musical tastes instead of what their guests may like to hear. Everyone thinks that their taste in music is the best and that their guests should be subjected to 3 or more hours of what the groom's favorite artists are. Kind of like how everyone thinks they can sing and decide they are good enough to try out for American Idol.

Like in any industry, there are good and bad DJs. Unfortunately, its only the bad ones that you ever hear about. Same as the evening news where 58 minutes are devoted to bad news and only 2 minutes at most is about what's good.

Start a trend, spend at least 10% of your wedding budget on the person who could make or break your event.

Posted by: George Nielsen at August 27, 2007 8:39 PM

Posted by: David at May 27, 2009 9:32 AM