So, you can DJ. You know how to mix. You know your tunes. Depending on your experience, you know how to read a room. You’ve got mixes you’re proud of on Soundcloud or Mixcloud, an account on Instagram and maybe TikTok too, a short biography and some press shots. You’ve got a few bookings, some of which are in venues that aren’t quite up your street, but it’s better than nothing. Or, maybe you have no bookings but feel you are skilled enough to be playing out. 

How do you land gigs in venues that you actually want to play in and for promoters you want to work with? How can you stand out in a scene that’s already heaving with up-and-comers? How do you reach out to bookers and promoters in the first place? Do you have to produce music, in addition to DJing, to make a strong first impression? How do you get club bookings without the experience of playing in a club? Is talent equally as important as online clout? 

We asked these questions to five bookers and promoters based in London, Berlin, New York, Taipei and Dublin to find out what they’re looking for in emerging DJs. You’ll find their answers below, compiled into sections that cover the entire process. 

ARE YOU GOOD ENOUGH YET? DO YOU ALIGN WITH THE CLUB OR PROMOTER?

A little obvious, maybe, but among the people we spoke to, each stressed that mixing ability and whether a DJ sonically aligns with their club or party are the first factors they take into account before booking an emerging DJ. However, considering the different locations and booking policies of these clubs and parties, they each had their own take on how they approach booking new or lesser-known talent. 

DJ and promoter Nic Baird, who co-founded the London-based event series Transmissions with Rupes, emphasised how having your own sound is something that draws them to a DJ they haven’t worked with before. “If someone has a huge amount of range and plays lots of different types of music—which sometimes people do as emerging artists because they haven’t quite zeroed in on what their style and sound is yet—then, when you book them for a slot, and they play something completely different to the mixes we’ve been listening to, it might not work,” he said. “It might be too fast, or the person might fancy playing a bit of 140 BPM early on at night. I think if the DJ has a specific sound or style, it really helps promoters think about where the DJ could fit on lineups.” 

Before Nic and Rupes launched Transmissions in 2019, the pair promoted the long-running party series Make Me. With an extensive record collection between them, they played back-to-back during the event’s opening hours, setting the tone before electro, techno and house acts. “So we had loads of different records, but because of that, we didn’t get that many bookings ourselves because people didn’t really know what we stood for because we played so many different things.”

In Taiwan, Hsu Chieh heads up the bookings for the club FINAL in Taipei, and he prefers to bring in up-and-comers with more versatility. “We are looking for DJs that are not confined by genre,” he said. “DJs are encouraged to play freely between electronic music, hip-hop or even pop songs if they see fit. The DJ needs to be adventurous, daring, uncompromising, with a sense of humour.”

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