Why Wedding DJs Are So Cheap and How To Fix It | Wedding DJ Pricing Tips 

Watch this video all the way through people! VERY IMPORTANT. 🙏🏼

Totally agree! I live in the capital of NY and started DJing weddings 13 years ago at $600. I didn't think anyone would ever pay more than that. I crept up to $1,000 and thought that I was getting away with murder and couldn't believe I could charge so much. Then raised to $1200, then $1500, then $2000 and now i'm currently charging $2,500 and I STILL have a packed calendar and getting such little push back. Sure! there are folks out there who say i'm too expensive and I totally understand and tell them that I just simply am not their DJ then. It's taken me years to feel confident and know my worth, but it CAN be done!

The clients that pay less are more pain in the ass since they don’t value you. Get better, add more value and raise your prices DJs!!!

100% agree with this. I think most deejays are scared to raise their prices because they want to close EVERYONE.

I was stuck in the "they won't pay more" mindset for a long time. But my prices are now triple what they were 7 years ago and my calendar is full. They are already going up again for all future events.

This might be the most honest and agreeable video ever made for DJs! I can’t even say more to add to this.

Preach it Nick! More DJs need to take note! Here in Phoenix it baffles me how many "wedding DJs" charge $600 for a full wedding DJ and MC package. Then they brag about how busy they are....Absolutely baffles me! Our average wedding package is $1500-$1700. I would rather do my 5-6 weddings a month at $1500 a pop than to do 10 weddings a month at $600.

All of this. After 12 years of dj'ing, I finally went full time this year, and have raised my prices, leveled up my systems & everything. Getting clear on my worth has been a process, but it's SO important!! Thank you for all the info that you share, your channel is an excellent resource for working DJs!

This is excellent. Great job nick.

We are there 1.5 hrs prior to the reception and at least 45 min to an hour after the reception. Plus all the meetings, organizing all the music. A wedding is truly 20 to 35 hrs a DJ puts in.

In 1985 I was charging $450 which converts to $2545.47 in 2022. Today the charge is $2500 period for a base setup which will cover 300 people. Outside events with additional lighting requirements and generators cost more and are subject to quote. Good video NIck and you are spot on dude.

I'm guilty of not charging enough. Been in the entertainment business since the early 90's. Not the best mixer out there but I can still pack a dance floor and make sure that everyone has a night to remember for a long time. 2021 time to up the game and up the pricing. Thanks Nick

This is my favorite DJ video ever. Just shared to Facebook groups with over 25K DJs... thanks Brodie

Basic wedding $1200, we all stick to $1200, #HoldTheLine

Here's a scenario you can run by clients...If all the vendors did a no-show which absense would hurt the worst? Flowers, cakes, photo and video ghosting their duties would not actually effect the end result of the party in any way. Even if the food didn't show up, if there was booze and music, guests would order delivery and the festivities would proceed.

If you're one of the "thumbs down" on this video, you're part of the problem. I did a wedding back in the day where the dance floor rental was more than I was getting paid. That changed everything for me.

$800 for the ceremony musician(s), and more times then not they want to plug into the underpaid "Dj's" system....#whyISthat

100% dude!! It’s a slap in the face that flowers cost more than us

The way you put it into persepctive makes it seem so silly not to raise prices. Love this.

Nick I did a wedding the couple spent $1800 on uplighting and a GoBo and $8000 on the photographer. The photographer only took the pics then sent them to Nations Photo lab where an 8x10 is roughly around $2.50 and the photographer charged the couple $35 per 8x10. But nickel and dimed me on my price. Fn’ crazy.

You are now officially my hero! I've been saying this for years. I will be sharing. Thanks Nick!

I know too many fellow DJ's that sell themselves short because they want to load up their calendars. I'd rather do 1 wedding per month and get paid well than do 5 gigs to clear the same cash. Value your craft, your time and your investments. The clients will come.

1000% agree! I have been a producer dj for about 7 years now. I am recently applying for a loan to become a wedding and event dj! Ive been doing research and just been absolutely astonished on how LOW some people will dj a wedding for. Some even as low as $59hr.. Made me hesitant on how I could profit in the market efficiently. The reality is, anyone can bring there mackie thumps and a usb chord and play their spotify account, few can truely read a room and manuver the vibe while also presenting the vibe and wedding. I think Djs should be called something more. People hear the word dj and just immediately see a guy with a computer. We are professional mavericks of musical arts. Not a human Pandora app. Love your videos man!

That’s why I do Bar Mitzvahs. They understand you get what you pay for because they see DJs every week.

This is one of the BEST videos of what a DJ should be charging. I have watched this video a dozen times. Every time a couple tell me I am too expensive, I watch this video and keep it moving to the next potential client. People, I don't sign all of my potential weddings, but the ones I do sign are better clients, better venues and less stress. When you have a couple paying you $600, they dog you the hell out. A couple paying you $1,500 respect you as a professional. And, why would you take $15,000 of equipment to a 6 hour event and work your ass off for $600? That makes NO sense.

Great post! It has baffled me for years that we bring 15k+ worth of equipment, and DJ/setup for a wedding for 8+ hours and were pulling in around a grand. It would literally cost more to rent our equipment-- let alone have an experienced and talented expert to run the entire event. This doesn't include the organization and prep work as well.

As Mark Ferrell said "Be more than Broccoli" !!!! Caterers charge more for veggie platters than a lot of Djs charge !😂

Every time I need some reassurance, I watch your videos. Thank you!

Whenever I feel discouraged, I watch this video and get new ideas. Thx Nick

Agree and any market is doable because if we band together prices as a whole can go up! Appreciate the love and concern for our craft ❤ keep the great material and hot topics coming learning alot from your videos and I am seasoned Dj in NC with a little bit of twist goggle Reuben Davis 🤣👈

Thank you for posting this. I agree and needed a good kick in the butt. I’m going to work on doing what you said to raise prices.

Dude.. you opened up my eyes.. i mean i already knew that we as dj are unappreciated and undervalue.. you just gave me a kick in the ass.. on average i charge 350 for ceremony where as musician charge 3 to 4 times that and they don't provide mics or PA or even make announcements.. time to up the game.. Thanks for the vid

Love your video! I’m a violinist and play for a lot of weddings and am looking into DJ’ing. In response to what you said about the cost of ceremony musicians, part of the reason that we charge “so much” (which I think isn’t even enough) is because we’ve perfected our craft and put in countless of years of practice into it. It doesn’t matter that we aren’t there for as long as the DJ because part of the cost is paying for those years of practice. Someone could pick up DJ’ing wayyy faster than learning how to pull a good sound from an acoustic instrument. Just putting that out there. Thanks for the video!

Man your presentation on this video is spot on and keeps a person interested in the subject. I actually watched this video all the way through and it really hits home an honestly pisses me off that we don't have some way to stop Dj's that can put a file into a controller and play a song and say hey I am a affordable DJ.. That's what people think about DJ's and couldn't be so wrong., I hate to age myself but I started DJing back in the big club days of the 80's in New Orleans and as most professional DJ's know back then their was no easy way to just drop a file and press play. It was knowing your music, BPM, getting the next record out without scratching it, making sure it didn't have fingerprints all over it and taking off the record that was finishing and putting it back into the sleeve all with a large 12" record sitting in milk crates in no certain order since usually their were 2 DJ's who would work in the club so we used each others records if we had that kind of trust. It took some know how and still today a professional DJ does more then just drop the file and press play he is doing all the same things but just in a computer generated world. It separates a button pusher from a DJ but until people are more educated about DJ's it's going to hurt the one's who are truly gifted and work hard at their craft. It was very hard back then to get a job being a DJ since their was no Amazon to go to and buy a Controller and start your own company lol. Keep up the great post and who know's someone may actually one day come up with a great solution for all you younger talented professional Dj's Keep up the great work.

Thank you for using your forum to get an important message out that people need to hear again and again.

There's a few reasons why the pricing from the eighties can't really be extrapolated forward. 1 - Music was a physical object back then. Just having discs to jockey was a big part of a DJ's value, that no longer exists in a world with streaming services and phones (as you mention already in this video). Having high quality files (i.e. lossless, local files versus streamed), is important to me. But the value gap between a good digital library and streaming isn't the same as the gap between a DJ's record collection and no music at all, which were the consumer's options in the eighties. Ergo, the value of your library has decreased since then. Further, some couples might not even value the increase in sound quality your library gives over streaming, any at all. 2 - The same way digital media distribution has shrunk the investment required to have a record collection down to a couple hundred bucks (if that), the advent of software and controllers has brought the time investment down by quite a lot as well. Beat/tempo sync, key detection, snapped and quantized control inputs etc. have all decreased the amount of musical education and skill-building required to mix decently, or at a minimum really shallowed out the learning curve. So there are more DJs out there who are good enough, that a non-music fan is not going to be able to identify the difference between them and a really good DJ, even if those differences are real and will show up over the course of the night (they especially won't see the difference if the mediocre DJ is cheaper and they don't want to). In short, it's economics. Price is determined by supply and demand. Technology has increased the supply side of the equation since the eighties, both with respect to music, and reasonably competent people who can play it. Meanwhile, the marriage rate in the US hit an all time low in 2020. The demand side of things has never been lower. So while we may be able to curate and program (and mix for that matter) better than the bride's cousin who has a Numark ShitBird 3 iPad controller, expecting her to understand the value of that (particularly at a wedding which has real constraints on how creatively you can program things) seems optimistic at best. I understand you have been championing the consumer education route to getting prices up to where they ought to be for serious and talented DJs, but even if that's as successful as it can be, I just don't see the average price of a wedding DJ trending up in the future (inflation adjusted). Hate to be a downer when I'm loving the channel. Half the reason I even write that whole ass essay out was because the algorithms love engagement. Health and prosperity to you and yours in 2022!

I agree with almost all of this. However as good as content is, I believe that a word of mouth and reviews are equally if not more important.

This is my favourite video of yours. Wow! I love the way you’ve called this out.

Nick you talk great sense I remember DJing in 1985 and still do so today with no breaks in between. I love New Jersey! Fist bump from the uk - don’t leave me hanging lol...

100% agree Nick! I been fighting this fight for years now in my city. Some of the problem I run into is people hiring DJ's they heard at the club or bar to DJ their wedding at much much lower prices that we tenured wedding DJ's who does it professionally. I do get the occasional "I should've hired you!". Anyway I'm with you 100% and will continue to fight this fight!

🔥🔥🔥 100% agree as well, also thank you very much for your authenticity, you have now become my favorite RU-vid channel to watch when it comes to DJing. Keep it real and keep them videos coming. Thank you!

Nick is 100% correct in this video. DJs need to get out of the "This is all I can get" or "This is better then nothing" mind set.

This is so true. My bands are absolutely not replaceable for weddings as far as what they bring to the energy, the value, and the memories. Unfortunately, DJ’s are NOTORIOUS in the Colorado market for undercutting each other. This is why the best of all worlds is hiring the band and throwing in the DJ during breaks and for after party. 😎

so I wonder where we at now. After 1 year, I used to charge 4-600 for a wedding depending on size and hours, ceremony, background music, etc. Now I have raised my basic wedding package to $800 and up-selling add-ons such as ceremony, up lighting, screens, etc. and I've found a way to charge upwards of $1400. So I think this video helped me out, one year later I'm making a little more money with confidence. Thanks bro! Keep up the great work and YES we need to see more of your gig log content! LOL!

I’m now DJing weddings in the Lake District UK and have been in the most expensive band in the area. We charged double what every other band charged, here’s what I noticed: The more they pay, the more they appreciate you. We used to get thank you card regularly telling us we made the evening.

I’m from UK I’ve been a Wedding DJ for over 40 years ! average price in my area is £250.00 you’d be hard pushed to get more

Yo man you just changed the game and liberated a lot of DJs thank you so much for this. A lot of kids we're going to be put through college from this video.

Musician here who provides live music for ceremony, cocktail hour & also occasionally with a band for the dance portion of the evening. I also often 'double-dip' and provide DJ services for the evening. There is far more pressure, time and skill involved to provide live music for a wedding than there is to DJ. DJing is a walk in the park in comparison and pays a good amount more. On gigs where I do both, after the live music is done and I switch to DJ mode, I'm always like, "Phew! Party time!"

Your visualizing conversation is spot fucking on. I for damn sure NEED to do more of this!

I've been screaming this Forever. Thank you for addressing it.

Thanks bro, I appreciate the topic here, might be more aware of this in the future, love the cursing though 😂😂😂 Edit: you've found a new subscriber here

Foarte sincer! Aceleasi probleme le avem si in Romania, iar rezolvarea la care te-ai gandit, sigur va functiona si la noi! Eu ma apuc deja de treaba! Te urmaresc de ceva vreme, si sincer, faci excat ceea ce trebuie! Felicitari!

I was thinking that this issue only in Middle East! but after seeing your video it’s seems like it’s world wide issue to underestimating DJ’s pricing, yes I agree that this is our problem first, before we can blame others ! unfortunately some DJ’s who charge very cheap will stay cheap! and the only excuse they have that (we are broke and we need to make a living)! They need to understand that this is effecting there reparation as dj and they will never go to the next step, adding to that the whole industry is struggling because of those djs! Plz follow Nick tips either you a club dj or wedding dj etc .... Thank you for the great video and hope to see all DJ’s in the world to keep there hand together ✊🏼

Great video Nick, Absolutely agree some very valid points. We have the same issues in the UK and how I achieved higher booking prices is with showing new clients what I can deliver with video and pictures. 😎🎧👍🏻

This is absolutely true! In my area I have ran into the same issue!

You nailed it here Nick. Just yesterday before I watched this video I posted an add warning that my pricing is going up in 30 days! Why? All the reasons you stated here plus the fact that all of my costs have gone up 40% in 2021! Rock on Brother!

Nick, thanks for posting this! I was one of those DJ's around in the early 80's. I have watched our industry in a mad race to the bottom of the toilet bowl when it comes to pricing. I was one of 10 DJ's in the phone book in the mid 80's. If a couple wanted a DJ in my city of 250,000 (Madison, Wisconsin), they had 10 choices. We all knew not to undercut and we didn't. When computers came out, many went to Napster or bought a music loaded hard drive on line. All of a sudden, instead of a couple having 10 choices for a DJ, they had a thousand. Many were willing to work for next to nothing just to have the work. In the later 90's, the going rate for a bar DJ in my area was $450. Three decades later, the going rate is $225. So prices have been cut in half because DJ's were willing to work for less than a non livable wage. Like you said in your video, the price of everything else has gone up by 5 times as much. Everything except DJ's. The hardest part of it all is that other DJ's will fight you tooth and nail to justify why they believe a DJ shouldn't be more than what they charge. I have tried to educate others with the same message you had in this video. I hope your message gets to the people in the back row! Thanks again my friend!

Hell yes. I wish more DJ's would charge even close to 1200! I hate seeing DJ post on their sites $800.00 for a 4 hour reception and then $250.00 for ceremony!

First things first I agree and I’m glad you’re saying it, but as a DJ/Musician I will say that its toughhhhh learning 3/4 new songs for ceremonies, the song for the couples live first dance (and doing that 1-3 times per week). I just wanted to share that aspect of things. Typically yea, we know and crush the songs we’ve played a million times like you said, but it’s rarely that easy, I swear people are so eclectic. Love your content dude, thanks! I’m always looking forward to more!!!!

Mark Ferrelll said $1200 US twenty years ago, should be at least $2500-3000 in 2021. If you want to do 20-40 weddings a year and gross $60-120K a year. Then you should be able to buy a home, drive a decent car, raise a familly and save some profit for a rainy decade etc. Thanks so much for posting this Nick!

DJs should not low ball themselves. But also, they need to bring the quality with their price. I hear wedding planners that I work with telling me DJs who charge $2,500+ are sometimes crappy and boring. No emcee skills, just basic and low creativity. And by basic I mean literally playing each song all the way through and abruptly transitioning tracks. It’s almost like the majority of the price goes toward the lighting and effects. Again, not all DJs but a lot that I hear from wedding planners. Sadly, I’ve seen so many DJs in the DFW area who are $500-$1,000. These dudes are younger, but very talented and entertaining. They also follow throughout the song list request(s) completely. Now they may not have the fancy lighting setups, but the music mixing is stellar. This was a great video and I thank you for making it. We should not low ball ourselves but we also need to bring the talent to match with our prices.

When you get your toes stepped on and F%&&@NG motivated to better yourself at the same damn time.....PRICELESS!!!💯💯👍🏾💪🏾 Keep Inspiring Bruh!✊🏾

completely agree!! not every dj is a wedding dj.

Some of what you're describing here is supply and demand. It happened in the photography market when phones got cameras. Pretty soon everyone was a "photographer". They could download an app and slap a filter on it and boom instant "art". So easy! Of course now we realize that's not true but when these technologies came out, that became more and more the public's perception. "Easy" = cheap value. The supply of "photographers" increased tremendously due to cheaper photo technology. Those two factors made the market tank. There were so many clowns out there with minimal equipment, ill purposed equipment, and little training charging $500 or less. This wave of novices and cheap gear, drove prices way down as the market became flooded with "photographers". Same thing happened to a lesser extend in the videography market. But the thing of it is, it's a lot of work to shoot a wedding and the results people were getting, more often than not, just wasn't there. In the mean time, the better photographers upped their game, better hardware, better showcase online. They distanced themselves online showcasing consistent high quality results that forced a value perception change. The supply of photographers thinned back down again, and prices gradually went back up. I think DJ's may be dealing with similar issues. Over supply in some areas, and value perception. With entry level technology getting "cheaper" putting more DJ's out there. And for couples, the perception that DJ'ing is "easy" and that "I just need music playing" equating DJ's more to a Spotify play list rather than an entertainer or wedding dance entertainment manager, which at the end of the night is exactly what you are. Photographers tend to wind up managing the wedding up until the Dance and then the baton is passed to the DJ to take it home. I agree that videos and photos online showcasing, talent, and success, just like the photographers that survived the "camera phone drought" did, will help individual DJ's get ahead to beat back the flood of "Mr Microphone" DJ's that are driving prices down. If you can publicly separate yourself from that level and get that value perception to change through consistent, high quality, featured online, work I think you'll pull ahead and not only survive but prosper. Sorry so long but so was your video. ;)

YOU ARE SPEAKING THE TRUTH! I HAVE JUST BEEN DOING THIS AS A SIDE HUSTLE AND I AM NO LONGER CHARGING UNDER $800

I'm a photographer and I approve this message. You bring life to a wedding. Otherwise it's just a dinner. Bunch of people eating with weird faces.

Holy s##### is right✅✅✅. Cost of living, everything goes up except us Dj's. Were the first to arrive & last to leave. Plus the photographer or video person uses our connections... No joke bro. Plus we still have to suit up when done setting up. Good video

Nick, Thanks so much for the great advice! My only fear is competition! When you are in a certain area you might get priced out. I do believe we should get more because we have a bigger responsibility to a great event. I will start raising my prices!Thanks again for all you do!

I get asked to DJ at a gig. And then, get asked if I can provide the sound system for the musicians (at my price of DJ'ing only) way too often! LOL!

Great video and love your points - especially the tip about sharing video/media. Together we all can raise the bar on value for our service!

Nick this is the best DJ rent I’ve heard in years! You’re so right. Since I already start at 1200 in a NYC market, Im going raise to 1400. Let’s do this!

Well said. I agree with you bro. We as DJs have to sell VALUE, show the clients the proof what we do BEST.

I love your approach and as a musician who recently started DJING. This is the exact problem with local musicians only making $100.

Photographers can show their work and justify their price. It's a lot harder for DJ's to sell a couple on a higher price unless that couple has actually seen you in action. Also for some reason brides usually feel like their pictures (so vain) are more important to LOOK like they had a great party rather than spending good money on a DJ and actually have a good party. Just my thoughts. What we DJ's need to do is go out and buy some expensive camera and bring down the price of photographers by including photo's with your DJ package lol

Thank you for the thoughts. A lot of food for though here!

I agree. I do Spanish parties and they are cheap. Can’t charge more because Dj around the area charge super cheap , and some do a 💩 job 😒

Nick! Absolutely loved this, man. 100% agree with every word. Good look on all of your content. Let’s catch a Saosin show, I’ll buy the tickets. Ha. I owe you after this one.

You got me HYPED. I am raising prices TODAY!!!!!

Can't agree more I've made the transition months ago and is what it is..waiting for my client.

Probably the BEST video I have ever seen about dj pricing and value. GREAT video dude!!!

Nick you NAILED it!!! Great video and thank you for doing it.

Outstanding video!!!! Absolutely agree 100%. My biz is 2 years old and I’ve constantly worked out ways to plan for scaling and increasing prices. This topic needs more attention for sure!

You’re 1000% on point Nick! And I was one of those DJs that started back in the 80s. Our starting prices are over 1300 and I average at least $2200 now... ( well before the pandemic LOL) keep doing what you’re doing man you’re fucking awesome 👍👍🙌

Thanks for the info Nick. You just changed the game!! Like many other professions, Know Your Worth! I am in the process of redoing and revamping my website to reflect it. I DJ in the metro Atlanta area and have long wondered why so little for a DJ. If you are a DJ and you listen to this video, It is just straight fact. Thank you brother for being honest and to the point. I don’t know about anyone else, but I really enjoyed this!

What price range are you booking most often? Do you share a talk through of your sales consult for $600 DJs to learn from?

Great video as always. Wish all dj’s see it and Raise their prices

Hot damn 🔥 thanks for being the voice of many of us that don't have the ease of communication or maybe lack of audience to rise awareness of this subject! Will share as much as it needs to be shared

Great points. I added mix snippets to my website about a year ago and booked 3 weddings along with one bar Halloween party off of those alone. They are definitely selling points along with (like you said) video and pictures of the fun.

By the way, I have always taken video of every gig, and demonstrate that I have far better production value than other DJ's... Yet, people don't bother to look at that, and only care about "who is less"? We have it tough to try and stand out from others when the client won't even take the time to see the quality of what we can offer before they book!

I agree 💯% Nick! Funny, here in California, San Luis Obispo & Santa Barbara Counties, we and all those vendors you mentioned charge double and even triple of what you listed.

I got to say this is probably the best video I ever watched for the industry. good on you for saying it.

I'm late to the party but I love your content! Very good points you made! I love watching you, Bunn, and Jani.

Wow, what an eye opening video! I'm the guy that brings the audio and gear for the bands, does the engineering for the band and plays the music for the DJ when they go on a break and I get less than $1200 bucks! I think I need a raise lmao😂😂😂😂

1000%! Value your time, fellow dj's. If you don't feel you're good, practice and get better. If you need help running your business, learn and hire someone who's walked this walk to help you. We need to make a stand and raise the bar!

Nick great f*#king video. There is so much work we put into are Weddings Planning music ceremony music cocktail hr music reception music. The set up time, unloading, reloading first to arrive last to leave. No doubt we deserve more than 1200. Let's all change this 500, 800 bullshit. THANK YOU NICK SPINNELI SPEAKING THE TRUTH!

Hey thank you for sharing that I totally agree with you. we have the same problem in Australia 🇦🇺 sometimes clients go with the cheap price They want to spend all that money on a beautiful wedding but then I want to Pay peanuts 🥜 they just think we just go in there and plug your phone.

Bravo!!! 👏👏👏Nick Spinelli for President! 😂

Bands usually have 4-10 people, or more. The money is divided amongst each member, and a little more goes to the person who sets up the PA. I'm a musician who also runs a band.

I know a few folks who despise wedding dances, so they set their prices high ($2500-$3000) just to minimize their bookings, but they still do plenty of wedding dances.

Thank you so much for posting this Nick. I’m definitely going to reevaluate my prices and raise them shortly. I still can’t believe a band makes that much money for a wedding. Appreciate your channel, content, and your no bs approach. #Salute