Sadly, many bar owners and mangers don’t understand how a DJ can help their bars make more money. Often a DJ is seen as “an expense,” instead of a tool to help increase revenue. In this post, I will explore a variety of ways in which a DJ can do way more than just pay for themselves. But, first, let’s discuss some ways in which bars completely mishandle DJs.
HOW TOO MANY BARS COMPLETELY MISHANDLE DJs
Bars tend to veer in one direction or the other with DJs: 1) either expecting the DJ to act as a promoter and demanding they do things like “bring 25 people” with them each time they come in to spin, or 2) having the DJ be completely uninvolved in anyway with the bar or bartenders, saying things like, “Play whatever you want. Here are your drink tickets.”
I once had a Mexican restaurant/bar here in California contact me. The email said I would be required to bring a boatload of guests with me each time I played (for a Taco Tuesday gig, by the way). I responded back that I could not do that, but that I lived in Mexico for 8 years and could absolutely KILL IT with the Mexican tunes. The bar responded, and this is a direct quote, that they didn’t care about my music, just me bringing in people. Some of my DJ friends did decide to play at this bar. Guess what? They were treated poorly and some of them were never paid. I actually wrote about it in depth in an article for DigitalDJTips.com called “The Definitive Guide to Promoting Your Bar & Club DJ Residencies.”
If you need a promoter, hire a promoter. If you need an entertainment director to book talent and keep your calendar full, then hire an entertainment director. If you need live musical entertainment, guest interaction, to set a desired mood, and a “host” (MC), hire a DJ. Yes, a DJ (or bartender) can handle promotions and also manage your entertainment calendar, but those duties require additional financial incentives. If you can believe it, we didn’t learn graphic design or HR between beat matching and beat juggling at DJ school (as I imagine these weren’t covered in bartending school either). Now some DJs (and bartenders) may be willing to learn these un-related tasks, but that should be considered carefully rather than forced.
What I like to refer to as “deadbeat bars,” know they need music, think a DJ can solve that problem, and don’t give it much more thought than that. These bars tend to pay DJs with little more than drink tickets (please DJ well, but here are 8 free drinks for your 3-hour set) or a tiny percentage of the bar sales. These bars tend to have crappy gear (or no gear–one of their DJs may just leave their personal equipment set-up 24/7). I once played at a bar where the CDJs were so old and busted that songs would play backwards, that we often had to use our laptop keys to control the music internally, and that many DJs brought in their own controllers and set them on top of the CDJs. This place rarely generated enough money to cover my babysitting expenses…so why did I play there? Free CDJ experience. I used the crowd as guinea pigs to test new remixes and mash-ups. I frequently met potential private event clients there for sales meetings (because I can’t invite them to see me perform live at other people’s private events). Oh, also, I hired a professional photographer once to do a shoot of me spinning on the CDJs.
But what I never cared about was making that bar any money, growing their client base, developing a crowd of regulars, or anything involving any pride or ownership. The bar didn’t believe in me or value me, so why should I believe in them or value them?
It’s not just bar owners and managers that misunderstand and mishandle DJs…it can also be security guards and bartenders. I once worked at a bar in a crowded downtown area with a constant flow of foot traffic. Most of the bars in the area had a host and a security guard posted at their entrances. However, the security guard at my particular location, would stand IN the entry, blocking it. He was a big, burly dude who never smiled. He’d stand blocking the entry with his arms crossed. Calm down, Rambo, this isn’t Fort Knox. And it’s Thursday. This is horrible Feng Shui. Whenever that security guard was working, I always knew I’d make less money that night because bar sales would be less. In this sense, Ross stores have the right idea. Security guards at Ross stores will give you a friendly greeting, warm smile, and hand you a shopping basket as you walk in. They can still make sure you aren’t bringing in a bunch of other bags or walking out with lumps under your coat while being inviting.
Another bar I worked at had the DJ booth and dance floor on the opposite side of the building from the bar. I couldn’t even really see the bar from the DJ booth. One night, they didn’t like the way I was slowing down the music and gradually lowering the volume as last call approached. The security guard and I had discussed doing this in advance so he had an easier time getting everyone out at closing time. Well, instead of trusting me to be in charge of the music, the bartenders decided to crank up the house music really loud (playing ON TOP OF my music…they couldn’t even bother to walk over to me in advance to communicate) when they didn’t like that my music was getting softer. It sounded like a train wreck in there…and guess who looks bad when the music sounds like crap? Not the bartenders.
Hopefully, in this article, you’ll learn not just how DJs can help your bar make more money, but you’ll get a better understanding over-all of how to prioritize and handle entertainment in general at your establishment.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A STELLAR BAR DJ
There are different kinds of DJs. A radio DJ doesn’t even need to know how to beatmatch (mix music). A night club DJ isn’t thinking about promoting sponsors. A wedding DJ is going to pay careful attention to event planning, their personal appearance, and the appearance of their gear. The skills of a well-suited bar DJ include:
- interacting with the crowd (welcoming requests, announcing birthdays in an engaging way, getting to know your regulars)
- focused on helping the bar make more money (willing to do some promoting and hosting duties)
- mixing better than “wedding DJ” but not necessarily as bad ass as “night club DJ”
- someone who can read a crowd well and switch gears quickly (i.e. someone with at least a few years of experience)
- someone “on brand” (cowboys are “on brand” to DJ in honky tonks, someone who owns sports jerseys and follows sports would be “on brand” for a sports bar)
In a nut shell, a bar DJ understands that their primary goal is to sell more drinks. This means rotating the dance floor (slowing it down every 30-45 minutes so people feel compelled to “take a rest and grab another drink”). This means using the music, dances, lights, crowd interactions–all the tools at the DJs’ disposal–to promote the bar and build clientele.
HOW DJs CAN HELP YOUR BAR MAKE MORE MONEY: ANNOUNCING DRINK SPECIALS
Now that you understand that someone well-suited to DJing in bars should be a person who embraces promoting your bar (during their set, on their Instagram account, etc), the most important thing your bar DJ should do is announce drink specials. Anytime I am offered a residency in a bar, I always ask if they have drink specials (or any other promotions going on) that I can announce for them. 95% of bars do not take advantage of this opportunity, never tell me any specials, and nothing gets announced.
I learned about bar promotions from the master, DJ Dave Byrd, resident DJ of the Brandin’ Iron Saloon in San Bernardino for 20 years. When he retired a few years ago, the B.I. took a hard downturn (the B.I. had a crowd lined up around the block on WEDNESDAY NIGHTS!). Dave served as the entertainment director, so he could announce whatever drink specials he saw fit and the bar would listen up and respond as needed. As a visiting DJ, they would give me a schedule for the night. At 10:00, I announce tequila shots are 2 for 1 for the next 15 minutes. At 11:00, I announce that beer buckets include one free beer for the next 15 minutes, for example. In addition, to promoting drinks specials, anytime Dave ordered something from the kitchen, he’d mention how delicious it was and remind people that the kitchen was closing in an hour. I honestly never knew the B.I. had food until I heard Dave mention it one night. That one announcement turned $0 into me ordering a plate of fries or a salad about once a month (back in my line dancing days!)
When the DJ and the bar can work in tandem like this, it’s a win-win for everyone. The Brandin’ Iron became known for their drink specials. Patrons knew every night that specials would be announced. It kept them coming back week after week. And why not when so few bars offer any type of special. Restaurants can see the value in offering a “special of the day.” Bars can see the value in hosting “happy hours,” but most bars don’t keep that same thinking going all night. Some bars do offer drink specials but don’t have their DJs announce them. Maximize your DJ! Let’s sell some drinks, baby!
HOW DJs CAN HELP YOUR BAR MAKE MORE MONEY: DEVELOPING A BIRTHDAY TRADITION
Have you ever been to a restaurant and heard the staff sing some proprietary version of “Happy Birthday” 6 times during your meal? Why is it that so many people choose to celebrate their birthdays at this one particular restaurant, while there are so many other eateries that you wouldn’t choose for a birthday celebration? Places that makes birthdays extra fun are going to invite in more birthday celebrations. A lot of bars have no “birthday protocol.” Your bar DJ needs to invite birthday (anniversary, engagement, graduation) celebrations by announcing regularly: “Please let me know if you are celebrating a special occasion tonight.” This is not only crucial for encouraging birthday parties at your bar, but it’s a crazy effective way to set the tone for what kind of establishment you’re running. It’s welcoming. It’s inviting. It’s personable. It makes the DJ, i.e. the face of your bar, the host, the mood-setter, approachable. Do you think it’s more work for the DJ to personally greet guests and develop relationships with them over time? Yep, it is (so please pay accordingly!)
You’ll want to make sure that your “birthday policy” is printed on your menu, posted near the bar and inside the bathroom stalls, appears on your website, is mentioned on your voicemail, and is announced regularly by your DJ. If your bar doesn’t currently have a birthday tradition, here are a few ideas:
- offer a freebie to those celebrating birthdays (free dessert, free game tokens, free round of pool, free mardi-gras-style beads)
- have the crowd give a birthday shout out
- play a special sound bite or song clip
- get creative…make it unique and memorable
At the Brandin’ Iron, for example, the only way to get a “blow job” or a “muff diver” shot was to be having a birthday! Different bars do blow job/muff diver shots differently, but the way the B.I. did it involved taking the shot hands-free (just holding it in your lips) from the crotch of someone of the opposite sex (although same-sex can certainly be accommodated). They’d place a stool in the middle of the dance floor so the whole bar was watching as the birthday boy “went down” in his lady friend’s crotch for the shot or as the birthday girl “bobbed down” for her blow job shot between her male friend’s legs. These were soooooo popular for 21st birthdays! Other bars serve them at the bar with tons of whip cream so that when you lift your head back up after the hands-free shot, your face is covered in white, frothy cream–hardy har.
HOW DJs CAN HELP YOUR BAR MAKE MORE MONEY: SKIP THE DISHWASHING
The best party bar I ever DJed at was Sr. Frogs in Cancun, Mexico. They understood everything in this article and more. They took “drink specials” to ninja level. If you are truly committed to boosting your bar sales and turning casual guests into superfans, that means training your bar staff with this mentality. Because guess what? They need to understand that they are entertainers too. Where is all this going?
Instead of being slowed down by however fast your bar staff can serve people at the bar when a drink special is announced, why not skip the shot glasses (and the dishwashing)? There used to be a bar in San Bernardino called Margarita Beach. Every night at 11pm, they’d turn the lights up, have the DJ play Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, 2-3 bartenders would go stand up on chairs in the corners of the dance floor, and they would pour tequila shots directly into the mouths of those who lined up. Each bartender could go through a bottle of tequila in 2-3 minutes. They would pour shots until people quit lining up. It sometimes went on 15+ minutes. Imagine hundreds of shots sold in just a few minutes…with no shot glasses to deal with. This also works well with Jello shots that are pre-made before you get busy and are offered in tiny disposible plastic “cups.” Have a waitress pass through the crowd with a full tray of these Jello shots after the DJ announces it. Patrons love being able to skip the line at the bar as well!
The other thing this accomplishes is “rotating the dance floor.” It gives guests a chance to check their phones, go outside and smoke, use the restroom, etc. Yes, a few people will use the “break” to leave, but the rest of the crowd will use it to re-fresh their batteries and come back with a second wind (i.e. they will end up staying longer with a renewed energy). Just be sure not to do your “break” too late (midnight) because you don’t want to encourage a huge rush of alcohol too close to “last call.” Likewise, you don’t want to take a “break” too early because it’s best done after about 30 minutes of “maximum buzz” energy from the crowd. Push them to burn out, then rest them. Bars that don’t know how to rotate the dance floor will cruise in 4th gear all night never reaching a crescendo because the DJ has to “ration” the good party songs to last all night. That isn’t necessary when you rotate the dance floor.
The Brandin’ Iron had a similar “11pm break.” Their break included playing a “masculine energy anthem” (Dangerous Man by Dwight Yoakum) and having whatever guys who wanted to do the Tush Push line dance in a straight line facing the crowd (normally dancers stand in several lines facing the stage opposite the seated crowd). At a certain point in the song, the guys would just drop down and do push-ups to show off for the ladies!!! Let me just say…watching the Marines doing one-handed and clap push-ups NEVER got old. They would then play a song for the ladies. Instead of push-ups, there was sexy crawling across the floor and a lot of booty shaking. I participated a few times–always a blast—and the chances of getting a free drink out of it were always high.
At Sr. Frogs in Cancun though, they really don’t fart around (The Sr. Frogs chain’s motto is “Come for the food, stay for the fun.” Seriously, study their website, watch videos of what goes on there on YouTube, see the energy in the social media photos and compare it to your bar’s social media). They have a stage next to the DJ booth with dunk water tanks! Their “break” includes having all the guests stand on their chairs to belt out a popular sing-along (hype guys hand out free drink tickets to guests willing to get goofy), then they ask a few guests where they are visiting from, and some are invited up on stage for a trivia competition (maybe guessing song lyrics or multiple choice questions about Mexico). The winner gets a humongous free drink or free dessert (you get the idea), and the losers get drenched in the dunk tanks. Sr. Frogs was easily the most fun bar party I ever DJed. In addition to the fun guest interaction and activities (and obviously bad ass DJing lol), they had a bilingual hype guy on staff. He had his own mic independent from mine, worked his way through the crowd, shouting out birthdays to me, passing me song requests, and gently encouraging guests to loosen up, relax, and enjoy! In addition, the entire staff belted out song lyrics, sang guests “happy birthday,” smiled, laughed, entertained, and brought some serious party energy. If you want to know how they can get away with charging people $10 for a plate of chips with cheese sauce, it’s the same way Starbucks sells $0.50 cups of coffee for $4–atmosphere.
HOW DJs CAN HELP YOUR BAR MAKE MORE MONEY: CREATING MOMENTS
If your bar has a DJ who never gets on the mic and just plays smoothly blended music off in the corner, why not just have a Spotify playlist from that DJ (or any DJ) playing for a fraction of the cost? A DJ is an entertainer.
Think of some recent concerts you’ve been to. Which one was best? Did any disappoint? Let me give an example from the last year I DJed at the Stagecoach Festival. With my “artist” wristband, I could get in the VIP section to any of the concerts there. Miranda Lambert is my all-time favorite living country singer. I feel like Luke Bryan is kinda “the problem” with modern country music sounding so pop-y.
But I enjoyed Luke’s show more than Miranda’s at my last Stagecoach because he was jumping up on a beer cooler and acting crazy, he brought out freakin’ SNOOP DOGG with him on stage, etc. Miranda just walked from one side of the stage to the other–sometimes a little jog. I think she sat down on a stool for one song. To be honest, it was years ago, and I really don’t recall much of her performance because it was not particularly entertaining. The cooler Luke Bryan jumped up on was green…like a kind of hunting Coleman cooler. That I remember still. Another moment I recall years ago from Stagecoach is Dierks Bentley explaining why he wrote the song “I Hold On” and then showing a slideshow of real family photos of him and his dad on a giant projector as he performed the song. Entertaining people is about creating those moments.
Your bar doesn’t need any gimmicks. The right song played at the exact right moment is everything. For example, I DJed a company Christmas party a few weeks ago. They had some games for the staff to play to win prizes. The game rules were long and complicated and confusing. It reminded me of that episode of Friends where both Monica and Joey/Chandler are throwing competing birthday parties for Rachel. At Monica’s party, you have to use a drink coaster, take your shoes off by the front door, and play these tedious word games. At Joey and Chandler’s party, there are ducks walking around, loud music, alcohol is flowing, and things are getting loose and messy. Well, this corporate holiday party was becoming really Monica-ish. The MC asked me to play upbeat music softly as he spoke, thinking that would make explaining a bunch of rules more fun. It didn’t. Anyway, when one lady stepped up to do her interpretative dance or whatever for the game, for no reason whatsoever, I dropped Pony by Ginuwine, which has a strip tease vibe to it. That short clip of music changed the whole mood almost instantly. People were laughing and smiling again.
A DJ is a mood creator, an energy shifter…and, if you think there is someone working in your bar with more influence than the DJ, you’re wrong. For example, once DJing at a lesbian bar, a man came over to me and requested a Chris Brown song. Well, this is an uber-feminist space (myself included), and Chris Brown was found guilty of domestic violence for beating on his girlfriend at the time, Rihanna. Imagine the giant bucket of “energy ice” I would have dumped on the dance floor if I had played a Chris Brown song there. The patrons would have been right to throw old fruit at me. I told the owner at the end of my set that I turned down this request, and she told me I had made the right decision. So one thing the right DJ can deliver for your bar is super on-brand music that doesn’t just reflect the crowd but also makes “high points” even more special (or creates high points all on their own).
In this way, the perfect bar DJ is a combination of an interactive wedding DJ and a master mixer nightclub DJ. A wedding DJ is an expert in creating moments. In case you haven’t been to a wedding recently with a modern DJ, some of the things currently happening at weddings include:
- low-laying fog on the dance floor during the First Dance (dry ice machine)
- telling the couple’s love story to introduce the First Dance or maybe during the First Dance
- foam glowsticks just like New Year’s Eve in Vegas
- the music video of the song playing on flat screens next to the DJ
- a CO2 gun shooting a heavy white fog on to the dance floor during open dancing
- a surprise voice-over recording during the Mother-Son dance where the groom says thank you to his mom for all her sacrifices and how much he loves her (may be accompanied by a surprise mother-son photo slideshow)
And, quite frankly, it’s not out of the ordinary for modern wedding DJs to be pumping out live mash-ups on real turntables. The Chicken Dance days are suuuuper over. If this is the kind of entertainment people are getting from weddings, what should your bar be providing?
My friend Chad Blackburn from Almost Famous Entertainment in Murrieta does a fun thing at some of the bars he DJs at called “Black Out, Make Out.” During a BOMO, someone on staff near the light switches coordinates killing the lights with him. The entire bar goes pitch dark for 10 seconds so people can steal a kiss! He announces it so people know it’s coming. And he plans the music around the BOMOs. How fun is that!
A FEW FINAL THOUGHTS: HOW DJs CAN HELP YOUR BAR MAKE MORE MONEY
Once I was asked to DJ an 80s night at a dive bar. It was a pretty rough crowd in there. The bar looked like it hadn’t been updated since the 70s or 80s…clunky wood chairs, old gross carpet in places, you get the scene. Well, the owner told me that he wanted the vibe to be like Pacific Beach in San Diego, which is upscale, modern, and chic. I don’t know what voodoo he thought I could work with these 80s tunes to turn his dive bar into some elegant seaside cocktail lounge, but music can only do so much. His crowd was all under 30. These guys didn’t want to hear their parents’ music every Thursday night. I got nothing but complaints. The other problem with the arrangement is that he sort of indirectly hinted that he wanted to attract a different crowd. He didn’t want blue collar people I guess…I don’t know. If you are reading this article thinking a DJ will be a cheaper alternative to remodeling your bar, that isn’t going to work. If your bar isn’t upscale, an “upscale” DJ playing “upscale” tunes isn’t going to be a magic wand. Go get some bar stools made in this century, fix what’s broken, bring in some color wash lighting, etc…THEN bring in the upscale entertainment.
Another issue I had with this bar and, sadly, many others, is the directive to not play any hip hop music. This started happening at bars around the country and beyond about 2 years ago. The justifications range from “hip hop causes fights” to “we just don’t like that music.” Many DJs have compared the “silent ban” on hip hop music in bars to racist dress codes from the 50s and 60s. If you scratch the surface of a ban on hip hop music, it’s really just a ban on black people. If you just don’t like “the crowd” of people who come in on a hip hop night, ask yourself why? I once asked the guy who had booked me at a certain bar (not the owner–just a talent manager) about the hip hop ban. He said, “Oh, it’s really just that you need to play clean music.” Well, why isn’t that what the instructions say then? There are clean versions (“radio edits”) of every song. I don’t know why an adult-only establishment trying to get a party going wouldn’t want to let patrons indulge in the dirty versions of songs (that’s why they hired babysitters for the night, no?) Nevertheless, a hip hop ban is a thinly-veiled restriction on a certain segment of people. How would you feel if your bar’s hip hop ban was announced publicly…like with Boystown Gay Bar. The headline read “racist AF.” Don’t let that be YOUR bar. This is southern California. This is 2022. White people have BLM signs on their lawns. In the same vein, many tribal casinos in the region only hire (or try to only hire) female DJs, thinking that our tits are going to bring more patrons in (boo! some go so far as demanding we “wear dresses”). This is the era of inclusivity and anti-bullying. You need to do better.
Moving on, toooooo many bars try to bring in a DJ on slow nights (i.e. midweek) to help increase sales on those days. A Tuesday night is a REALLY hard sell. It’s going to take a lot more than just a DJ to turn Tuesday night into a packed-house. That means coordinating the whole staff to brainstorm ideas and participate. A Tuesday night sell-out is not something a DJ is going to accomplish alone. My advice is to first focus on using the tips in this article to boost sales on Fridays and Saturdays, THEN work on Thursday night, THEN work on Sunday brunch, etc. Take it one step at a time and really invest in and focus on each night until you’ve reached your target.The lesbian bar I worked at used to give out drink tokens (little metal coins) anytime someone bought a drink on a weekday. The token was good for 50% off a drink on the same night the following week. It was like saying, “If you’re off on Thursdays, we want you to keep coming back here every Thursday.”
It’s important to understand as well that making these changes to your bar’s normal routine requires dedication. You need to commit to this new way of thinking for at least 3-6 months before deciding whether it’s working for you or not. Too many bars feel uncomfortable trying to do something new, they see their regulars looking confused or chuckling, and they immediately throw in the towel. Don’t let the regulars intimidate you so easily. One of the ways the Brandin’ Iron addressed this type of situation was by making a committee (open to the public) where regulars can come into a monthly meeting with B.I. management and discuss changes they’d like to see, give feedback on rolling out upgrades, and so on. Members of the committee were rewarded for their participation with bracelets that allowed them to cut in line at the front door and not have to get IDed. Nice!
And, finally, please don’t expect your DJ to be dedicated to your bar and to care about its success unless you are willing to pay them a respectable salary. In the Inland Empire area of southern California, a Saturday night DJ at a crowded bar with a dance floor to keep full should be making at the very least $500…but $600-$800+ is reasonable. And that’s to play from, say, 9pm-1am, not to start at 6pm and go to 3am, ok. For ideal results, you need to give the DJ actual ownership in the gig and offer a base salary of $75-$150/hour PLUS 5-10% of the bar sales. According to Glassdoor, entertainment directors in bars earn between $75,000-$90,000 annually…please let that give you some context when deciding your payment structure.
I think drink tickets are insulting and annoying. Just let the DJ drink for free (most bars allow or even encourage their DJs to drink, but there are a few with strict “no food or drinks in front of the patrons” policies)…no need to kill any trees in the process. It is expected that the bar will provide speakers, a microphone, and lights. A few places require the DJ to bring their own controller (the thing the DJ uses to mix the music). If you do not provide a controller, CDJs, or turntables, you need to pay the DJ a bit more to bring their own. In the US, DJs will always be using their own laptops/DJ software (most bars in Mexico have desktop computers in the DJ booth and require the DJ to use the house computer).
I CAN HELP YOUR BAR MAKE MORE MONEY
There are companies that can handle all of your bar entertainment needs for you if this is really terrifying (they will host trivia on Tuesdays, bring in a karaoke machine on Thursdays, plan amazing holiday parties, provide you with a bad ass line-up of Friday & Saturday night DJs or bands, and promote everything for you). I can help or refer you to someone who can if it’s not a good fit for me. Feel free to text me at 619.504.4626 or fill out my contact form.
