That’s a valid question right? Why aren’t kids dancing? Here in the great state of Utah, we are often bombarded with the culture from The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Even a handful of DJs both locally and nationally have the same standards as the LDS church. In the DJ industry, we tend to help out the fellow DJ, more than fight for more work. Our culture is built by DJs who strive to make dances better, events more fun and squeeze out every factor to ensure that our clients money is well spent.
Recently, an article popped up in one of our DJ forums titled, “Why aren’t our kids going to church dances?”. A bit perplexed at this title, I couldn’t help but to click on the link and read for myself. Parents paying their sons to dance with girls, and bribing them with food really seemed odd to me. As a DJ, my main focus at any event, whether it be a wedding, high school prom or an LDS stake dance, my vision, passion and discipline fits into my main goal, to provide entertainment that is worth paying for.
Not too long ago, my wife and I moved into our new house and into a new ward. After two weeks, every knew that there was a DJ in the ward and it was time to party. What everyone forgets is that this is a business that puts food on my table and feeds my family. I don’t DJ just to be the person in charge of the party, I DJ because I want people to have fun, enjoy life and laugh a little. There are a number of local DJs that I love to follow because of the job that they do. Let me give you a few examples:
(shameless plug)
Lets look at Opus Productions here for a moment. I have been in business for over 12 years and have a deep rooted passion for what I do and how I do it. I meet with all my clients prior to the event to visualize with them of how the event will unfold. I don’t just collect a payment, show up, play what I want and then go home. More often than not, you get what you pay for in this industry. Typically, if someone is willing to “DJ” an event for a really low price, this could mean two things. Either they are just starting out a business and probably still aren’t a registered business in the state, have mediocre equipment and lack the experience, or they don’t understand the value they should be bringing to such an event and need extensive training to control the atmosphere. My last youth dance I did was up in Heber UT and not a single song went by where kids weren’t dancing. That’s right, they were all dancing and some were even singing along. If you know what you are doing, you will end up with an event like this:
Lets look at another local company who I value and know for a fact that a great show will be put on because of his experience. Rob Ferre with Life-Of-The-Party. Anyone who has met Rob, knows that he has a lot to bring to the table! He takes his business serious! Why? Because he does it full-time. Rob, myself and a few other DJs interact WITH the kids to keep the party going and the atmosphere alive and kicking. If you want to see Rob in action, take a look here.The ability to keep the crowd going can be a challenge in itself, but ultimately it can be done by hiring the right company for the right amount. Owning a DJ company isn’t just showing up with a home stereo and an ipod or a spotify account (which is illegal for commercial use) but it’s putting on a great show without the attention being on the DJ/MC. We all have more than 15K worth of equipment, and more often than not, an extra 10K in backup equipment in case something fails. One of the biggest reason kids don’t dance is because the money spent on less qualified and less reputable companies that may not be registered business owners that pay taxes, end up playing music that doesn’t jive with the event. However, we do. That’s why we charge $500-$1500 per event instead of $100-$350 per event. We have overhead, business costs (this is our income for some of us), monthly subscriptions for legitimate music, insurance, travel, etc.
Kids will dance if you give them the right music to dance to, and hire the right company to do the job.