Top Questions to Ask Your Los Angeles DJ
Despite the hundreds of Los Angeles DJs online, finding the right one is a challenge. Hiring a Los Angeles DJ with the trifecta (experience, style, and professionalism) often means you'll have to extensively vet your potential choices. Conducting your vetting doesn't need to be an inconvenience. Instead, your vetting can be limited to the following questions, which you can ask your DJ via Zoom or in person.
The 8 Questions to Ask Your Los Angeles DJ
The answers to these eight questions will be most revealing of the type of DJ you could be hiring, allowing you to make your decisions.
Are You Willing to Have a Meeting Before Booking?
Availability is important. Many DJs may over-extend themselves, meaning they won't be available for a meeting. Therefore, if you want to know — honestly — whether your DJ will avail themselves after you've hired them, see if they'll make themselves available before booking.
How Much Time Do You Need to Set Up?
Depending on your event, knowing how long your Los Angeles DJ will take to set up can help with scheduling and coordinating the event. If the setup is one hour, and the event starts at 8 p.m., your DJ should have the space to set up for the event and should be scheduled for 7 p.m.
If a prospective DJ isn't giving a clear response on setup time, they may not have as much experience.
Do You Have Insurance?
With any business, insurance is essential for Los Angeles DJs. You'd be surprised how litigious Los Angeles venues can be and how quickly accidents can escalate. Rather than waiting to see what would happen if a DJ doesn't have insurance, confirm that they have it.
What Type of Music Do You Typically Play?
Most DJs flourish in the genre they've perfected. Being a DJ is a full-time job requiring research, testing, and development alongside serious marketing, known as self-promotion. As a result, most good DJs will have a genre of music they've been perfecting ever since they knew what career they would pursue.
Do You Have References?
Any DJ worth their salt should be able to provide at least three references and a sample of their mixes.
How Long Have You Been Spinning?
Experience is more important than expertise when hiring a Los Angeles DJ. Anyone can learn what a DJ does, but it takes years to learn to read a crowd, get — and keep — them engaged, and make last-minute changes to the set.
How Do You Keep Your Music Up-to-date?
With the frequency of music releases, having a current playlist can be exceptionally time-consuming. But, if you know you'll have an audience that will revel in new music — which, let's face it, in Los Angeles is everyone — understanding your Dj's process for finding and using new releases in their mixes is essential.
Can I Be Involved in the Selection?
If you're searching for a Los Angeles wedding DJ, for example, you may want to be involved in some of the song choices. Confirm with any prospective DJ if they — not only take your suggestions but — implement your song choices and where or when they'd insert it into their mix.
These eight questions to ask your Los Angeles DJ will help save your event from disaster.
At Black and White Affair, the purpose of the work being done is to meet your vision. We understand communication is a two-way street. Therefore, if you decide to book BWADJ as your Los Angeles DJ, expect us to ask you — and answer — questions, guaranteeing your event goes off without a hitch.
