Side hustles add serious fuel to your FIRE lifestyle. The extra revenue streams diversify income and increase cash flow to augment savings, getting you to independence faster. Whether you’re driving for Uber or renting your apartment on Airbnb, you can maximize your earning potential by leveraging a diverse range of alternative income streams. 

Today I’ll dive into my experience developing a DJ side hustle. This story begins with long-time friend Hans von Meister. Hans earned a reputation in Shanghai as something of a Renaissance Man—music producer, DJ, motorcycle rehab, and serial entrepreneur. 

Hans and I met in Shanghai back in 2009 while working together at the Shanghai World Expo. Over the years we learned each other’s hobbies and Hans made a big impression on my pursuits.  

When Hans was coming up, he developed an interest in music production. In middle school he picked up a copy of Fruity Loops—now called FL Studio—a free music production software. 

While learning the ropes of music production, he realized he needed some hardware to take his beat making to the next level. He purchased a set of CDJs. CDJs are Pioneers digital/CD version of Panasonic’s legendary Technics 1200 vinyl turntables. One rainy afternoon Hans was showing me some of his music and invited me to give the CDJs a try. In ten minutes I was hooked. 

My Story

Realizing this newfound interest I started researching how DJs get their start and looking for resources to learn. As it happened, a Shanghai club owner, restaurateur, and DJ, V-Nutz (also known as Gary Wang) opened a turntable labto train neophyte DJs on the original turntable, the Panasonic Technics 1200. 

In 2010, the year I got my start, cost overruns had led Panasonic to halt productionof the Technics 1200. This led to a supply crunch and a few hundred-dollar purchase price for one turntable. If you’re going to DJ you need two, plus a mixer, a pair of speakers, vinyl, and needles, so realistically an aspiring DJ will invest somewhere north of a thousand dollar when they are just starting out. 

Finding a guy like V-Nutz and a turntable lab is a critical step for defraying costs and seeing if it’s the right hobby for you. 

At this time in my career I was working a pretty regular 9-5 job. When 5pm rolled around I would leave the office and head to the lab. Gary’s restaurant, the Grumpy Pig, was below the turntable lab, so he would come upstairs, teach me something for the day then head back downstairs and let me practice. 

I spent a lot of time in the lab that summer getting up to speed on beat matching, song transitions, and mixer familiarity, generally getting comfortable with the basics.

For vacation that year I traveled from Shanghai to Colorado for the summer. While back in the US, I picked up the various components so I had my own rig in my apartment in Shanghai. 

Getting started

Whether you’re interested in hardware or software, when getting into DJing, there are hundreds of options for getting started. 

• Digital: A new DJ can go completely digital and purchase a DJ software like Serato or Traktor. This set-up requires a computer, headphones, and music. Both programs, and many others can get you started with beat matching from the comfort of your desk. No hardware required.  
• Digital controller: next step up would be a digital DJ controller—a hardware device that controls a digital software like those mentioned above. I was using Serato when I got started, and enjoyed using the digital controller made for integration with that software. 
• Physical music player: next up would be a dedicated turntable or CDJ. 

You can get into it for twenty bucks and a set of iphone headphones or go for a full set-up and the skys the limit. It is an expensive hobby, I suggest you fool around on someone else’s set-up before making the investment on your own. 

Choosing a music type

There are many genres of music in the world today. If you’re thinking about DJing for money, you need to look at what folks are playing in your area. If you live in New York City your scope is going to be a lot broader than it would be in Wichita Kansas. Also realize that whatever music you decide to play publically will decide if you have small groups of dedicated fans or hordes of club goers. 

Take a look at the DJmag’s top 100 DJ list. You’ll see the highest paid DJs in the world tend to fall somewhere on the spectrum of EDM to hip hop with lots of weird niches in between. General rule of thumb is to choose a music type you like to listen to, is broadly popular, and has some niche characteristics. Lets break these down:

• Choose a music type you like to listen to: If you’re serious about DJing for money, you’ll need to constantly search for new tracks. That means listening to hundreds of songs. You’re going to want to like what you’re listing to or you’ll burn out quick. 
• Is broadly popular:The more popular your music, the bigger your potential audience. There was a DJ in Shanghai that only played pop music as the resident DJ at the biggest club in town. He made a killing playing the Top 40. You don’t need to play the Top 40 to get gigs, but choosing something that folks like listening to will be a key component of success. 
• Niche characteristics:Within the context of finding popular music, see if you can find sub-genre that aligns with what people like but don’t hear everyday. I really like hip hop music and would play songs heavily sampled from 60’s and 70’s soul and Motown. Think Kanye West’s College Drop Out. Turns out there are hundreds of artists in this sub genre and it killed when I played out because the sound was similar to what was popular but most of the artists never were on the radio.  

Don’t feel like you need to stick with one genre of music. I knew DJs in Shanghai that played EDM one night, dub step another, and hip-hop on the weekends. A mingling of styles can lead to some interesting combinations that may be desirable in the city you live. 

Practice, practice, practice 

The better and more comfortable you get mixing two songs, the better you’ll be playing out. And with that, let me say a word about a controversial topic among DJs, whether or not you need to mix records manually.

Most traditional DJs would tell you that the bread and butter of any DJ is his ability to beat match. This is the skill of using your ear to synchronize the tempo between two recordings and blend seamlessly between them. This is the (hopefully) smooth transition between songs played at a bar or club. 

The advantage of this skill is that if you can do it by ear, you can play any set-up at any club in the world. This can take weeks or months to master. I spent ages and ages playing the Gang Star song Full Clip on both sides of the deck to match the tempo of the same song just to get the basics right. 

I was DJing on vinyl when I first started and found it helpful to write the beats per minute (BPM) on the dust covers of my records so I could have a general idea of where songs were on the tempo spectrum. 

It pains me to say it, but the advances in DJ software have made this skill less critical than in the past. Today you can pick up any DJ software and auto synchronize two songs. If this is your preferred method, practice the songs that sound good together and begin working on your set list. 

Develop a set list

A set is the period of time a DJ plays at a club or bar. It lasts anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours and beyond. When you’re first getting started DJing, its best to have a rough idea of the songs you will want to play in an evening. You will have practiced what music sounds good together so that can be your start when you play at a club or bar. 

If you are playing vinyl like I did, you will inevitably not enjoy every song on an album. What I did to get organized was to write down every song I liked playing in a notebook. This eventually evolved into an excel spreadsheet organized by BPM. When you know the BPM of various songs, you can organize a set list by songs that will be easy to mix together. 

If you’re playing almost the total length of a song you’ll need 30-40 songs for a 2 hour set. If you’re playing one third or a half of a song then you will need many many more. 

Taking it to the club

Once you feel comfortable DJing to your stuffed animals start looking at the wider world. When I was getting started, my buddy Hans let me tag along on his sets. In the beginning I was contributing a few songs a night in exchange for a few drink tickets. 

As time went on, I was contributing songs and making a cut of the evening’s revenue. Eventually I built enough of a network that I was playing a regular Thursday night set and many others throughout the week. 

Develop a following

DJs work for clubs or bars. Clubs and bars have owners. Those owner are looking for traffic to drink their alcohol. Customers are at the nexus of all service industries, but you can’t operate a successful club if you don’t have a dedicated group of people who come, dance, and most importantly drink at your establishment. 

Bars make their money on patrons. The DJ that can bring the most people is a very attractive commodity in a market. They can also command a higher nightly rate than someone who is just starting out. 

This is the unfortunate secret of this side hustle. It’s not enough to play great music or even to have terrific technique. What drives regular DJ employment is the ability to move large groups of people to listen to their sets. 

As you’re getting started it is best to ask your friends to follow you on social media. Ask for them to share links to your shows. In an ideal world this will attract others to look at your profile and follow you as well. When you’re playing out at night make sure those who are there recognize who you are and have the tools to follow you on social media. 

In China, where I played, this was all about having a QR code that people could scan on every event flyer. Once scanned, the person would be added to a group that I controlled and could follow-up with later.  

Conclusion

As a side hustle, DJing is fantastic. Particularly for those in the early stages of their careers who enjoy staying out late, meeting new people, and drinking for free. When I was playing in Shanghai, I would average RMB 1500-2000 ($200-300) per night at playing music at a small local bar. If going out is your thing, you get paid to do something you would have liked doing anyway.