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Topic: Credit Crunch era, Is anybody find it slow.

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Is there any UK guys finding it abit slow in the venue's where you play at.

I noticed over the last couple of weeks that is not so busy as it was a couple of months ago. We are still getting busy but it's not till later on.

The boss came into the box last night and we had a little chat about this, he was saying that he a a few friends or have bars and pubs in town and they are finding it slow aswell.

I think this "Credit Crunch" era is starting to have a affect on people
 
发表时间 Sun 05 Oct 08 @ 4:04 am
Funny you should mention this jimmy, mallyb and me were just talking about this same subject yesterday on how it was affecting trade in both our locations, we also came to the conclusion the smoking ban is now starting to affect the numbers coming out for a drink as well, with a lot of venues either not bothering or are unable to set aside a comfortable heated area for smokers, i hear more and more people are now having drinks parties at home where each one takes it in turn to hold them, seems this is the way people are heading in the current financial climate and in light of the ban. If the government doesn't relax the guidelines a lot more bars are going to hit that wall.
 

Yeah, the smoking ban doesn't help aswell.
 
Funny. The club where i always am when i'm not DJing was so crowded yesterday they had to call up additional personnel to help out.
 
When a smoking ban came into effect here in alberta, there was a few weeks of slow down, but then it eventually returned to normal.
It took almost a year though.

Your smoking customers will eventually resign themselves to having to smoke outside. Plus believe me if you're a non smoker you'll like the fact your shirt doesn't smell like cigarette smoke after work. I know I did. But then again I like a cigar now and then.

Basically it boils down to this:

If there is a smoking ban - It better be in effect for EVERYWHERE: bars, hotels, tap rooms, restaurants, lounges, shops, malls, doctors offices,.....etc. because if one gets an exemption; that's a competitive edge. They can Advertise this fact.

That's the situation here, NO smoking within 5 meters of an enter or exit doorway. Doesn;t matter if it's 35 degs or minus 50 (we get both)
 
we were one of the first location to ever get this ban and it really didn't bother us at all. I have a friend that plays in a cigar bar and that location is about a mile from my location. This bar has difficulty filling any nights AND they try to hire the top DJs around. It's not so much as smoking as it is over all atmosphere.
 
its a complete ban marcel, if its public, private or whatever you can't smoke and it has affected trade to the extent pubs have closed there doors for the last time, latest figures show its going to affect more as well.
 
I would put it out to you that the pubs that have shut down weren't doing so great to begin with and the smoking ban was the final nail in the coffin.

It happened here as well, a couple places shut down, but the location opened up again under a different name, some with renovations, some not. One literally changed the name, changed the signs, and started running commercials on the radio.

IF you have a good client base I would talk to your manager and Liquor reps and get some good promo's happening.
 
economically everyone is feelin' is - the higher gas prices go, the less disposable cash they have to play with. when your average redneck with a truck is having to pay upwards of $80-$100 or more to tank up they just cant afford to go out as much. we have noticed that everytime the price of gas drops more than a dime we get alot of people back in the club, and around here the price took a drop of about $.30 over the last couple weeks and weekends have been getting busier again.

and those wonderful smoking bans? Austin passed one a few years ago - bars are still having a hard time with it. we have people that drive up on a regular basis just to be able to light up in the bar (i ain't complainin' bout that - some of those UT girls is HOT!) and we've already got a contingiency plan in if they ever do pass a ban in our town - private club with free memberships.
but in the meantime i'm just gonna kick back a little, smoke my Vintage 1992 Macanudo on special occasions, have a Cohiba every now and then when one of the soldiers brings me one (mmmm.. Cuban...) and the rest of the time smoke like a chimney while i can. who needs lungs anyway. and besides.. it makes the light show look better when the fog machines arent enough.
 
We've taken a serious hit due to the credit crunch, even special events have been effected, (just had kano at the venue and it wasent anywhere near a full house) its at the point now where the gaffer is having to drop staff nights, and even security is being reviewed (makes me a little bit nervious!) and we are one of the busyer venues. makes me wounder how some of the venues are still trading (one has already shut and was in the papers due to a wedding party private not being informed)

dark times are ahead . . .
hopefully not to dark tho
 
no its the mind set of people marcel, perfectly good pubs before the ban came in have closed there doors because of it, me and the wife both smoke and were willing to go outside and have a cigarette but then decided what is the point in spending £40 on a taxi only to stand outside in all weathers, we used to go into town for a meal and a drink with the family twice a week now i've knocked that on the head, don't mind not smoking in restaurants but i'm sure as hell not been treat like a lepper when i pay good money for drinks all night.

weird thing i've noticed as well, when smokers pop outside their whole company go outside with them, leaving the inside of the premises looking pretty empty and thus the atmosphere to attract more people into them.
 
I've noticed a fairly dramatic slowdown in activity on the forum here the past week. I wonder if the Slowdown/bailouts in the States and Europe is affecting everyone's time. I've talked to a few guys in Radio Shoutbox and some are considering changing countries to look for work!!

As the famous quote says...........

"May you live in Interesting times"

I only hope we can afford to ride out the "Interesting times."
 
interesting times are our bread and butter sometimes.
when times are tough people want escapist entertainment. think back to the 20's and 30's when the speakeasy's and movies were how people got their kicks. for everyone working in clubs that manage to stay open, if you keep your sh*t together and keep the boss and the customers happy then you might have that fabled job security.
 
Jimmy,
I know you specified UK djs, but you might want to generalize the question a little to involve the world community here.

For real, things in the US are in the toilet even for the big guns.
Club gigs I consider to be a steady working contract type of gig.
Private gigs where people are coughing up their hard earned bucks for are definitely hurting in a big way.

As entertainers, there will always be a need but it may not be as profitable.
Not that we are going to be working street corners and train stations, but I expect competition and the lack of jobs to force some price adjustments to keep busy.

The game is changing.
Fortunitely for us using VDJ, we have a more potent show that can offer things that make us look good.
That will most certainly help us get and keep clients or keep us in the back of their heads.

Last night I had a person approach me who works at the central office of Home Depot, which is a home building hardware/material store chain.
If it weren't for VDJ, I am pretty sure I wouldn't have dazzled them that much.
Its 2 hrs from my home and they are willing to pay travel time and hotel expences for me.

So, with what is happening with the economy here, the timing of VDJ couldn't have been better.

While weddings will never stop, I don't expect the wedding djs to feel this right away, but inevitably I expect competition to cause some pricing turmoil and cut throat practices.

r
 
I thought I would add my knowledge of this subject since it has effected me this year.

12 years ago at the age of 18 I started DJing, I bought my first set up for £2500. This did not include a smoke machine, lights or tripods/t bar. I used to have to hire my lights! and travel 20 miles each way for them plus I had to hand over £30 and was only charging £100 at the time. I had a small astramax van I never Djed out of a car so at least that was one good thing although is was a shed.

I always put a lot of time into the presentation of my gear and although I didn't have a lot of stuff what I did have was better than everyone else's. I live in a village and the surrounding area is very rural, there is a lack of venues and you have to travel 60 miles each way sometimes and it can be five years before your back to some venues if at all.

So from early on I realised that the key was to get re-booked so I tried my very best each time and learnt quickly, I was booked ever other week and then every Sat and after 18 month every Friday and Saturday! after 2.5 years I upgraded my gear in a big way and charged £150 and was getting double booked on sat nights every week I then employed a DJ that had his own gear and passed work on and received £25 in commission.

I kept on like this for ten years and ended up with 5 DJ's as well as myself been out both nights each week, so as you can imagine by this point I was well and truly in the business and was earning between £400 & £800 p/w 52 weeks of the year.

So when the smoking ban came in having such a wide variety of work and having such a lot of it I noticed it more than the guy's that only got booked once a week, they tended to still get booked yet I now only employed received 30% of what I was getting. This was due to price I needed to charge more than the guy that got booked once a week and that had a day job to subsidize his hobby and that was the difference, I ended up with loads of top audio equipment that was been unused stuff like Martin, A&H, Denon etc. The equipment went cheap as people didn't need it as people weren't paying good money anymore, I saw great DJ's that had merc sprinters and new-ish transit's like myself and that had all the top gear, certs n subscriptions knock it on the head as it just wasn't worth there while anymore. A new breed of DJ has arrived! the inexperienced geekir types that have all the cheap used gear off ebay and work from estate cars! good luck to them.

In my case I'm used to making a living at DJing and running a proper business! so it has been terrible for me, I had to think long and hard about DJing and were it was taking me it seemed that after my expenses I was breaking even. This was partly due to the high standards that I have but then there's nothing wrong with that after all that was how I got going in the beginning by taking it seriously and having higher standards than everyone else in my area, I raised the bar.

Anyway the decision I came to was to go bankrupt and to have done with it! I'm an all or nothing person I'm not going to lower my prices or just struggle on, When I went banko it was to the bank. I didn't owe anyone else anything! looking at the money it was mostly charges eg late payment, interest hikes etc.

Since then I re-trained in another industry "a proper job" as everyone keeps saying, I still DJ but once a week to who ever want me. There's a bit of a supply and demand thing going on so I get to charge good money, this and my day job that's fantastically well paid even by my standards it all seems to of worked out well. I re-invested the money from all the gear i sold from my business in gear that was just for me I got everything that I wanted and flightcased it all. I think that the ban and the crunch was the big shake up that I needed, and going into a new industry and pulling it off has given me great confidence. This winter I gonna do a lot of practicing at home playing a certain type of music, in the new year I'm going to target a new audience as up-to now it's been hard rock, yates pub chain, private functions, weddings etc and it really is boring and to me it's just a job. After so many years I need to get onto the club circuit and trade under a DJ name playing a certain type of music at a top level, I'll keep you updated as time goes on.

Before I finish I would like to give all the DJ's that have day job's some advice, if you have a day job then you don't really need the money so don't lowering your prices to an absolutely ridiculously low amount as it's just not worth it! "all or nothing"
 
We've noticed a downturn too... However after speaking to the club manager, he has already decided not to change anything. He's not cutting back on opening nights, hours or anything. There is plenty of competition in the area and as soon as one club closes or changes a night, the punters will go elsewhere and it will be extremely difficult to get them back...

Luckily the club is owned by the hotel it sits under. This means its not their only source of income. Plus they do cabaret and comedy nights mid week which suppliments things.

I agree with Charlie, having been a DJ for over 20 years (although only recently finding myself in demand again...) no one should be dropping their prices. This will only start our own financial crisis and clubs/venues will expect to pay less and it will take years to recover.

We cannot influence our own supply chains (music, hardware, fuel, etc) so our costs cannot come down. I'd rather not work than lower my costs.

Yes, they can get cheaper DJ's but they are cheap for a reason... Reputation, experience and skill do not come cheap!

Cheers,

Roy
 
Just my experience and it might not be the same with this recession or for other countries. I am in the UK.

Back in 91 - 97 when the UK economy was struggling I found that I had more well paid work than ever.

The places that I played began to really appreciate a dj who can be adaptable and bring in (and keep in) the punters. They quickly realised that the cowboys didn't do this.

I suppose I am saying that people shouldn't worry too much, just do their best and be adaptable.

A
 
asymptote wrote :
Just my experience and it might not be the same with this recession or for other countries. I am in the UK.

Back in 91 - 97 when the UK economy was struggling I found that I had more well paid work than ever.

The places that I played began to really appreciate a dj who can be adaptable and bring in (and keep in) the punters. They quickly realised that the cowboys didn't do this.

I suppose I am saying that people shouldn't worry too much, just do their best and be adaptable.

A


This is happening here in the US. Suddenly nobody cares what I look like only how I perform, I am beating clubs of with a stick (including clubs that refused me before because I didn't fit their "image" or I was a "computer dj"). The other thing I am finding is that the clubs that were more established, had better reputations and better entertainment and service are continuing to hold and even increase because as the clubs around them have started slowing down the smaller crowds left there are now looking to the busier clubs, the "sure thing" sort of. So while most bars are slowing down the better ones are actually getting busier.
 


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