Quote:
Originally Posted by Dj Dave Crane 
Then go out to all the clubs and bars and hassle the promoters until they give you a gig. Basically be a pain in the arse until the give in! Hand out copies to all ya mates and to anyone you talk too. I have been to various after parties around the country and have found my mix in their collection!
Just bombard everyone with ya CD and keep track of who has a copy so you can pester the promoters. Its hard work and takes a while but its true what they say, you only get out what you put in!
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when i was promoting i used to hate people that did this and to be honest i've still got cd's now i haven't listened to.
and generally being a pain in the arse doesn't make people give in it just annoys them and lowers your chances
the best way is to look around locally and spot a night or nights you'd like to play at. Don't pick long established nights with big name dj's - they generally won't be interested and will have a long que of folks wanting to play.
The best nights to start of at are small nights that use a lot of local dj's
The next stage - turn up to every night you can, get your face about, get to know people, become a regular, figure out who the promoters are. Listen to the other dj's - you are going to have to be better than at least one of them to get a set - make sure you are good enough - i've heard a lot of bad demo mixes
DON'T PESTER THE PROMOTER - try and make friends with them instead. You have to remember the first half of a night is a stressful time for promoters, making sure all the equipment is working, dj's are there, punters are turning up etc. Quite often the last thing they want is people wittering in their ear about what a good set they'd play etc wait until it's calmed down a bit.
Once you've got to know folks and become a part of the scene then it's time to give them a cd. They are far more likely to listen to it if they know you a little bit and can see you are wanting to make a serious contribution to the scene
Make it clear you're prepared to play at afterparties etc, this is often the best way into getting a set at a club - if you've been seen playing at someones house party or something then promoters have more than just a cd to go off
once you have played at some smaller nights and built a bit of reputation and history then you can start hitting the bigger nights with cd's
its a very longterm process - you have to build a reputation for yourself. and that's not just about how good you are at djing it's about how dedicated you are to the music you play and about getting people to like you
you could be the best dj on the planet but if you act like a wanker people are not going to want you to play
there's too many ego's in this game and a hell of a lot of folks hassling promoters - if you come across as being genuine and sound you stand a far better chance