Concerning all those DJs in lockdown, streaming from home, the title of this post could easily be “DJs in pajamas”. We are still in some form of partial lockdown, meaning clubs and bars are not open. At least not for the DJ events and it will stay that way for a month or two. Maybe even more.
What can a DJ in lockdown do in this type of situation?
Depending on the type of DJ, but if you are a producer as well, there is a nice opportunity here to make some music. Usually, it’s never enough time for making music so there you go. Feel free to focus on the new releases.
However, music sales decreased in the last decade dramatically so that could be the problem. Making tracks is not bringing enough revenue for the artist. That brings us to the next solution for DJs in lockdown which is the live stream performance. But wait… Videostream will not bring you much revenue also. Actually, it does not bring anything at all.
It can be very helpful as a promotion tool. I tried and it works. If you compare the number of listeners/viewers against the club-goers, the difference is huge. In my case, I had hundreds of views of my live stream in the first 24 hours (video stays online after the stream on Facebook). It is hard to get this number of people each time I play my resident nights in some Berlin bars.
Besides that, streaming from home is quite convenient I have to admit. I usually live stream on Friday at 21:30. We had dinner at home and I scrolled back to my studio setup which is 4 meters away and there I go.. But, again, no income here.
Streaming from home is a bit strange as well because there is no crowd around. Although, my daughter and my wife have some interventions which can be seen in the videos. However, there is no immediate reaction to songs like when playing at venues. The best you can get is comments on the screen.
Surviving lockdown
So, no shows, not much revenue from production or a live stream. What can a DJ do to survive during a lockdown? Some of us have jobs outside the music business so I can only show compassion to the colleagues who are fully dependent on the music scene.
In the last two months I had many conversations with DJs around me. Berlin is specific as the scene here is huge and there are many people working as full-time musicians. So far I have heard only two possible solutions from them: Getting a job or applying to some sort of government support.
I hope the venues will open soon enough so those types of measures will not take place.
