Need advice...wwdd (what would dj do)

[Icefrogg]

ok currently I have a saturday night bar gig that I've had for 3 months now. They contacted me after seeing a bar that I was at on thursdays closed down the bar manager hit me up on facebook and talked me into checking them out and coming to this place for saturdays. The pay is 150 a night (its a small bar)...I play mainly hip hop/rnb/and top 40...chill crowd...and nice people. I had to take off last saturday because of a prior wedding that I had booked and the owner was real cool about it.

so now I got a oppertunity to dj at a slightly bigger bar in more of a area with a big night life (much more crowded) playing top 40 only...this place pays 200 a night....they need someone on saturdays as well. I don't know the owner or much about the place other than its a happening spot and I've been there before to party myself.

do I:

a. leave my current spot for the new spot and take the chance for more crowd, and more money?

b. stay at current spot and stay loyal and don't burn the bridge

c. try to switch current spot at the old bar to friday nights (since they don't have anything on friday nights) and then go saturday nights at the new spot?

or something else...

[cognac]

IMO.....bigger crowds and more money = better oppotunity and more money

[punky]

Will you hate your life playing top 40 only? I would, but your preferences may vary. An extra $50 wouldn't be enough to make me jump ship from music I like to music I hated.

[tuurrtles]

It doesn't sound like you are opposed to spinning only top 40, so that part is taken care of.

In this case, I'd say option C. is the most logical. But your problem lies in if they say they don't want to move you to Fridays... then you have to make a choice between the new club and the old club.

What I would do is I would tell them "Listen, an opportunity came up that I'd like to take. It's on Saturday nights, so I figured maybe you guys could move me to Friday nights."

Just be honest and firm.

Caveat: I'm a n00b and haven't played out.

Also, just wanna say whatsup from Washington, DC. How's baltimore doing these days?

[TCMuc]

I'm not sure option C would go down so well. The place you're playing at now is a bar, the other place would be a bar as well. As far as I understand it they both are in the same city, just in different areas but not too far away from each other, as you've been to the other place as well, if only as a guest.

Telling the owner of your current spot you would like to move you gigs from saturdays do fridays would effectively mean telling him that from now on you'll be competing with him on saturdays... If the owner doesn't see that other place as competition it should be fine, but else... Not only is he losing his DJ on saturdays, but also is he facing the risk that you might actually draw regulars from your old spot to the new place, if they should have become more loyal to you than to the place itself.


Even though it's a business thing and everybody should be behaving rational/professional I've often seen people take things personally, which can lead to trouble in such matters...

[ampnation]

Business is business. You don't have a contract or made promises from what you've said, so just give the present gig the option to best your offer (more than $200/wk, not equal), move you to another night, or lose you. It's that simple. The worst you can do is make $50 more per week. The only risk is if for some reason the new gig doesn't work out. However, you could either make more by having the existing gig offer you more, or by getting both gigs ($350/wk). I think the upside outweighs the downside. Don't feel bad about giving your old "boss" the option of keeping you. Hopefully you think you're worth $200 per gig.

[tuurrtles]

The only risk is if for some reason the new gig doesn't work out.

Risk vs. Reward, so it's up to you.

i completely agree that business is business. You'll probably be surprised at your existing gig's reaction. I'm sure they will understand. They'll certainly try to keep you, but they can't say they didn't see this coming (especially at $150 a night...no offense.) Just curious, are you bringing your own equipment? And how many hours are you deejaying at that gig? So what's your rate per hour?

[b.ill]

You have some additional information we don't so it's tough to make the call from here. How did the Saturday open up in the new place? How often do they change DJ's? Are they burning through them or would it be somewhat stable if you take it on?

Keep in mind that by moving on to a higher paying job you're not necessarily burning a bridge. You thank your current boss for the employment and mention that you're always open to work there again. But definitely work on that Friday night switch option.

If by Top 40 you mean "straight 128" that would drive me nuts and I'd stay put personally if the switch option isn't open. But that's up to you.

[Mixxed]

Get someone you're cool with to spin in your place at spot A while you do spot B, and switch up every so often you'll have both spots, to some extent...

[bmorr]

If what you truly want is to play to a bigger crowd, then tell the smaller bar the truth. Say "listen, i've been given an opportunity to spin at a bigger club and feel like the combination of higher pay and exposure will benefit me more." You could even offer to find the smaller bar a DJ if you wanna help them out. But keep in mind, you want to ensure that the gig at the bigger club is actually a set deal, and not just something that someone has offered to you, and then you find out, you're basically promoting and can get paid up to $200 and only spin maybe 1 hour. In that case I would stick with the smaller bar.

goodluck!