An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest... Nightclubbiz.com

This is not a service officially being offered, but yet another test pilot project Nightclubbiz.com has been playing around with. Can a remote DJ in a nightclub actually work? As present, the DJ Dave Live shows are part of a larger virtual world nightclub project. The shows have captured a sizable audience with regular listeners from 27 countries, the majority of which from the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Australia.

Not a general purpose act

These shows are somewhat different is that they encompass strong interactive component, as in… DJ Dave is always messing with the audience. Now right here, that's considered out in left field, as the majority of larger club DJ's don't so much as even own a microphone, and if they do… The most you may hear is… Last call… LAST CALL AT THE BAR!!! And it always sounds as if they're French kissing the mic… Oops… There goes a high driver. LOL

Hey Look… Being live on the air is not for everyone and yes… It can do more harm than good if you're not comfortable doing so. As a result, much of the club DJ scene considers any type of audience interaction to be… Not cool. Oh, so beat mixing 140 BPM dance all night is then? Whattttttt? I was doing that when I reached puberty!!!

But seriously…. Where is the DJ Dave show best suited?

Smaller bars and clubs with a 25 to 35 aged demographic. It's somewhat unlikely very young audiences would find my shows appealing. In addition, I'm not a club DJ per se. That is… When you think of club DJ, you think a 15,000 square foot club where 95% of the music content is limited to that of the club scene itself, and or far out stuff the DJ's themselves are producing. I'm a radio friendly DJ. I'm also a remix junkie, but only for high-charted music with international recognition. So again… Unlikely I'd be a good fit for big dance clubs at this point.

So what's your objective?

I've been experimenting with this to some degree in smaller bars. At this point, I'm not advertising as the headliner act. Rather… I open the night 'for' the headliner act. My focus is with purpose, not simply an excuse to play music. I like to build early night audiences. One of the largest challenges for almost any nightclub is procuring an early night audience. Getting people out before midnight is almost impossible for many clubs.

Contrary to misguided belief… This is NOT because, um… People just don't come out before midnight. There is always a 'cause and affect' factor at work. The cause is largely the result of many clubs failing to acknowledge the mindset of the consumer between the hours of 9:00 to 12:00 midnight, versus 12:00 to 4:00 AM. Sort of like they're stuck in 3rd gear from start till finish.

Consequently, it's not uncommon to observe music styles and insane volume levels at 9:30 PM as the club sits there empty. Hmmm… Now what could possibly be wrong with this picture? Wait!! I know the answer!!! It's not the cuisine… It's because the people aren't hungry yet!!! That's why we're empty!!! Really? Well perhaps you should try feeding them something they may find more palatable at this time of the evening! Now there's a concept! Smirks…. Hey, I'm not saying all clubs are guilty of this, but there's no denying that this IS a common complaint amongst the broader level industry. People DO go out well before 9:00 PM -just not to nightclubs…

What is your approach?

In short, to do what the main DJ does not, as opposed to competing with him/her. For example, early night entertainment should not be focused on hardcore dance. It's not time for that yet… So I play the older dance, top 40, 90's, 80's, even some classic rock if the venue permits. The objective, at least for me is not so much to build a dance floor at this time of night, but to keep a room interesting. Dancing may occur, but in general, people are in a socializing type of mindset during these early hours. That is… They're not ready for 80db of slamming base beats yet. You need to get them drinking first.

I chat the room up a little… Ask interesting questions… Play funny tunes that no ones heard in ages…. Basically anything to keep the room "above" the flat line. Again… The volume of people in the venue at this hour could be anywhere between 20 and 100, so there's no need to behave like it's 2:00 AM. Let's get them warmed up… Do some drink specials maybe… Just play around.

Yeah… I like being an idiot on the air. I work on material, which posse's questions of a personal nature, but everyday stuff people can identify with. I like testing an audience to see just how they'll reply to various types of questions or commentary. Why not? It can be funny.

Recently, I put this question to my audience:

Topic: Moral, immoral, or nothing to do with morals?

Planted this one on the audience: Glancing through your window… You observe your neighbor pleasuring themselves. Do you… Shut the blinds? Call your mommy?… Or continue to watch? Submit your thoughts in 3 lines or less… We'll read them LIVE ON THE AIR!

Hah…. Got some really good replies to this one over a 2-hour period. Gave away a cash prize for the best reply. Again, this kind of stuff can work well early in the night with smaller audiences. Mix it up with some party tunes and it can be fun. I regularly announce that the official party kicks off at whatever time with the DJ's name that is going to be running with it.

What are the technical requirements?

Basically a laptop in the DJ Booth, plugged into a DSL or cable connection. Tune in my stream using Winamp, Media Player, or whatever you please. Patch me into an open channel on your sound mixer… Set volume and that's pretty much it. I take it from there. Some are probably wondering… What is the sound quality like? It's the same as the quality of your in-house DJ. My standard broadcasts are running at 192 kbps stereo, but I increase that to 256 or 320 kbps for direct broadcasts into clubs.

What if the Internet connection fails?

This will always be an inherent risk of broadcasting over a network. The Internet is good, but not perfect. While disruptions are rare, they can still occur. I've configured a fail-over, which fades in a music broadcast if I lose connectivity with my relay server. If you hear this… It may only be temporary. If not, have a play list of your own ready to roll. You have a direct phone number to the studio, so you can contact me directly if there's a problem.

How do you actually interact with the audience?

In the event I'm running a contest, which is reliant on audience reply, Yahoo Messenger, Microsoft messenger… Or emailed replies work. Ideally, I need an assistant who takes the audiences replies and sends them to me via Instant message. They simply send the name of the respondent and their reply. I'll put it on the air. Any staff member could manage this or even a guest.

What venues can you perform in?

There is no limit to where I can perform. I've done private parties, bars, lounges, to a few intermediate size clubs. I can also be a good fit with venues, which are 100% live bands. In this case, they do not merit a fulltime DJ, but they can plug me into the existing PA. I open the night for the band… Get the room warmed up… And will also go live when the band takes their breaks. This way, you don't need to rely on a CD player in between sets.

How much notice do you need?

None really. If you're feeling spontaneous and you can tune in my stream, I can be ready to roll in minutes. This of course depends on my workload with Nightclubbiz.com, but weekends I try to leave open for a couple of shows.

So Nightclubbiz.com is now providing live entertainment services?

NO… Not officially. In all honesty, it's more like leisure enjoyment for me than anything else. When you're in over your head in consulting and business related issues all week, it's fun to actually get back to the fun part of being in the nightclub business. For me that's providing entertainment.

How do can we try this?

Contact Nightclubbiz.com with the details of your club.