Setting a fee as a DJ is one of the most awkward, under-discussed parts of the job. Ask for too little and you undervalue yourself. Ask for too much and you might lose the gig. There’s no industry-standard rate, and next to no transparency about what anyone’s actually earning. So, we asked a few DJs  a simple question: how much do you charge?

https://www.mixcloud.com/blog/2026/07/10/stop-undercharging-for-your-dj-sets/

I recently got a gig doing some work with my local hockey team, announcing and doing some DJ work for the games. I’ve been using Rekordbox and building a library of tunes, but I come from the radio world. It seems I’ve reached the point where a DJ controller is inevitable. I’ve been looking at the Pioneer DDJ-FLX4. Am I in the right wheelhouse? Any advice would be much appreciated!

I need some advice. I DJ and stream with VDJ and tidal and my FLX4, and I just found a new platform to download music from, so now feels like a good time to get my life together music wise.

I am NOT musically inclined like that. I don't know song names unless it's something super obvious that everyone knows, AND i barely know those or the words. I kinda just go off vibes, if it sounds good and feels good in the moment, I play it. So my "organization system" is basically nonexistent right now lol. How do y'all organize your music? Like genuinely, walk me through it. Folders, tags, playlists by mood or year, whatever works. I'm trying to figure out if I should just go back to basics and build an actual playlist of popular songs over the years so I'm not just relying on memory and vibes.

Also a lot of these Afrobeat songs have these long intros and I have NOT figured out how to set cue points properly. A lot of the songs I play are originals and not mixes which I feel like I am missing out on. If you practice this, how do you do it? Any tips would help so much.

And last thing, I need a speaker that's powered and not gonna break the bank, something I can practice at home with but that can also hold it down for apartment parties. What are y'all using?

Any advice at all is appreciated

Hi how are you guys dealing with the situation if a venue doesn’t let you use a fog machine because of the smoke detectors, ive never had that a smoke detector went of because of my fogmachine. But i happens a lot of times that the venue does not let me use it. It really makes my light show boring in my drive in show

I’ll go first, I love djing, putting playlists together, curating vibes, digging for tunes, making people dance… I absolutely hate the pressure of having to come up with a huge guest list.

For context: in our local afters scene each DJ other than the headliner is expected to stack their guest lists as much as possible. The larger the guest list, the more status you have and more likely you are being called back to DJ at future events.

I curate my music on different platforms like Spotify, Bandcamp, SoundCloud etc.

For a live setup, I don't want to be dependent on Live-Streaming and generally prefer my music as offline file-collection.

Is there a shop or tool, that allows bulk-downloading music legally? E.g. I have a Spotify playlist with 100 songs and want to buy all of them at Beatport. 50 might not be available, so I need to source them elsewhere, Amazon music or Bandcamp.

Is there a tool that allows that?

Post about your gigs here - success stories? Disasters? Lessons learned?

Hello! Been lurking around here and would like to pose this question. Was a on/off bedroom DJ alongside my day job for about two years and now have a residency at a medium sized lounge in Dubai so pretty cool. I want to know how do people in here share their taste in a set and also between bookings? Especially in an era where a majority of people tend to come to hear what they know or like already.

I’m a filthy casual couch dj that occasionally plays out to small groups. Is anyone using an MP3 player to listen to their library on the go and do some set/playlist creation? My library is too large to want to put on my phone. I currently have everything in the cloud via a OneDrive, but the OneDrive app is not great for listening to the tracks and doing any serious kind of offline prep. Thoughts? Links to what you’re using? Not sure what would be worth buying as Amazon options seem to be all over the place.

Edit: using/have: rekordbox on a windows laptop, iPhone, files stored in OneDrive via “free” 1tb provided via Microsoft365 subscription used by my wife and I, and have a CDJ3000 w/djm-450 home set up.

I had this error come up and the DDJ-1000 glitched out stopping the music and it then attempted to reconnect. When it did reconnect the music it was playing out of the speakers was completely distorted.

I’m not sure if it’s the cable connected to the USB, the DDJ-1000, the rekordbox version I’m running, or my laptop.

Does anyone have any advice? This has to be fixed before my next gig I can’t take any risks of this happening again. But I don’t necessarily want to purchase a new laptop AND a new controller if it’s not 100% necessary.

TIA

Been DJing for a year-ish now, just wanted to express how awesome it is (obviously you guys know). To be able to listen to the music you love while creating with it is insane, and so much fun.

Big up the DJs of the world!!

Does anyone know who is doing this and what's the plan for Extra Time's Half Time...

I’ve removed waveforms, visual beat matching, and hot cues on my FLX4. I’m mixing entirely by ear and using track memory. (Basically trying to mimic vinyl mixing as much as possible).

Will this make the transition to CDJs easier, or should I be practicing differently?

For reference, I used to dj with vinyl decades ago. Sold my equipment and restarted about 6 months ago on a flx4 controller. I’m getting ready for a gig using Pioneer Cdj 2000s

Hey guys, I am hosting a block party which last year had about 1,000 people at it. There will be 5 bands playing from 1-11pm. I’ve done about 50 weddings and had a residency at a night club in my city but this will be my largest event by far.

Looking for tips and any general rule of thumbs from anyone who has hosted a large event/concert/festival.

I will be mixing, making announcements about donations, raffles, giveaways and announcing the bands as they play. I will also be bringing up a person who was injured during a car crash as a portion of the proceeds from the event will go to them and their family.

Not sure how to organize this as it is a little different from anything I’ve ever done before. Looking like this will be huge chance to really make a name for myself. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks :)

As the title 🙏

Hi dj’s. Wanted to have a chat about the cue button. I don’t ever use it. I would consider myself decent and I’ve been playing a lot for about 1,5 years including gigs. I use hot cues instead and doesn’t get why the cue button is that used, so to say.

Playing on flx10 btw

Literally don’t get it? Please explain

Beatgrids are about much more than just hitting Sync. In this video, MixMasterG explains and compares how different DJ applications analyze for fluid and dynamic beatgrids and shows how DJCU2 brings fluid beatgrids to platforms that never supported them before (including Rekordbox and Engine DJ). 🎧

Watch the full video here, there are no ads!

It's a long watch, but much of the runtime is dedicated to side-by-side comparisons of full tracks. There is a time index in the video description, so you can jump straight to the sections that interest you.

I'm a moderator of this sub, which gives me the privilege of sharing updates about my own projects when there are significant developments.

Copy's or original unbranded

On Ali Baba you can but these two mixers which to me look like unbranded versions of the vonyx STM 7010 and the numark m6 also in the picture to compare , the only difference is the added usb on the front .Now as these are both made in China anyway and as mixers go are at the cheaper starter kit end of the market would you buy one and take a chance and save over a 150 pound ?

Hi,

I know that the original Technics 1200's were popular in the 70's. But does anyone know about other DJ equipment that was often used in the 50's, 60's and 70's?

So I am talking turntables, mixers, monitors, etc. I prefer it being used in nightclubs but if it was used in other environments it's okay too.

Thank you.

Has anyone ever seen a DJ booth/setup, that includes a larger screen for the DJ to use for Serato/Rekordbox? Screen should be as large as possible to browse comfortably. But at the same time, it should be somehow integrated into the booth and not obstruct the view.

I've seen like TV Studio desks, that had a hidden screen inside the desk, and probably some sort of mirror/teleprompter.

But I can't find anything now that comes close or gives ideas.

im not an experienced dj or anything by any means, but I bought this controller for cheap and to just use it to actually get comfortable with a controller before I buy a more expensive one.

it came with a basic USB cord that I’ve just been connecting to my laptop directly, and nothing else. ive been using the software MIXXX because I heard with rekordbox(?) is something along the lines of you have to pay for songs to use, and im just using this all to get comfortable before I start to shell out money.

however, my controller isn’t connecting to my laptop. it will turn on, but if I click the buttons, nothing plays and i don’t hear any sound unless im clicking using my laptop. it’s been a couple of months since ive really been into this hobby, so maybe ive forgotten something.

i saw some people mention soundcards, which is that something id have to buy?

Hi r/DJs,

I'm the creator of Phantom Instruments C45, a fully configurable 4-channel MIDI controller built specifically for live performers (which of course includes DJs!). The mods here (specifically Nonomomomo2) kindly suggested I do an AMA as he believes it could be of some interest and value to r/DJs community, so here we are!

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To quickly sum up my story:

I couldn't find a playable MIDI controller that matched the way I wanted to perform live music. So, I decided to build one myself!

With ZERO hardware knowledge, I set off on a 1.5 year long journey to develop C45 (for myself only!) so I could get away from the computer screens and starting performing live techno. After countless versions (13 to be exact), I finally came to the version of C45 that I am now selling internationally from my very own website. I build, test and ship all C45s myself from my home workshop.

For this AMA, I'm here to answer any questions you may about:

* My story, motivations and anything else in between

* The things that went wrong (and there were PLENTY!)

* Designing and building MIDI hardware and software

* Live performance workflows

* Firmware and configuration

* Manufacturing and bringing a hardware product to market

* Why I made the design decisions I did

* My setup, workflow, and experiences performing with it

* Anything else that is of interest!

I'm also happy to answer questions about the business side from prototyping, sourcing components, shipping or anything else you're curious about.

I'm hoping this AMA will be of some value to anyone who is interested in what goes on behind the scenes of a independant MIDI hardware company.

I look forward to answering your questions and hope my answers will be of some value :)

Fire away!

Daryl

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Phantom Instruments

https://phantom-instruments.com/C45

Thats almost it for the AMA. Thank you EVERYONE for the amazing questions and and very comments. I hope my answers were of even a little value to you.

My DMs are open and I'm always happy to chat whether its about something you are building, your live / DJ setup, what music your playing or anything in between!

Cheers from Ireland, Daryl