Multi-op?

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I have on two occassions considered adding an additional DJ as they met my minimum requirements. Having said that not many who have helped as assistants/ roadies etc in the past could live up to these very stringent minimum requirements. If I were sure the individual could atleast meet these requirements I would have no issues. Unfortunately there were only two and one ended up getting married the other left for Japan to teach English. The Kid from Japan is now back and contacted me recently. We shall see where this might go.
 
Having Worked for and managed Multi-Op and have been solo-op for a while Here are my thoughts based on my experience.

As Employee:
Pro- Plenty of work, not expected to do much prep just show up get contract and gear and drive to location. If there were any issues (be sides personal ones) I was off the hook because I didn't get all the info.

Didn't have to worry about gear/music was updated for me. Got paid either that night or next day from the boss.

Con- You didn't always get the same gear/music so didn't know the "quirks" of the equipment. CDs could be unplayable. Didn't get to meet brides, no personal connection.

You didn't always know where you were going until you got the contract.
Creativity was frowned upon.

As the Manager:

Pro- I got to do all the meetings, my choice of shows. Standard packages easy to sell. More marketing power.

Con- DJs often forgot to mention issues with equipment/CDs, Update 17 sets of music plus replacement CDs, maintain equipment and test weekly. Had to deal with complaints (inc from brides), More overhead. Had to standardize what the DJs did. Standardize options. DJs could be flaky. DJs quit to become competition

Solo:
Pro- Make more money, don't have to worry about equipment/CD issues, can be creative. Better time management, no complaints from brides. Choose what weekends I want to work, more flexibility, can charge more because I offer more services. Easier to network.

Cons- Honestly... I can't think of any that seem significant enough to list.

As a Multi-Op I'm thinking having the DJs use your equipment is better, it is unlikely they will work for someone else.

I can also say working for the multi-op I don't think I got very good training. I was out on my own in less that 3 months from my first training night. There was no "class room" training. I admit I caught on well enough and I had a decent appreciation of music. I wasn't a big country fan so was weak there and country music can be 70% of your play list here. I had terrible mic skills. Was very self concious (I was born with a hairlip cleft pallet) I don't sound nasal and I don't have any lisp or impediment but I was still self conscious about it.

I was DJing once and was in the washroom and two older gusts came in and didn't realize I was in there (it was a stairway to heaven type visit) and one said to the other "Hey the DJs pretty good." The other "Yeah not bad for a hairlip." I just about walked...

I am not so troubled by it now and I have taken some speaking classes and learned by watching others. But with better training I am sure I could have been a much better DJ in my first few years. It was about my 5th year that I really broke out.

I don't think being a multi-op makes any more money in the long run than a solo-op. There is more over head, equipment upkeep and all that. As a Solo I can charge more than a Multi-op because I can specialize and be much more flexible.
Most of the Multi-ops wont let you meet your DJ before the event. Simply because they have no clue who is available to work. Some will charge you a $50 min fee to reserve a DJ.

I am sure that there are some Multi-ops that do provide much better service. DJs here seem to just do what is needed.
 
I am a former multi op.
But it depends on the type of gigs. Multi-oping is less stressfull for all occasion gigs (birthdays, school dances, Christmas parties, Etc)

Weddings?.. Way too much atttention to detail to trust to other DJs to do.

Have a DJ friend in town that is the same way, he will send out his other DJs for any job but a wedding. Which works for me, he will pass any weddings to me if he is booked.



I'm a single op and don't even have a roadie to help most of the time because I hate depending on someone else to be there. Over the years a couple of time I ask someone to help me. I told them what time to be there and what time to be back after the gig if they didn't stay. Of the 4 times I ever did this they were late showing up before the gig, and/or after the gig, or showed back up in no condition to help. I have a job coming up next month and will need help on load in and tear down, I have a new guy in mind and he seems like someone I could depend on, and he could use the cash too.
 
TJtheDJ

Good post man. I too have been on both sides of the fence. Working for a large multi-op, 13 rigs. And now owning one, we have 5, working 3 constantly.

My biggest downfall is finding help. It's extremely hard finding good quality people who want to work weekends..

The $ is good, we take care of our guys and have an open door policy. We offer fringe benefits.

One DJ on our team has his own stuff and has worked out well so far. If he's in a jam, he has access to ours so it works out..The others use ours.
 
Biggest issue with multi-op is finding guys who will treat your equipment like they own it. Was probably the biggest expense was repair/replacement.

Though I should add this a s a foot note... It was only in the last few years it got that way, some Djs retired/moved on and we got a new bunch. We also moved from old Gemini/stanton/numark to Numark CDMix1's and 2's...

Personally it was a cost cutting measure that cost more money in the end.
 
I do as well. I try to explain to the guys to treat it like their own. It's *their* stuff.

We've added some more expensive equipment in ther past year, what I am going to be doing is haivng them fill out a form that explains if anything happens to the equipment, they are 100% responsible for all repairs since they left with it in working condition.

With this, they will keep it in great condition and treat it like their own.
 
I do as well. I try to explain to the guys to treat it like their own. It's *their* stuff.

We've added some more expensive equipment in ther past year, what I am going to be doing is haivng them fill out a form that explains if anything happens to the equipment, they are 100% responsible for all repairs since they left with it in working condition.

With this, they will keep it in great condition and treat it like their own.

Good luck with that.

We tried it and it didn't work and the $100 a night they were making compared to much larger replacement/repair bill. Well they would suddenly become unavailable to punish us knowing the owner was a greedy SOB who typically booked us to max leaving out no one to cover for emergencies. In the end, the DJ was never held responsible.

As long as you know you can make do with out one or two DJs it might work.
 
I do as well. I try to explain to the guys to treat it like their own. It's *their* stuff.

We've added some more expensive equipment in ther past year, what I am going to be doing is haivng them fill out a form that explains if anything happens to the equipment, they are 100% responsible for all repairs since they left with it in working condition.

With this, they will keep it in great condition and treat it like their own.

Yikes. I am not sure that is really fair. It would be one thing to hold them responsible for damage they caused (auto accident, dropping, etc.) How would you hold them responsible for wear and tear? Sometimes things just stop working. What if someone else was responsible for the damage? Perhaps some sort of an incentive program would be more effective.
 
I didn't say it's enforced yet. Thinking about it. Yes, it is fair. If I invest in $20K worth of stuff, and they damage it for whatever reason and still wanna get paid..No.

Do you have ideas??

I think it's OK to hold them responsible for their damage. I don't think it's OK to hold them responsible if they were not personally responsible. You also may want to consider some type of deductible so they understand what their personal liability is. I have a company car. I am responsible for the first $250 in damage that is my fault. I am not responsible if the car was hit by another individual or hurricane or the like. If I were 100% responsible for everything, I would just assume use my own vehicle and want to be compensated accordingly.

Going down this road is a smart business decision, as such, there is probably a good plan that would be borne out of looking at your exposures.

What equipment gets broken the most often? What is the most expensive piece they carry? Do you have a local means for repair? If you must ship, those fees should be included. What about down time? How are you going to collect the money back? If you have enough data to draw good conclusions from, it will make crafting a policy easier.

Do you have an employee manual? If so, make sure this is included. It might be a good idea to have all your employees sign a form indicating that they have received and understand the policy. It can get tricky making a paycheck deduction if they dispute the charge.
 
How about implementing it into their pay structure? They get X amount towards equipment upkeep. If they choose to spend it thats their issue or they can put it into savings and in fact keep their gear in proper order. This just a thought on the spur of the moment.
 
Multi-op

What I have learned is to treat your people very well. Your guys can be the biggest bottleneck for your business. This means making their training your #1 priority. Communicate the company message and make sure they all know their role. This will help to build sense of belonging for them. Have a rewards system setup to where they reap the benefits for doing a job well done.

I do not hire people that have any DJ equipment or DJ experience. I do not use subs, ever. I do not cut prices last minute to keep my guys busy. I want them to know the quality of our clients it is part of the company message. If you sub, then your competition might use it against you. If you bring on subs, then eventually their ego will over power them. If you take care of your guys, then they will stay with you.
 
Bonus system. Each guy gets the same gear as often as possible. At the end of the year, if their equipment has no issues beyond wear and tear, they get a bonus. Bonus is based on the number of gigs. Max is 2 nights pay equivalent.

Reward the good performance. Fire the bad.
 
I've been both, as well as managed and consulted on other's mulit-ops.

This is a very different circumstance we are in today - and I would actually recommend against being a multi-op. Nearly all meaningful hurdles to providing DJ service have been removed - making it a very poor choice for a business with many employees. You woudl be better served as a talent agent.

Muisic is also too comparatively cheap these days to be worthy of the time it would take to manage multiple collections. Consider just this one aspect alone:

At the very least - a multi-op should now require every DJ to purchase and maintain his own music library even if the multi-op is providing the sound system.

This solves a whole host of problems and liabilities. For exaple, too many multi-ops are highly exposed to copyright infringement and piracy claims (including many of the best known names in this industry.)

It dismays me to see how heavily dependent many of them are on unauthorized duplication of subscription services, and traded hard drives, etc. (Those premium prices won't feel so "big ticket" should the RIAA press you for a settlement.)

Ignorance also abounds. I'm amazed at how much uncleared or trademarked material DJs continue to use and post in videos on the web, and as video progamming in clubs and other public performances. Even the backgorunds some VJs use for their "green screen" novelties are trademarked images of professional teams and stadiums. etc. It only takes the right person to see you using it - and you're fodder for a lawsuit to be made example of.
 
Who is going to waste their time being a bully? We know the RIAA will go after defenseless people who have no real income to adequately protect them selves.

One reason I think the RIAA in the US and the AVLA in Canada don't go after DJs like they do Single mothers with 3 kids for downloading music (pirating) is the likely hood of us banding together in support, since any judgement against one of us will affect all of us, and winning in our defense.

Look at what we do. We play music that people buy. The only resources for new music distribution to the public is Radio, a couple TV stations and DJs.

People only really listen to Radio when they commute, most retail stores now have their own private radio which often plays a very limited selection of music that is designed to have a psychological effect on the consumer so new music is not often show cased.

TV, Much Music, MTV are hardly Music channels anymore as they also show other TV programs and sitcoms. How many people actually sit and watch those channels regularly? If it was a high number it would still be music video's 24/7 and not relegated to specialty channels.

DJs. The only real source where a variety of music content is played to the most people in a setting that promotes it. We are the only real source of new and unique music, old hits that people grew up with. We don't charge record labels to promote their work, though we are much like a paid advertising program. We do more than any other medium to spread the music in as much variety than anyone else. We should get out music for free because we are generating the sales though mass media for the labels.

The labels should be willingly offering us new singles and asking us to submit feedback, we are the best focus group out there. As it is to be legal we sometimes have to wait weeks for that legal copy of an album to come our way because radio gets it weeks before the CD is released to HMV or ERG. I hear a song that I think is going to be a hit, I download it and I play it and you can bet I have sold more than a handful of CD's or Songs on itunes for the labels because of that.

So take us to court. As a collective we can't lose, the labels need us to continue to spread their weak artists, one hit wonders and studio bands with no live talent. I would love to see the tables turned and we have to submit song logs and get paid for playing them on behalf of the labels for promoting their products. Might be pennies a song. But I probably play 10 thousand songs a year and a few hundred bucks coming back rather than going out would work for me.
 
Multi - op here. It is definitely more difficult, but there is no way I could make this income as a single op and still keep my sanity. I like doing all the admin work full time as it gives the DJs more time to focus on the true DJ aspect. Cons: more paperwork, taxes / Pros: 3-4 times as much money, I give our DJs so much work and make it so easy for them, they have little incentive to work for themselves so they are very loyal.

Our DJs stick with us pretty long. 12 DJs and 3 assistants total and 8 of the 12 have been with us for over 10 years - 2 have been with us for 18 years! They all have their own equipment and music, and it needs to be approved by us. Never had a problem as they work their way up and prove themselves by starting as DJ assistants.

I, like Bill have been a multi-op for many years and in the "old days" we never met with clients prior to booking or even after. Now it is pretty standard practice. For those that can't our DJs will Skype them instead.
 
Multi-op.

It's definitely go it's challenges. Getting other DJs who actually care and then there are the times that I get nailed for some minor infraction that my guy did. I've had at least a couple of gigs where I ended up paying money in order to DJ their wedding. Also, the only bad reviews I have floating around are from another DJ that I sent in to do a job. And then there's tooling up to support all the gear needed for multiple rigs. It ain't cheap. I do have a few guys that have their own gear and a few that I supply everything. I do believe the key to making it work is getting ahead of the gigs, logistically-speaking. You've GOT to have your act down as far as getting the timeline built out and verified, well before the gig. If you get behind this 8-ball, it'll crush you.

The good part, I do get a bump off the extra gigs. The even gooder part is I get to cherry-pick the most profitable jobs for myself. It raises my personal average by several hundred dollars. I also have built-in backup in the case the wife wants me to take a night off or we go on vacation, pickup last minute jobs, etc.

This season was my first full-multi-op season. Year before last I did 45 gigs. Last year I did 54. This year we'll have right at 90. It takes time and patience and the training/personnel issues are never-ending but the way I see it, I'm 47. I ain't gonna be able to lug gear around forever so the only way to make this venture a long-term biz is to go multi-op. YMMV
 
so Rick does your clients get whomever you send out on the day of to allow you to cherry pick?
 
I do some gigs for a multi-op. Am paid well and given $50 for a good review. Cerebro is right, the only way you'll keep good people is to treat them well. I supply my own gear and music. I find it odd that there are companies that supply gear to DJ's. If you want to do gigs you should have your own gear i.e. have an investment in the process