Feb072009
DJ Contracts and Why They Are So Important
I’ve been doing the whole DJ thing for well over 10 years now and I’ve played across a variety of venues for many different promoters - some of who I know and some who I have never met before. But one thing I have come to learn over the years is to always protect yourself with a contract no matter how well you know the promoter.
Don’t be scared by thinking all this legal stuff is beyond you becasue all a contract does is promise to the promoter that you will turn up on time and it promises you the DJ that you will get paid your agreed fee. It’s pretty much a guarantee betwen DJ and promoter that helps to protect both parties involved.
Among other things a contract will do the following things:
- Makes you look more professional
- Ensures you get paid
- Establishes some ground rules in case things go wrong
- Re-assures the promoter
Contracts are important because sometimes you might fall ill, you might have to book travel expenses in advance, the promoter is slow at paying you, even the event itself can get cancelled at short notice. I myself have even turned up to play a venue only to find that the doors were closed and the event was cancelled. I had not been notified of this and I was extremely pissed off. Unfortunately, I had no contract in place to protect me and to this day I am still owed money. I got proper stiched up. The booking was for a friend of a friend and ever since I have had to sadly stop working with them on principle. This is one of the main reasons why it is so important to get a contract established and put in place from the start - no matter how well you know the promoter, even if the booking is for your best friend.
It’s not difficult to set up a DJ contract. In fact, below you will find a link to the very same contract template that I use to send out to each and every promoter. Simply download it, change the details to be your own and get the promoter to sign the contract before the event takes place.
It’s usually a good idea to get the signed copy of the contract in your hand as early as possible, but as a rule I now don’t even unpack my gear unless the signed contract is in my hand. I played a boat party a few years back and was stood at the dock where I got the contract signed before I would even step on the boat.
For further help with protecting yourself, you should get yourself signed up to the Musician’s Union if you live in the UK. It will cost you about £10 per month but it is useful for two main reasons.
Firstly, you will get Limited Liability Insurance included as part of your subscription. This is important in case you do something stupid like drop a speaker on someone, or blow up all the venues amps. Terms and conditions apply, but the short of it is that Limited Liability Insurance will pay out for you if anything serious happens. Imagine if that dropped speaker broke someones leg and they sued you for medical expenses. Unlikely I know, but how many of us are paying £10 a week for car insurance right now? Limited Liability Insurance has become pretty much a standard for professional working DJs, again it offers re-assurance to the promoter that you are serious about your profession, plus if you purchase Limited Liability Insurance elsewhere, this can cost from £500 upwards. So from joining the Musicians Union you get it a bit cheaper too.
Secondly, if the promoter that booked you fails to pay up in time, you can report them to the Musicians Union who will then help you to chase up your outstanding invoice. Sending your debtor a letter from an official organisation definitely has a lot more gusto behind it.
Download my DJ contract (PDF 62Kb), change the details to be your own and start using it today. I promise you now, there will be at least one time in the future where you will be glad of it.
Hi Paul thank you for sharing your contract as an example! I think it’s great that you help others (: Greets from Amsterdam
Comment by martine — July 8, 2009 @ 6:31 pm
awesome contract. thank you so much. you rock
Comment by Nick — July 28, 2009 @ 7:18 pm
Hi Paul thanks for the advice, we have a slightly different situtation at the mo, we have 2 contracts to sign for music that we have made and don’t want to sign our life away, is there anyone you know of that would be able to look at the contracts and inform up if they are ok? We don’t want to get stung so we are trying to do things right
Comment by Mike B — November 16, 2009 @ 12:07 pm
@Mike B - You might want to check out the Musicians Union. They will either have someone on board that can help you out, or they will know someone with the correct specific knowledge you are after. http://tinyurl.com/yg6u968 They can offer free legal advice too. Hope this helps.
Comment by Paul Velocity — November 16, 2009 @ 12:32 pm