The role of the DJ is to gain the trust of the party-goers with his or her music selection and mixing techniques. DJs typically have a sense of the type of music that the crowd would enjoy, but there may be instances that the crowd doesn’t budge or dance much to different genres ranging from hip-hop to rock. What then?
Taking requests and playing them have saved my performance on at least one occasion. Last year, I played at two proms during the month of May. The first prom went very well. I thought I could take similar songs to the second prom the following week. I couldn’t believe how little the guests at the second prom danced to the same songs that rocked the crowd the previous week. Requests were necessary at that point. What did this crowd want to dance to?
I take requests for multiple reasons:
- Requests give me insight into the crowd’s music interest
- Requests give me ideas for what music to download or buy for next time
- Requests make me more personable and available to the crowd
It’s equally important to realize that as a DJ, you’re not a jukebox. I typically have music from all types of genres ready to go at all parties, but it doesn’t mean I have to switch genres after every request. Let requests guide your future song selections, making sure they don’t detract you from your vibe and the sounds currently on the dance floor.
Good read. Couple factors I’d like to say. Weddings and private parties definitely take requests. They’re paying you to make their day/night. Clubs however you get more freedom to what you do. If you want to take requests go for it but make sure it fits in. If it’s a more important person there doing the request (bar owner or something) you should definitely do that
Thanks for checking out my post! Yes you’re absolutely right regarding the points you made.