DIY iPod DJ - Resurfacing...

[jazzyj]

I know we have talked about people trying to do their own weddings using an ipod... but I've been flipping through pinterest.com lately and see that the idea is gaining some more recent momentum.

They have those DIY wedding websites now with specific instructions, ideas, etc. on how to do your own iPod DJ wedding - and they are very proud of it.

Just a scary thing I encountered today, wanted to share..

http://2000dollarwedding.com/2010/03/how-to-dj-your-own-wedding-with-ipod.html

http://offbeatbride.com/2011/07/our-ipod-playlist-reception

http://apracticalwedding.com/2009/09/djing-your-wedding-with-ipod/

(yes some of these are older, but they're being re-pinned into boards called "wedding ideas" TODAY!)

[mrkleen]

Honestly who cares. You are not going to talk a person like that into using your DJ services....and even if you did, they would be low budget - low ballers, the type that are ALWAYS the hardest clients to deal with. You are better off not working with a bride like that.

[jazzyj]

Yeah true, but here in Kentucky though these people be quick to jump on this bandwagon. crazy.

[Jonno Soccio]

I really don't see the problem with this and I think fair play if people want to go down this route. Many people are on a budget and simply can't afford to drop $1000 on a DJ.....

As long as they plan it properly there is no reason why it can't work well. Most people would prefer a DJ first and foremost but when money is tight, this can be a better option than wasting much needed cash on a rubbish cheap DJ (not all of which are necessarily bad DJ's anyway..)

I know you think articles like this might encourage loads more people to give DJ's a miss in favour of an i-pod but I think 'most' couples are well aware that hiring a DJ is still the preferred option. Don't worry about it dude.

[jazzyj]

Ok :) no worries :) lol

[DutchApples]

To make some extra money a few years ago, I posted an ad to rent my sound system for people wanting to do this (keep in mind, at the time and to this day...I still don't consider myself experienced enough to handle a wedding all by myself)

One bride hired me and I let her know up front that my only job was to provide the sound system and a few mics. The wedding was outdoors for about 200 people. She actually put a LOT of time and effort into the music for this and had some pretty cool cocktail hour music (this is as long as I stayed until I came back to get the equipment. Hired a friend to "watch" over it)

I would do something like this again only if it was similar, but as it has been stated people who are looking to do this probably aren't going to be talking to you in the first place if you are charging $1,000+ for a wedding.

[RodneyL]

I read through the first article and stopped. Her #1 selling point for doing it herself was cost, and her #2 was stress. I can't imagine anything more stressful than relying on a ****** friend to bring and set up good sound equipment for free (which is what they did to a friend "in a band") and then the stress of having to handle all my own announcements and playlists during my wedding reception, when I'm supposed to be relaxing and having fun.

Services like Limewire and Frostwire have ruined the perception of a DJ for many people, they think, "hey! I have the internet, I will just steal all the music I want and do it myself"! These people have no idea the benefit a real DJ would bring to their wedding and reception... and I doubt they care if their bottom line is just money.

[Badger]

Services like Limewire and Frostwire have ruined the perception of a DJ for many people, they think, "hey! I have the internet, I will just steal all the music I want and do it myself"! These people have no idea the benefit a real DJ would bring to their wedding and reception... and I doubt they care if their bottom line is just money.

Yep. P2P services like those have also been extremely detrimental to the industry, because any teenager with a laptop can steal an entire music library, torrent a copy of Virtual DJ (or whatever), and in about as much time as it takes to flip his/her baseball cap backwards, be ready to announce "D00DZ! I AMA DJ NOW. CANI DJ UR WEDING?"



This thread also reminds me of something else that I remember seeing at least once or twice during my last few years in the commercial mobile industry: "Party favor" CD-Rs, compiled by the bride and groom, of their favourite songs - just a bunch of discs piled on a table for the wedding guests to pick up and take home. I'm pretty sure the wedding couple didn't contact the proper authorities to get the licensing issues cleared up before churning out a load of these CDs. (After all, they got to give something really special for just the price of a bunch of CD-R discs... right?... RIGHT?...) I never "called out" my clients for doing something so blatantly illegal, but it practically made my blood boil.

:badger:

[Ntertainment]

Badger

The last wedding that i saw do this, i almost wanted to turn in. Even if they did aquire the music legally, that gives them no right to make 100 copies of it and give them away to friends. It's funny how things are headed, when stealing isn't stealing anymore and killing isn't killing anymore.

[sse]

LMAO...from the first link (4th bullet)

We thought that eliminating as many wedding vendors as possible would help eliminate a lot of the stress of wedding planning.

YEAH RIGHT....


I do see some people doing this. In all honest it will work for a few people, but those are for the REALLY low end budget weddings. For a DIY wedding you still have to set everything up, get all the food ready, make sure you pick up the flowers, ect..... What ya gonna do when grandma wants a song from the 50's and you forgot to load it on your IPOD?

In my experiences there are 2 things people remember about weddings...the food and the DJ. I have been to a few low budget DIY weddings, and they were good, but could have been MUCH better with a real DJ, and some decent food. BUt then again with the economy in the crapper, saving a few bucks might be necessary.

It might be a market that can be tapped into with PA/IPOD system rentals...Hmmmmmm

[Mystic]

This is nothing new. They did it in the CD generation, the cassette tape generation, the record generation... Some people either don't want to pay the outrageous costs of a DJ or they simply aren't the type of people who want that kind of wedding.

I myself didn't have a DJ at my wedding. I would have never been happy with another person playing music for my reception because chances are they would play mostly stuff I didn't like. Plus, my family, in-laws included, aren't the types who need something like that. Our ceremony and reception were very very informal and we were just being goofy the whole night because that's the type of people we are. It may seem like a mess to some, but not having everything scheduled or in a certain order is good for some people, especially me because I'm an organizational freak, so this was one thing I didn't have to stress over.

Bottom line, it works for some people, some it doesn't and turns out to be a mess. It comes down to the type of people they are and how they like to have fun.

However, I think that calling someone cheap or stupid because they don't pay for a DJs services is unprofessional and arrogant. It may be something we do and enjoy, but not every person is the same or has a need for what we do.

[wavemakersdj]

I was banned from being the DJ at my own wedding, but I used all my gear and had a family member run it. I wish i would have hired an outside person I liked instead. It can definitely be done to run your own wedding music, but then instead of the moment, you focus on the music. There is no replacement for having someone else handle that for you.

On the other hand, I can definitely see someone asking a friend up on current music to run their laptop on a rented system instead of hiring a more expensive DJ. I started this way in the mobile DJ business.... :lol:

[Sween]

Some people don't want/need a DJ...

Many people don't want/like to dance at all...

But many of them don't want a DJ because they have only experienced bad ones. They are numerous. Some think DJ's are obnoxious and just want to make everyone Hokey Pokey at their wedding. Other's think DJ's will not listen to them and play their type of music. (And that is true, many won't listen to their clients and put them first because they don't think their music will fill the dance floor).

Some people do not know what they are missing... (Mystic I'm sure knew what he what missing, but didn't want that, which is fine too)

But overall let's face it... a DIY bride is going to need to spend hours of time creating her playlists, and several hundred dollars renting a sound system and microphone. She is going to have to worry about having someone pick up and setup/take down her sound system on her "big day". She needs to find a trustworthy family member to make announcements and start/stop her special songs. She is going to have to deal with people walking up and changing the song constantly. Can you say STRESS? Chances are they will regret their decision afterwards, and possibly tell her friends it wasn't worth it in the end.

Any bride who is willing to do all that ^^ just to save a few hundred bucks probably would have made your life a living hell if she had hired you. So I say don't sweat it...

[jazzyj]

+1 rep to what Sween just said... cept apparently i love him too much already :( i must pass around to others first lol

[Defiance]

I also notice in one of those links that the bride spent $20 dollars on the her dress. If a bride is that cheap, notta chance shes going to spend a couple hundred bucks on a DJ.

[Ntertainment]

Some people don't want/need a DJ...

Many people don't want/like to dance at all...

But many of them don't want a DJ because they have only experienced bad ones. They are numerous. Some think DJ's are obnoxious and just want to make everyone Hokey Pokey at their wedding. Other's think DJ's will not listen to them and play their type of music. (And that is true, many won't listen to their clients and put them first because they don't think their music will fill the dance floor).

Some people do not know what they are missing... (Mystic I'm sure knew what he what missing, but didn't want that, which is fine too)

But overall let's face it... a DIY bride is going to need to spend hours of time creating her playlists, and several hundred dollars renting a sound system and microphone. She is going to have to worry about having someone pick up and setup/take down her sound system on her "big day". She needs to find a trustworthy family member to make announcements and start/stop her special songs. She is going to have to deal with people walking up and changing the song constantly. Can you say STRESS? Chances are they will regret their decision afterwards, and possibly tell her friends it wasn't worth it in the end.

Any bride who is willing to do all that ^^ just to save a few hundred bucks probably would have made your life a living hell if she had hired you. So I say don't sweat it...

One of our largest selling points right now to people looking to go the cheaper route, should be our lighting setups. I always tell people "When was the last time you saw a dance in a movie/tv show that didn't have lights? Never!" Lights set an atmosphere and mood for the night. Up lights do the same thing and again they are a great selling point.

Even if she does find someone to rent professional equipment from, to get lights my run the costs and stress up enough to have her see the value in a real dj.