The other day I found myself wondering “what makes a good DJ,” and I’m the type of person to go to Google just about any time I catch myself wondering. Well, some of the answers that I came across about hiring a good DJ leaned pretty heavily on a professional image, top notch equipment, and a huge library of only the biggest hits. When I saw this, it sent up a few red flags. Reason being is because these things are very superficial and are completely meaningless without something solid behind them. Don’t get me wrong, anybody that you pay to do a job should have a level of professionalism, but it needs to go deeper than their “image.” After all, you pay a DJ to sound good, not to look good (side note: this is not an excuse to dress and look sloppy). So I dug deeper and after reading through some of these articles, I decided to break it down to 3 things to really look for in a DJ:
1.) Reliability
2.) Talent
3.) Personality
Reliability: I put this first because if your DJ doesn’t show up, you don’t really have a party. I’ve seen this happen too many times, where the DJ shows up late or doesn’t show up at all, and the host is out hundreds of dollars. I understand that unforeseen circumstances happen, but it’s definitely not pleasant when they happen to you. So how do you pinpoint a reliable DJ? Invest in those who invest in themselves. If you Google the DJ’s name, what comes up? Do they have a website? Does it look like they spent money hiring a graphic designer? Do they have videos that look like they hired someone to do them? This isn’t necessarily about the “image” they put out, but about how seriously they take their craft. If someone is intent on spending money to stand out from the competition, they’ll be more mindful of the money you spend on them as well.
Talent: Anybody can buy DJ equipment. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they know how to use it. Just because somebody owns a stove and some pots doesn’t mean they know how to cook. Does a good DJ need to have top of the line speakers to bring to your event? Maybe, maybe not. The venue may have a speaker system already in place (This is one of the things you should consider before hiring your DJ as well). Either way, you don’t want to get caught up in the flash of the fancy tools and end up with someone who is clueless when it comes to using them. So how do you find out if your potential DJ has talent? Ask for a mix. A talented DJ will be proud to have you listen to a mix that he’s done. Listen to a mix or two and you’ll be able to clearly tell what type of talent he has.
Personality: This is probably the most important thing to look for in a DJ. A good DJ is an entertainer. A good entertainer has to LOVE what they do, and they have to be happy to do it. Would you really want to trust your party, or better yet your celebration to the hands of someone who isn’t happy and energetic? Now your party may or may not have the need for a hype man type of DJ, but you still want him to have a good energy on him. The energy he has is the energy he’s going to bring to your party. So how do you know if your potential DJ has an entertaining personality? Meet with the DJ beforehand. What better way to learn somebody’s personality than with face to face interaction?
While these things are important, this list isn’t the end all be all of good DJ traits. What do you think are important things to look for in a DJ? Let me know in the comments below!
