Ten Questions
you MUST ask a DJ when interviewing them.
By......... Mike Fernino
Most people
have " NO IDEA " what to ask a DJ when interviewing them
for a job. For many couples planning a wedding, or party, this is
the first time they have ever hired a professional DJ. At least,
they hope to hire a professional.
As a mobile entertainer for 20years, I know the BIG questions to
ask a DJ. If I were in the market to book a DJ, these are the key
10 questions I would ask. Please feel free to use this list when
interviewing any DJ service. I have included the ten questions along
with how Music In Motion would answer these questions.
In NO particular
order........................
1. Q: How
long have you been in business?
MinM A: Since 1984 - 20 years
2. Q: Are
you a full-time DJ or part-time DJ?
MinM A: Music In Motion is a Full-Time DJ company with 14 professional
radio DJs that average atleast 10 years in the music business each!
3. Q: Do
I know who my DJ will be? Will he/she be on the contract?
MinM A: Music In Motion always makes a contractual commitment to
assign the DJ by name! That means, the second you sign the contract,
the name(s) of your DJ(s) will be listed on the contract! You can
have access to your DJ at any time during the preparation stages
of your event, and meet them personally before the event. In the
case of a wedding or Bar/Batmitzvah, you can interview with the
DJ a few months before the event to go over final details!
4. Q: What
do you have for backup equipment and music?
MinM A: Music In Motion has 4 backup plans in place.
a.) We offer an emergency network of DJs. With 14 DJs on staff,
we will always have DJs "ON Call" just in case.
b.) We offer backup equipment for every event. A # 2 sound system
is always carried on the vehicle so you have a complete system sitting
in the van, in the parking lot of your event. Not a backup up amp
or speakers, a complete sound system!
c.) Back up music collection. The Music In Motion DJs carry a laptop
computer with 5000 songs just in case our CD collection is lost,
stolen, abducted by aliens, etc....
d.) We even carry emergency power! That's right, power! Music In
Motion now features the " Galaxy Far Outlet " system.
This complete backup power source is a mega battery/microprocessor
that provides up to 4 hours of power to run a DJ system on in the
event of power failure. In the world we live in today, this is NOT
such a crazy idea!
5. Q: What
style or personality do you bring to an event?
MinM A: At Music In Motion, our service is totally CUSTOM. That
means, not only do we custom produce your music, but the style of
the entertainer will be appropriate for the mood you wish to set.
From low-key an sophisticated, to high energy and enthusiastic,
we have the right DJ for your event.
6. Q: When
do you arrive to our event and do you do double Saturdays?
MinM A: It is the policy of our professional service to always arrive
1 hour prior to start time. We also NEVER accept a double on a Saturday
if it will conflict with your time slot. That means, NO surprises
last minute!
7. Q: What
is the area you service and are there any travel fees?
MinM A: Music In Motion services ALL of New England and New York/
TRI State area. There are never travel fees for Connecticut, Rhode
Island, and Massachusetts.
In many cases very nominal charges for upper New England and New
York state.
8. What services
do you provide for an event beyond just playing music?
MinM A: Music In Motion provides 4 key elements to an event.
a.) DJ This should be obvious.
b.) Master of Ceremony. We host the event on your behalf with introductions,
cake cutting, and all other events.
c.) Music Consultant. We will offer you great insight to music in
our pre-event meeting. We can give suggestions or even let you listen
to music from our huge collection.
d.) Event Coordinator. This is MOST important. We will run and facilitate
the entire event for you so you don't have to. From coordination
with your caterer, to communication with the photographer, sit back
and relax and know a professional is running your event for you!
9. Q: How
extensive is your music collection. Is it on CD or computer?
MinM A: Music In Motion has over 25,000 CDs in our collection. That
is over 1 million Titles!!! Our DJs use state of the art Denon and/or
Pioneer CD players. We DO NOT use a computer database as primary
music source! Computers are still NOT a total reliable source, and
many computer DJs ILLEGALLY download ( pirate ) their music collections.
Many of these music collections are low quality downloads with many
clicks or dropouts. This is illegal and we will not operate in this
manner. An original CD will always sound better than a compressed
computer file!
10. Q: What
makes you different from the other DJs out there?
MinM A: I like this question. It often will stump an unprepared
DJ/sales person.
Music In Motion is a complete service and a great combination of
all of the features mentioned in questions 1-9. We try to get the
entire service perfect, instead of being good in only a few areas.
From our reputation of excellence to our personal service,
add up questions 1-9 and see how Music In Motion compares to the
competition. I think you will see we add up to a 10 !!!
Read Past Articles:
Jan/Feb 2003 "Upbeat
or low key DJ? The Big Question"
March-April
2003 /Article of the Month "How Important is Entertainment?"
June-Aug 2003 A/rticle of the Month "Where
to Look for Wedding Music?"
