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Forum: General Discussion

Topic: What is the best way to handle request

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Hello, my wife and I just started DJing a little over a year. Last night we did a reception, kids from the ages 6 to 15 were coming up to us asking us to play their request. This continued for two hours, sometimes more than one kid at a time, I would say about 40 request in the two hours. Is there a good way to handle this? Or just do what we did, which was, "This song was requested by Tony" and then we played it. At the time the kids were the only ones dancing, that is why we played their request.
 
Posted Sun 27 May 12 @ 6:19 am
You did it right, but ask the host if they want you to contiue in this fasion. Sometimes there is a big spread in todays music. Most receptions don't like rap or hip hop but the kids do. They will not complain if you play katy Perry or Train or mikael Bublea or Adel. Play some Jive Bunny Comps. Something is wrong It looks like my instructions are in Italian.
 
Handling requests can be tricky, especially when the requests are coming from kids. I've done a couple of proms in the last couple of weeks and like most proms you get kids coming up requesting stuff that you know you shouldn't probably play but maybe because I'm not 17 I give the kids the benefit of the doubt that they know better than I do about what their age group likes because they're 17 and I'm not... wrong! Most every time I play their requests the dance floor energy plummets or the floor partially clears. A lot of the time these kids are requesting songs that are just too new and not known by everyone, or the track is by a popular artist but it's not one of their popular songs, or the request just sucks. Sometimes I'll give the request a shot against my better judgement and 9 out of 10 times the song flops. BUT there are exceptions... for example when the song "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction first came out months ago I was DJing a high school winter semi-formal and I happened to have the song but had never really listened to it. The song had just came out but right out of the gate it had big time appeal for the girlies and was an overnight hit but it hadn't appeared on my radar yet. t previewed the song in the headphones and thought "WTF is this crap?" but I played it anyways and sure enough the moment I started playing the track all the girls started screaming and went bonkers. So it goes to show that sometimes playing requests against your better judgement can pan out, but it's hard to know sometimes. The best you can do is keep an eye on the Billboard charts and be on top of what is popular and what isn't. But for the most part I play only songs that have a proven track record because after all you don't want to compromise your dance floor on the whim of one person. My motto is "I can play your requests or you can have a rockin' party... take your pick!"
 
@Dizzyrocks: I agree to an extent...the One Direction song has been working for us as well...same thing with Fun's "We Are Young" (Ultimix version). It may be a regional thing but you never know til you try
 
I should have been more on top of the charts and known the One Direction song was a hit but for the most part the requests at school dances are not the best. Like the last prom a kid requested a Marianas Trench song and I trusted the kid when he said "trust me, if you play it everyone will go nuts!"... the opposite happened. At that point I said to myself "F**k these requests, time to get my dance floor back!" and before you knew it I had a packed floor of kids jumping up and down and going nuts. A good DJ knows not only when to play requests, but when to ignore them too.
 
My suggestion - Stick a sign in front of your decks that says:

"REQUESTS: $10"

It worked for Ali B...
 
At a reception, no request from kids period. Do I have a sign out front saying "help me"? I don't think so. I go over this with the bride and groom before hand. I say "I'm sorry, but the bride & groom have asked me not to take request". The bride & groom say " the DJ knows what we want to hear". These kids can not hire me. They are selfish and are only thinking of themselves. It's my job to think about everyone. I only try to please 95% of the people. In time you will learn how to read the crowd and rotate the floor. Some will dance to anything, these are your core. With each mix, you will attract others, and some will sit down. You can do this all night. If request were a good idea, there would be a jukebox there. Now, if it's a kids party, you just have to play clean versions of what they want. I do less and less of these parties, because I want to stab them in the eye with a pen. Or, if they are paying your price, you smile and take their request.
 
If asked for a request, I literally stop the record on the platter causing the scratching halt noise for the entire floor to hear, and after that abrupt silence I ask the person - I'm sorry, what was that? - They commit suicide on stage every time :)
 
just yesterday i had to yell at a guy "don't drink that poison!"

it's 4$ an ounce ......


so let's sum up ....

either stab them in the eye with a pen , or if they pay enough just smile and

play the request ........
 
I get them to write it down on my Request List and I work it in to play it,if a hot song it will come up some,Some people will just ask just be asking to see what the Dj look like......just do the best you can with what you have Bro.















AsTheDj
 


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