Whether I'm doing a birthday party, wedding or DJing a party night, I do take requests. I actually like getting requests. Sometimes something is suggested that I didn't think of that would be SO perfect to go along with what I'm currently playing and I'll stick it on next. I particularly love it when someone requests something that I already have lined up to play next anyway - and that happens more often than you might think - it's because what they've asked for is THE pefect song that fits the vibe at that time, it was the obvious choice!
However, there are quite a few requests that I don't play, and I do feel bad about that, but there is a always a good reason why I don't, and here are a few of those reasons:
I simply don't have it
It is true to say that I own tens of thousands of songs, but sometimes I'm not able to have them all with me at the time. Many of them are stored on a cloud and I usually don't have internet access available to be able to get at them. Needless to say, if it's a good party choice, I'll make sure that I get it on to my laptop ready for next time I'm playing.
It doesn't fit the vibe
While it might be your favourite song ever and YOU will dance to it, I've got to look around to everyone on the dancefloor at the time and see what tunes they're responding to and loving. If the song requested is wildly different, others are not going to be feeling it and the dancefloor will clear. I might, however, save it up for later and when the vibe changes, I'll get it on.
It's an obscure song
With working in radio I have been privy to research that finds out what the most popular music is and with whom. Of course, everyone has that favourite album track or a song that scraped into the top 40 many years ago which hardly anyone else has heard of. And that's just it! I won't play it, simply because most people will go "what on earth is this?" and quickly shuffle back to their seat. That's the kind of song best enjoyed on your own Spotify playlist at home!
The song might be inappropriate
Now, I don't have a problem playing songs with bad language or adult themes when I'm DJing for something that is adults only, but if you ask me to play 'Sexy Bitch' at a wedding with kids attending, it ain't happening! I often have clean edits of songs for such occasions though.
Playing the right music for any party is a very 'of the moment' thing. A set playlist never works. This is the reason why it's never a good idea to expect a DJ to play all of the songs you ask for. Those who book a DJ for their wedding sometimes make this mistake. I remember attending a wedding and the DJ was making some really odd song choices and absolutely none of the guests was getting up to dance. I later found out that the bride and groom had given him a list of their favourite songs and insisted he played them. Big mistake! Your wedding reception is a chance for everyone to have a great time celebrating your special day, not an opportunity to subject them to your own personal music tastes. Let everyone have fun and leave the music choices to the experts who know what songs are going to ensure they DO have fun!
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