How to Get Around Playing a Play List for the Mobile DJ

0:00 It's also time to talk and help you about a playlist

Right, it's coffee time. It's also time to talk and help you about a playlist. So this video really is targeted for the mobile DJ and there are a couple of ways you can be given a playlist. First of all, what is a playlist? Well, it's generally a list of songs that the client will want you to play but there's also many ways in which they will want you to play them and how you play them. I will explain in this video. So first of all, there's a few ways you can get a playlist. You can get it verbally, you can get it by post, email, by phone, text or even pigeon. Maybe not. But, a playlist. Now in my many years of being a DJ, there's only once, possibly twice, when someone has given me a playlist and have said play every single track off the playlist. Nothing else, just those tracks. And I've gone...

1:23 They say you must play every single track

Oh dear. But, you are paid to do a professional job and that's what you've got to do. Play from the playlist. Otherwise, go and do something else. The night may not run smoothly, it may not be great because you will get people asking you to play other songs that are not on the playlist. Alternatively, you may look and think, do they really want me to play that track? No one's going to dance to that. Sure enough, no one does. But you have been paid to do a job. They give you that playlist. They say you must play every single track. Just do as you're told and if someone comes up to you and says, why are you playing this rubbish? Then go, excuse me, have a chat with the person who's booked me. They wanted me to play the tracks. So that's the worst case when you have to play every single track. But then there are other ways around it. For example, no, not ways around that.

But, sorry, kicking the dog's bowl there. But there are other forms of being given and using a playlist. For example, you may have a client who'll say, here's a playlist, we want you to play some of those tracks and do whatever you want. Then that's great, that's genius because it means you can look and go, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, maybe, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, definitely not, no, no, no, no. Go on then. Alternatively, it could be, good one, yeah, great, great, great, absolutely no chance, yeah, amazing, great, great, great, a bit rude, yeah, yeah, yeah, I need to wash my arm, and so on. So how do you go around playing playlists or going through playlists? Well, you know your set, you know what the people want, you also know, by the looks of the set, what the client wants, but you see...

3:13 You may think track one I can play that because that'll work

That set that the client has given you, that's their choice of music. They do not understand like we do what everybody wants. So in a way they've given you a list based on their likes, not as a professional DJ how we think and act based on what we know the public like. So my advice is when you get a playlist and you are told just play what you can, then for example let's look at track one. You may think track one I can play that because that'll work. And I can bring in three or four after that of songs I know are very similar to track one. But then track two, that's a little bit awkward. That could be one of those tracks where you have to bring the microphone down and say this is a dedication to the groom or the bride because that's what they want. Because if you try to play that non-descriptive side B from an LP from 50 years ago, people would look at you as though you're stupid. But if you explain why you're playing it, you will get away with it.

And so on. So really what you need to do with a playlist is not play track 2 into track 1, 3 into 2, 4 into 3 and so on because the person who has put that playlist together may very well not be a DJ and may have randomly thought of tracks. So if you play them in order it's going to sound shit. On the other hand, if you look at that playlist and you work around it and you add tracks into that playlist that you know will work, then genius! Guess what? You've not only pleased the client but you've also pleased the dance floor and the crowd. Practice and enjoy. Thank you very much. I'll finish off my coffee now.

This transcript was produced automatically from the audio of the video and may contain mistakes.