Dancers bringing in their own music
I didn't want to threadjack the other thread but I wonder if I am alone with this vent. I am a music fanatic and can honestly say I know music better than most of the DJs I have worked with. Yes I have worked with some very good DJs and many knew their music but many did not. I have worked in radio and club DJing and actually tried getting a DJ job at a club but they refused to hire me as that, saying I should be a dancer instead.
Anyway my point isn't to talk about how great my music expertise is but rather to state this because I knew what worked good for me and what did not. I preferred classic alternative and rock so I would bring in my own music. I clearly labeled what was mine and planned out my sets to a T. However at a few clubs the DJ would play my songs for other girls, though I clearly told him not to. Even if I didn't tell him, he should have the common sense that these are MY music CDs not his or anyone else. I even had one DJ tell me if I tipped him more (I was a generous tipper)he would make sure he didn't play them for anyone else. I didn't tip him more, I reported him to the manager and he got probation and was told never to do this again.
How would you feel if the DJ was playing music you brought in for others? Would it bother you or would you care? I did let certain dancers dance to some of my music but I would tell the DJ this. Are you even allowed to bring in your own music? At one club I wasn't so this wasn't an issue. I didn't stay there long.
Re: Dancers bringing in their own music
Eh, to me it's just music. If it was music I had personally composed or that is very obscure and difficult to find, then I could see how it would be frustrating to see other girls dancing to it, but you're talking about a pretty popular genre where the songs tend to be quite accessible to everyone.
Most girls I work with have the sense to not dance to the music another dancer usually uses while she's around (or at least wait to see if she's planning on using them that shift), so I really don't see the big deal. If, however, they're rushing to sign in before you to take your set while you're working together, that's pretty lame. Then again, girls do that with hit songs all the time.
Re: Dancers bringing in their own music
But this is music the dancer brought in and the DJ shouldn't be playing it for someone else. It's her property. It's like if a person brings in lunch and an employer gives the lunch to another employee without the first person's permission.
Re: Dancers bringing in their own music
I'm pretty particular about the songs I dance to as well, but it doesn't bother me if someone else dances to my music. I have a playlist of about 130 songs and roughly 20 sets of 3-5 songs (whatever the club requires) that I've made and can choose from so if someone else wants to dance to a few of the same songs I do I have loads more I can choose from.
Yes, I have brought the music in but I don't own it. I actually find it a compliment that another girl appreciates the same music. But generally I dance to a lot of pretty obscure stuff and Australian rock that no one else wants to dance to anyway. I think it's polite to ask a dancer first if she's known for dancing to a certain song or use it on a night she's not working but definitely not something worth getting in a bad mood about.
Re: Dancers bringing in their own music
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kellydancer
But this is music the dancer brought in and the DJ shouldn't be playing it for someone else. It's her property. It's like if a person brings in lunch and an employer gives the lunch to another employee without the first person's permission.
But it's not her property because she doesn't own the rights to the song, so it's not really equivalent to stealing someone's lunch.
Re: Dancers bringing in their own music
But she OWNS the property so the DJ has no business playing her CDs for someone else. Yes it is the same as someone stealing her lunch because she owns that particular lunch, but doesn't own the company. Same thing with music. It's hers it's not the right of the DJ to play it for someone else. This is like saying if I bring in a book to read someone else has the right to read it as well because I didn't write the book. No, it's still HER PROPERTY. She bought it, not the other dancers and not the DJ.
Re: Dancers bringing in their own music
At my first club, dancers used to be allowed to bring in their own CDs - which was not the case when I came to work there. But there was a girl who had been there 10+ years and had some old CDs that the DJs knew she still danced to. My music tastes were similar so I often ended up dancing to "her" CDs because the DJs felt it was easier. I never saw her get upset about it. If you have a lot of songs you're willing to dance to, I don't think it should matter if other girls end up dancing to some of them throughout the night. If you have a specific set you really want to do, tell the DJ at the beginning of the shift - otherwise, I think music is fair game, whether you burned the songs to a CD or not. I mean, think about how many girls work at a club, how many songs each has to dance to every night, and how many songs that probably have multiple fans. It would be extremely difficult, not to mention unfair, to assign every dancer specific songs that only they are allowed to dance to. As long as the DJ isn't using up all the songs you like and then playing crap for you, I see no point in "hoarding" songs.
Re: Dancers bringing in their own music
But once again they are the PROPERTY of the dancer, that's why it is wrong. I have worked with dancers who asked to dance to my music and I was fine with that. However the DJ has NO right to play MY music for anyone else. I take pride in my stuff and yes I hoard it because I worked hard to buy it. Same reason I would not allow anyone to just drive my car without permission because it's mine that I paid for. If a dancer likes a certain song she needs to buy it. Or to put it another way, then I guess it's fine for another dancer to wear someone else's outfit too. After all she doesn't own the company so this is fine too. It's the same thing, the dancer paid for it or created it (like bringing in music).
Just to clarify I am talking obscure music that only I had. I would bring in a song by Aztec Camera and there is no way most of the other dancers would have known about them if the DJ decided to play it for others without my consent. I actually reported this DJ (he was awful anyway)because he would play my music for other girls, and I didn't allow this. A few times he broke the CD and I needed to buy another one.
Re: Dancers bringing in their own music
But if the DJ wasn't using your specific CD, he could easily just pull the same music from elsewhere. What if he just listened to your CDs, made his own with the same music, and then played those? Music isn't really a physical thing like a lunch or clothes where if one person uses it, that means the other person can't use it at the same time. A song can be transferred all over the place to different people's musical devices. You can own a CD but you can't own a song unless you wrote it. Sure, the DJ is using your CDs out of convenience, but he could easily just copy your songs and play them off a different CD that you don't own.
Re: Dancers bringing in their own music
I'm not talking about that, I am talking about he was playing CDs I brought in for other girls, and most of the time they didn't ask for the songs he decided to play what I brought in. Most of the music I danced to was not music the DJ even had so he couldn't have been playing them anywhere but my CD. I can't help him making copies but that's something else. But the CD itself IS physical.
Re: Dancers bringing in their own music
If it bothers you so much, stop leaving your CDs at work and bring them home with you after your shift. When it comes down to it, you don't own the songs themselves, so you can't really stop other girls from dancing to them or the DJ from playing them.
Re: Dancers bringing in their own music
I always brought them home with me. In fact I always brought everything home every night. They were my belongings and I protected them, because I bought them. But no the DJ had no business playing my CDs for others unless I told him he could. Luckily most of the DJs I worked with respected this and always asked for permission first. I did stop the one DJ from playing my CDs for other girls because I reported him for this. I owned the CD and I had every right for the DJ not toplay. He knew this but still did it. He could have bought a copy or so could the dancer.
Re: Dancers bringing in their own music
I can understand that then, if other people are using your property without your permission and/or it's getting damaged by other people that would kinda annoy me. It would piss me off greatly if they were stealing them.
But that applies to any possession, the dancing to the same music bit still doesn't phase me.
Re: Dancers bringing in their own music
Oh I didn't care if they danced to the same songs as me, I did care if they were dancing to my particular CDs without my permission. I did share with a few dancers because I have a large collection but the DJ would play CDs I asked him not to play for others and he did. Another DJ did in fact steal one of my CDs and that pissed me off, and stopped me from ever bringing in music again. Another DJ accidentally broke one of my CDs as well and I had to replace it.
Re: Dancers bringing in their own music
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kellydancer
But this is music the dancer brought in and the DJ shouldn't be playing it for someone else. It's her property. It's like if a person brings in lunch and an employer gives the lunch to another employee without the first person's permission.
As a DJ, I "get" your frustration, and your reasoning. Dont beat yourself up over it, not worth it. I know you've went through all the trouble of making the cd's, and bringing them in(blah blah blah), I get all that.
Remember, the DJ's there for ALL the girls. Maybe there's a few girls who are sick of the normal music they get played for them, and want to switch it up? maybe they've asked "just play something that everyone can relate to", maybe it's the clientele he's playing it for? not everyone loves all the latest and greatest hip hop. I mean, I dont see much wrong with it, unless he does it all the time, and for every girl? then, I'd "NICELY" pull him aside, and ask him why he's doing so and so? mention to him(again NICELY) that you dont think it's cool what he's doing, and vow to "look after him if he doesnt play your stuff for anyone else"(meaning, tipping him more than $2-$3 and acting as if you've just given him enough to retire from). Just take care of him, most of all, BE NICE. i cant stress the 'BE NICE" thing enough. He hears alot of shit from girls/custies/mgr's all night too, he puts up with it just like you girls. Not excusing it mind you, just sayin. The guy has a tough job, no need to make it tougher for him.
Relax, in the end, it's just music, not life or death.
Re: Dancers bringing in their own music
I was nice to DJs UNLESS they pull this and if the DJ pulled this (after I specifically told him not to play my music)then I didn't tip or tipped low to stress my point. It was my CDs and my hard earned money was spent on them. The dancers have the hardest job, not him. Oh sure many DJs get shit on by dancers but I was never like that unless he screwed up by doing this or playing the wrong songs constantly. Many times I was buying the CD on the way to work and I expect him to play it only for me and would tell him if he liked a CD he could buy one for himself. After all I wasn't getting tips for bringing in my music and dealing with wear and tear this is the least he could do.
Most DJs never played my CDs for anyone else and I tipped them generously depending on how much I made.
Re: Dancers bringing in their own music
I brought in like 2 GB of MP3s. On the DJ computer. I have my own playlist folder apart from the other girls of my music. We typically have to dance in pairs. One on main one on satellite and since I'm a music nazi. My music is played no matter what stage I'm on. But if I'm not on stage and they play my music. I'm put off. If a girl asks that I'm cool with fine. But I mostly dance to industrial/ebm and some slightly obscure stuff.