More than a Club
Reading time: 3 – 5 minutes
When I hang around some of you young cats the same business idea keeps popping up. Now don’t get me wrong I might just be 2 years older than you in age but when we are talking chips I might as well be your gramps. I have a cousin just about 2 years younger than me and he is a DJ. I keep asking him does he want me to sit down with him so he can do something bigger than get pimped by attracting people to someone else’s club. Right now though he wants to be famous more than having money but when he is short he always wants to entertain the idea. I always tell him you need to think about Money in terms that is more than a club…
Don’t get it twisted clubs are fun to be in and usually the DJ get all kind of groupie perks. Cats have taken this DJ game to throwing their own parties and making a event company. So I’m not hating on it I’m just saying sooner or later you are going to be the old DJ in the club playing oldies to your generation. Cats don’t realize the club has an expiration date and by the time you get put on it’s only a couple of years after that til the next generation comes in looking at you like why don’t you grow up.
So for the sake of my own kin I’ll explain how you should go about it and why you should move on from it. Clubs have a lot of inherent costs that make it a big hit or a big miss. First, security is a must and a liability. At any given time the cats you hire could overdo it and expose you to liability. Second, alcohol causes problems. You know as I know most people can’t handle their liquor and for most people it turns into courage juice. Third, it’s a trend. Your customers are prone to bounce from one club to another so you can’t really estimate how things are going to be every week unless you happen to be in Small Town USA where you are the only club open. Fourth, since most of you cats always want to start a Hip Hop club you end up going into the high risk area for the neighborhood. The Police and the neighborhood at large do not want the homo thugs that Hip Hop usually attracts roaming the streets peacocking and parking lot pimping.
Ok so where do you go with your club talents because what’s better than being at a club? We got to get to the other side of the table and that starts with you thinking about buying the venue yourself. I mean if you are that great of a DJ you probably have a following so why don’t you have your own club? You need to investigate some spots that can be easily converted to rec rooms. How about start a lounge on the non-party days that people can overall chill in. How about serving beer as most of the time you don’t need a liquor license. How about changing it to a Hot Wing and Beer spot kind of a smaller form of hooters and get some flat screen TV’s.
Now I mention all of these because most aren’t trendy they make money everyday. If you really want to make money then all the liabilities of a club can be parlayed to owning Friday’s. So to all the DJ’s who are currently getting pimped because they don’t realize they have the power to make people feel good I want you to think. Stop for a second and think about how you are going to still make money when you are the guy who the youngins think only old folks go to that party. Young Patna it’s around the corner and if you don’t think about it you’ll be that guy losing his hair making mixtapes trying to be young looking old from drinking alcohol every week for the past 10 years.
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What, where and who is doing the podcast for this week? I guess you got caught up in travel for this week. It’s alright you always give me something to chew on anyway. BUT I WANT A PODCAST LOL!
The youngins as you say are always on this mixing business with pleasure angle. Since the recession a lot of people are on this hustle for sure. I get what you’re saying though it’s like asking McNabb what are you going to do after football and he says I don’t know. I know you got to get the youngins to think as all trendy hustles dry up and being a DJ is walking that line.
LOL @ losing hair trying to be young looking old from drinking alcohol every week for 10 years! You are right all that fast life makes you look like you been driving the road with your face out the window full of bugs and crap. Vivid!
“BUT I WANT A PODCAST LOL” Me too!!!
@Califormula – Sorry man I was gone for a couple of days and I am getting readjusted. I didn’t want to rush a BS one so I said ahhh one week won’t kill anyone but I guess it does. Either way Monday I’ll have a new podcast but for now enjoy the posts.
When I was younger I wanted to be a Sports Announcer not because I wanted to be one I just though it would be cool if I got to go to all the games. See Nothing is wrong with the club hustle it’s just cats are getting caught up in being part of it instead of owning it. I mean the DJ could put other people on and adjust to the trends by sitting on top counting the money. But, most DJ cats like the energy from entertaining and it’s like a drug same as most entertainers. So that’s why I wanted them to stop and think how do I get on top of that to make money and to feel the energy from entertaining. Everything has steps and a natural progression. Cat’s have to think bigger than just entertaining…
@Carl – Yeah I was laughing at that too. All I can say is I didn’t want to crank out some BS so I’ll have it ready for Monday for sure. I’m still a regular cat and so sometimes my regular life interrupts the R&G. I’ll just have to put some podcasts in the tank for such an occasion. It’s time for me to travel again so I’d better think ahead.
Being a DJ in 2010 is a broke dream..real talk..
DJ services can be automated without the use of humans. You can basically put in a request for a 2 hour mix online of the hottest songs today and get an MP3 to play that is cheaper than renting a big named DJ.
I mean damn, this ain’t the damn disco era with some DJ on the ones and twos and cats skating at the roller rink..this is 2010 and music can be telecast, streamed, recorded and automated worldwide.
DJ is an obsolete career…
LOL man you are harsh! I don’t think it’s dead as most people don’t know how to organize mixes and drop new stuff. The DJ network is still pretty good on getting underground stuff out into the public otherwise cats would create a mix of the crap that’s on the radio. I always expect the DJ to put me on to new music or to adjust the mood of the night a bit by slowing it down. So the DJ to me is still valid I’m just trying to get cats to think bigger.
People want to be entertained by music and until we find another way the DJ will have a reason to exist. All this stuff is, is a reason to mingle and people love the opportunity to do just that. DJ is a great springboard because he keeps the customers attention like the pied piper. So all the DJ cat needs to do is think how can I control all the paper. All of it! Then you will have the cat who creates the House Of Blues because that’s no different from what the average DJ already does just a bigger more organized format.