Below is How To Get DJ Gigs In South Africa
Most artists in any field always struggle with getting gig, being an artist is more like being a business. You have to spend a lot of money and time promoting yourself. Getting gigs as a DJ can be very hard in South Africa, particularly if you are the new kid on the block and don’t have any fan base. This is a guide on how to get DJ gigs in South Africa.
Open a YouTube channel
Free gigs for exposure
Networking
Open a YouTube channel
I would highly recommend any new DJ to open a YouTube channel, out of everything else in this list, this is the most important. What you have to do is open a YouTube channel and upload all your mixes on YouTube. This will do two things for you; you will build a fan base and will get booked for Gigs.
I have seen DJs who went from 200 subscribers to 20k subscribers in less than a year on YouTube. With their mixes watched over 1 million times or 100k times at the least. This is an opportunity that will last long, it’s best that you jump right into YouTube while it’s still early.
You don’t even need to do live recordings of your mixes or buy any expensive video recording equipment. This will save you a lot of time and advance your career at a faster speed than the other methods on this list.
Free gigs for exposure
This is what most DJs do initially, they perform for free hoping to gain exposure, this is something that works but might take a really long time. It will take time before people are truly familiar with your sound and name.
It’s better to perform at discounted prices because sometimes you need to pay for transportation and DJ equipment is quite expensive. You can do most free gigs at clubs, don’t perform for free at events, that’s just selling yourself short. Go to a club and volunteer to perform, the club owner will never say no and that’s where you can start building your fan base.
Try to be consistent, perform once every Thursday or Friday or any day of the week, and only perform on that day, it will make you more predictable and it will be easy for people to take notice of you.
Networking
You can’t be a DJ and not network, that’s just very counterproductive. You have to put yourself out there. Go to clubs and mingle with promoters and other DJs, this will do wonders for your career as a whole.
Most promoters prefer working with someone they know, knowing as many promoters as possible puts you in a very good position to get booked for gigs.
How to become a best DJ in South Africa
Being a DJ is one of the most fulfilling careers, most DJs express happiness in what they do and say that they wouldn’t change it for anything else. Being a DJ is not as easy as it seems, there is a lot of hard work that is needed in order to become a successful DJ. This is a guide on how to become a DJ in South Africa.
What does a DJ do?
A DJ is someone who plays recorded music for an audience. There are different kinds of DJs, it’s important to know which type you want to be. There are radio DJs, mobile DJs, and club DJs. Most people who want to be DJs are usually referring to Mobile DJs and club DJs.
A mobile DJ gets hired to perform at events such as festivals, parties, and weddings, they usually have a certain level of fame attached to them. This is precisely why they get hired, working towards being a mobile DJ is hard and requires a lot of patience. A club DJ specializes in performing on clubs, they are usually not that famous outside of their locality and are hired by the club to keep people dancing. They’re also a bit cheaper than mobile DJs.
There are many reasons why people choose to be DJs, some want to do it just for fun and some really want to become famous and be superstars while others want to meet hot girls. The level of hard work you put in will be determined by which type of DJ you want to be.
Get training
If you have never touched DJ equipment in your life; you have to start by getting trained. There are a lot of ways in which you can practice until you become a good DJ. You can attend a DJ academy; the academy will teach you everything you need to know about being a DJ.
The duration of your training is usually a couple of weeks and most academies cost between R10 000 and R20 000. This is probably the best route to go if you don’t have any mentor or someone close to you who is a DJ. Some academies will require you to buy your own equipment while others provide you with the equipment.
You can be self-taught if you can’t afford to go to an academy, most DJs are self-taught, especially the famous ones. Having someone who is mentoring you makes the whole process a lot easier, you will avoid making a lot of silly mistakes. Find someone who knows how to DJ and learn from them, this will usually come free of charge and you can even learn using their equipment.
Buy equipment
You will need to have some equipment in order to become a DJ, DJ equipment can be very expensive, it’s not necessary to buy all of it or even first-hand equipment, especially when starting out. Ask around for the recommended DJ equipment. You can start by buying a mixer and DJ software like Virtual DJ, you can get a good mixer for anywhere between R2 500 and R15 000. Most people start out with a mixer and Virtual DJ and some only start practicing using Virtual DJ. However, this is not recommended if you want to become a serious DJ.
Gain experience
After getting your equipment and training, you should transition to being a small time DJ, right when coming out of the academy or when you feel like you have received enough training. You will likely not bag any big gigs right from the start, it’s best if you start by opening for other more established DJs, get on set and mix a few songs then leave. That will boost your confidence and you will learn a lot more by applying your skills in real life.
Start building a following
At this point you should be able to do your own mixes, coupled with your opening performances, you should start building a following. Make good mixes and publish them, it’s often best to use platforms like YouTube in South Africa.
I have personally seen a DJs with just a few mixes go from 100 subscribers to 20k subscribers in a couple of months. YouTube is a great platform to publish your mixes as YouTube will automatically recommend it to some people and that will grow your popularity immensely.
Create an online presence
An online presence is crucial to the success of any business in the 21st century, being a DJ is more like being self-employed. You should be able to direct your YouTube audience to your social media pages, be visible on at least two of them, preferably Facebook and Instagram. This is how people will contact you and book you for Gigs.
List of all best DJs in South Africa
Black Coffee
Shift
Euphonik
DJ Maphorisa
Oskido
ZINHLE JIYANE
DJ Fresh(Thato Sikwane )
DJ Sbu
DJ KENT
DJ Cleo
Kabza De Small
Heavy K
DJ Clock
Roger Goode
Nora En Pure
Dineo Ranaka
DJ Ganyani
DJ Roxxi
DJ Qness
Sun-El Musician
DJ Mujava
Master KG
DJ SFR
The richest DJ in South Africa
Fins below are The richest DJ in South Africa
Black Coffee Net Worth 908,989,800.00 South African Rand
DJ Euphonik Net Worth 45,449,490.00 South African Rand
DJ SBU Net Worth 40.90 South African Rand
DJ Oskido Net Worth 39,389,558.00 South African Rand
DJ Tira Net Worth 34,844,609.00 South African Rand
Culoe De Song Net Worth 33,326,040.00 South African Rand
DJ Shimza Net Worth 30,296,400.00 South African Rand
DJ Fresh Net Worth 27,266,760.00 South African Rand