What does a DJ cost? What the price is actually made of
3 min read
The honest answer is an uncomfortable one: it depends. Not as an evasion, but because two entirely different jobs hide behind the words a DJ. One is somebody playing music for five hours. The other is somebody holding your evening together for eight, with their own equipment, a call beforehand, and a plan for what happens if something fails. This is about where that difference comes from.
The five parts every price is made of
Put two quotes side by side and you are almost never comparing the same thing. So it helps to break each one into these five parts, and to ask the cheaper one which part is missing.
- Time at the booth – usually five to eight hours, counted from the first guest rather than the first song
- The time around it – travel, setup, tuning, pack-down. Realistically three to four hours nobody sees
- The equipment – sound sized for the room, light for the dance floor, wireless microphones for speeches and the ceremony
- The preparation – the call beforehand, the running order, going through song requests, agreeing details with the venue
- The backup – a spare unit in the van, a second DJ in reserve, liability insurance
The fifth is the one people overlook when comparing and need most when it matters.
Why the cheapest quote is often the most expensive
A quote rarely gets cheaper because somebody is being generous. It gets cheaper because something is missing. Usually one of three things: the equipment is a size too small for the room, the call beforehand never happens, or there is no cover if someone falls ill.
You notice the first two on the night. Undersized equipment does not sound quiet, it sounds strained, and a running order nobody discussed produces exactly the gaps people remember afterwards. You notice the third in the one per cent of cases where it counts, and then completely.
What moves the price up and down
- Guest count and room size – 60 guests in a restaurant need a different system than 150 in a hall
- Two locations instead of one – a ceremony in the garden and a party in the hall means two setups
- The hours – an evening running until four is not an evening running until one
- Day and season – Saturdays from May to September are the most expensive dates of the year
- Extra equipment – haze, more lighting, a second speaker outdoors, a photo booth
Costs that only appear on the invoice
Asking for a fixed price is good. Asking what is not included is better. In our experience these are the items most often missing from a first quote:
- Travel beyond a certain distance – often per kilometre, sometimes as a flat fee
- Overtime past an agreed hour, usually billed hourly
- A setup at a second location, for example for the ceremony
- A deposit, and what happens to it if the date moves
The last line causes the most trouble when comparing – a date that moves is not an exceptional case. Ask what happens to the money and whether the new date comes at the old price. With us the question does not arise: we take no deposit, you pay after the event.
Where we stand on this
We work with fixed prices that already include travel, setup and pack-down, and without a deposit – you pay after the event. What your evening costs depends on the hours, the package and any extras, and it is a single number in your offer before you decide anything.
Why no deposit: when somebody calls off a wedding, a birthday or any other celebration, there is almost always a very good reason behind it. In a moment like that, we would rather not be the next problem on the list.
Why there is no price list here: a price without the guest count, room size and finishing time attached to it is a number that is either too high or too low. A request with a date and a place takes two minutes and costs nothing.