"Macarena Clause" in DJ contracts

SKW2011

Does anyone have one of these in their DJ contracts?  Something along the lines of if they play something on your do-not-play list, you get a discount off the bill?

If you have one of these in your contract, how is it worded?  The DJ we're looking to book says it's up to us to add that addendum into our contract and I'm trying to figure out the best way to word it and what would be a good dollar figure to discount in case they play something we don't want them to.

katieleighton1

Just get a vendor you trust will follow your requests.

ElisabethJoanne

I'm honestly considering writing a book on wedding-planning law, and this is not an issue I'd thought of, probably because we won't have a DJ.

Arguably, if your contract includes a do-not-play list, and the DJ plays something from the list, he's in breach, and you don't have to pay him at all. Arguably. But then arguably he still performed several hours of work, and it's not fair to just not pay him because he made one mistake.

I think 10-20% of the total is a good penalty. (legal phrase is "liquidated damages") It's big enough that it's not something the DJ will ignore, but it's small enough he's still making a profit. Consider we usually haggle with vendors' quoted prices by around 30% as an initial counter-offer, and 15% mark-up is standard for things provided by vendors.

Were you going to tip the DJ? Seems like that's the better way to handle things. Just don't tip him if he does something unprofessional. Maybe write him a note afterwards explaining your decision.

Magdala9

Our DJ asked for a "Do Not Play" list and honored our request.

cwaggoner07

I don't see why a DJ would play something on a Do Not Play list. A lot of vendors go off word of mouth, in fact, that's how I found most of my vendors. I'm not saying it's NEVER happened, but why would a DJ sabotage themselves?

violakat03

I was BM in a wedding where the DJ played something that was on the "Do not play" list. I never asked how she handled it afterwards, but the bride was very upset and went up to make sure they knew not to play anything else from it. So yes, it does happen.