Interviewing DJ

Knottie1443489624 · April 2016

I have a call this evening with a potential DJ. I have never hired a DJ for past events, honestly not really sure what to ask him or what the general process is. What did you ask your DJ before hiring?

ernursej · April 2016

I'm not having a DJ, but I do a lot of reference checks in my job.

1) How long have you been in business.

2) Can you tell me a bit about your set up process?

3) How do you select your music? What amount of say do we have in song selection or playing order?

4) If we have songs that we don't want to hear, are you able to not play those songs.

5) We want x, y, z ... are you able to manage those responsibilities/duties/expectations?

6) What does your price include? Anything not included in the price?

7) If you are ill or unable to attend, what is our backup option (is there a backup option??)?

8) Can you send me a copy of your contract so I can review?

9) I would love to speak to some couples that hired you for a similar wedding, could you provide me with references?

10) What makes your DJ experience the best? (more of a bonus question if you are feeling comfortable during your chat).

SP29 · April 2016

@ernursej hit the nail on the head!

We asked all of the above. We also discussed how many hours we were interested in (and the resulting price), as we had the DJ also play our ceremony + cocktail hour music.

Once we starting chatting with the DJs, most of them (the good ones) brought up and answered these questions on their own.

11) Do you allow requests during the event?

bleve0821 · April 2016

12) If we have songs that we would like to hear that are not in your music library, are you able to get this music for us, and will there be an additional fee?

bleve0821 · April 2016

I looked at the list of questions I came up with to ask when we interviewed DJs, because I really think this is a solid thread (even if it's a little late for you, OP!), so here are a few other questions to ask:

13) Have you worked our venue before? If not, will you be scheduling a walk-through prior to our wedding to check out the place?

14) Would we need to rent extra equipment (speakers or a stage)?

15) If we hire you for X hours, is the time required for setup and breakdown and other labor included in your cost, or do you charge extra for this? (One DJ we interviewed never said there would be a fee for this, but it was explicitly stated in the contract he emailed us that there would be.)

16) Are there fees for overtime?

17) What is your policy on alcohol or smoking during the wedding? (You do NOT want a DJ who is helping himself to your open bar... he's there to work, not to party.)

18) Do you set up a sign or banner with your equipment? (Do you want him advertising at your wedding?)

19) Are the ceremony and cocktail hours (as applicable) included in the cost of my event?

20) What do you normally wear when you work weddings? (One guy said, "Well, I usually show up in jeans unless the bride specifically asks me not to." There are some really iffy DJs out there...)

I hope, OP, if you decide to interview more DJs, you find these questions helpful.

ETF some shoddy punctuation.

Interviewing DJ

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