DJ Etiquette: How To Be A DJ Everyone Loves

Unless you plan to alienate your audience and make enemies, you need to develop a great set of DJ etiquettes. No, this doesn’t mean you’re all proper and ladylike, it means you respect other DJs and the crowd which in turn will make so everyone falls in love with you.

There’s enough DJs out there that are arrogant and pompous – these are the DJs that ignore etiquette (and are douchebags). If you want people to respect and love you, keep the following tips in mind the next time you play a gig:

• Respect others equipment. Wither you’re getting up to the decks or getting off, respect the equipment. Don’t leave drinks (which could be spilt) laying around, don’t manhandle them and most important: don’t steal from other DJs.
• Give yourself a happy aura. When you’re spinning, present yourself with a really happy aura. Throwing out a shout, smiling and slapping hands with people that come up to you will get people into the mix and enjoy that you’re there.
• Keep enough lead in and out time. Nothing is more annoying than not giving enough time for the next DJ to get setup and spinning. Don’t get a track get down to the last minute and pass it off – give the next DJ enough time to setup and get into the mix without a rush.
• Read the crowd and adapt. A great DJ can read the crowd – don’t just blast music that gets people off the dance floor. Play some tracks you know people will love, focus on a few groups and get them to the floor – people will remember you for being as into it as they are.
• Don’t make it about you. Pompous DJs are annoying as hell. You know these people, the DJs that think it’s all about them as if people came to see them instead of listening to the music. Drop the ego at the door and just throw down a great mix.
• Add in your personality (but not too much). You don’t have to be egotistical but you should still throw in your own personality. People do want to see a DJ that is enjoying it as much as they are – get on the mic and cause a ruckus, leave something for them to remember you.
• Dig into those crates. In a flip to playing the well known tracks, treat the die-hard fans right by digging deep into your crates to mix in the underground tracks. Having a well balance between chart toppers and the underground will get everyone involved and loving it.

If you follow these guidelines for DJ etiquette, you’ll soon find that people are going to know your name, generate a buzz whenever you’re spinning and follow you with everything you do.

You see, you aren’t being selfish and egotistical. You’re giving to the audience twice as much as you receive. People will love you for being into it.

For more on DJ etiquette be sure to check out DJ Tech Tools guide, how to treat a DJ at a party and opening DJ etiquitte.