If you’re a performing professional DJ, one of the things you’re going to have to deal with throughout your DJ career is dealing with song requests and keeping the dance floor happy. It doesn’t matter what your venue is or the type of DJ you plan on being, it’s inevitable that you’re going to hear a few shoutouts for songs that may or may not be in your playlist for the evening.
So what do you do in the DJ booth? Well, that’s what we’re going to hit in this article overview. Here, we’ll tackle the best ways to approach requests as well as whether you should take them, what order they should be in, as well as what the ultimate etiquette is surrounding them.
So, if you’re interested in knowing what to do when getting a request, as well as how to take it and incorporate it into your existing playlist, keep reading!
First Things First – Should You Take Song Requests?
When we’re talking about DJs and whether they should take requests, it depends on where you stand in terms of fame and notoriety. For example, if you’re a high-level fellow DJ like Paul Van Dyk or Carl Cox, it’s pretty much a categorical impossibility that you’ll even be offered requests from the crowd let alone consider having to actually take them.
That’s because who you are as a DJ is so renowned that people are there to hear your music as opposed to just the music that you’re playing.
For any non-“celebrity” DJs out there, however, things do become a bit murkier. Not only are you likely going to get a ton of favorite song requests from the crowd, but you’re ideally going to want to take at least a few of them, especially if you are playing an open music format dance party mobile event.
Keep in mind that, from beginner to starting professional, your name isn’t that well known. People may come to hear your tracks and mixes, but they’re really there to have a good time, and a blanket “no song requests” attitude is going to put people off and potentially block future gigs.
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Taking Requests: The Positive Side
Not only is refusing to take requests a potential problem, but it’s also true that getting and taking song requests can be a potential benefit. For starters, just because it’s a request for a song not on your list doesn’t inherently mean it’s not a good song worth playing. You’d be surprised at just how many songs you can end up adding to your permanent track playlist that started as requests. But remember, don’t take too many requests
You also have to keep in mind that, while many of your requests will come from the crowd, there are also many that will come from other people. This can include other local DJs, event coordinators, venue owners, or different promoters.
Essentially, just as you can get a drunk request from the crowd, you can also get a much more professional request backstage, often by someone you don’t want to write off and ignore.
This can often lead to you boosting your career by putting you in front of more people and in more venues than you may have gotten in by yourself.
And, depending on the type of DJ you are, requests are pretty much part of the experience. As an example, if you’re a club DJ, you’re probably not going to get a ton of song requests compared to a mobile DJ that has to deal with weddings and birthdays.
Ultimately, while it wouldn’t be fair to say that you have to take all of your requests, the truth is that you don’t want to dismiss them willy-nilly.
Ideally, you’ll take the time to seriously look over what’s being asked of you and see how it meshes with the vibe you’re trying to set. If it works well, throw it in; if not, ignore it.
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Handling Requests Properly
Ok, since we now know that requests aren’t quite the insulting boogeyman that some make them out to be, how do you actually handle requests properly without being rude or overwhelmed?
Surely it’s not as simple as just letting the person scream over to you to play whatever song they’re interested in, right?
Well, for some folks that’s exactly what they do. In fact, this was the main way most DJs got song requests before the pandemic, as the DJ would often be close enough for people in the crowd to just walk up to and speak with.
Today things are a bit different, and getting super close to dozens of random (and possibly very drunk!) strangers may not be the healthiest activity in the world. Instead, there are some useful no-contact methods available to take and play requests that won’t distract you from your current performance while also keeping you safe and ultimately in control of what songs you’re playing.
1. Pen & Paper
You can’t beat the old-school basics. If you don’t want people just yelling out songs in your ear, a simple alternative could be a pen, paper, and a clipboard that’s passed around to people that have track ideas. You can also put the clipboard in a designated space where people can run up and throw ideas out. Then, once a page is filled out (or a certain amount of time has passed) you can have someone pick it up and hand it to you to look over. This lets you pick what songs you want to include while ignoring the songs you’re not interested in.
It can be done in a ton of ways, but the most simplistic method is just by setting up several lines and columns for the track name and the artist’s name as well as maybe the album title.
2. Whiteboard
A more interactive and fun version of the pen & paper method is by having a big whiteboard on a wall you can easily see. It doesn’t have to be a whiteboard per se, but rather any type of large board that people can write large on and can be wiped away easily. This includes a chalkboard or a blackboard.
Essentially, all you’re doing is having people come up and either list their requests on the board themselves or hand their idea off to a designated writer.
This is a good idea if you want to make sure the writing is legible enough and large enough for you to see what they’re saying. Again, you can go through the tracks listed and skip the ones you’re not interested in including.
Then, once you’ve hit the last track or gone back to your playlist, you can have the board wiped and set up for a new list of songs.
While a whiteboard is great for all settings, they’re especially good for parties and weddings.
3. Text Message
There are actually a lot of useful methods you can use when you bring technology into the mix. In this case, having people text your number for different requests can be super helpful since it’s anonymous and keeps you in control.
I’d suggest you either use a burner phone or number to avoid trolls or people looking to harass you because they didn’t get their song picked.
You can use the text message feature in multiple ways. You can hand out your business card to people in the crowd with a specific number for shoutouts & requests. You can also have a set number prominently displayed that people can text if they want a song request.
You can also use text-based request service features like Request Now, which hands out a local number that people can message with requests coming on a centralized dashboard. This is the most effective method since it’s kind of like an electronic version of the whiteboard concept.
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Etiquette For Playing Requests
Now that you’ve decided you’re going to take requests and have a solid method of doing so, here are some useful tips on the proper etiquette when handling them.
1. Don’t Break Up Your Flow
Remember that, while it’s not good to have a “no requests” policy, it’s equally as bad to have an “only requests” policy. What that means is, if you’ve already got a good setup going, you don’t need to immediately give it up for the sake of some random song.
Bringing in new tracks is fine, but don’t break up your flow. You should be taking your time and gradually including these tracks into what you’ve already got going in a way that makes the most sense.
2. Play What Works Only
Piggybacking off of the earlier point, don’t feel beholden to the people making requests. Remember that these are requests, not demands.
Play what you think is going to work for the group. This is why I like the whiteboard option the most since you can pick and choose what you want and don’t want without worrying about making someone feel bad their song wasn’t picked.
3. Make A “Requests” Playlist
This is twofold. For one, making a playlist solely for requests is an ideal option for those that want a clean list of tracks that they can grab on the fly. In addition to that, a “song request” playlist is a great option for those that want some ideas for songs they want to introduce into their established playlists.
You’d be surprised by what songs you can pull from a song request that ultimately ends up as a mainstay in your overall performance.
You can make this playlist entirely fresh and on the fly or you can use a DJ system or software to put the playlist together.
Both options work really well but I find the software option to be the better of the two.
4. A Shout Out To The Requester
This is a great idea for most sound requests, regardless of the situation – though it’s especially great if you’re afraid of putting out a terrible song.
Whenever getting a song request, just accompany it with a quick shoutout to the person that made the request. Not only does this give them some recognition that their song was played, but it also exonerates you if the song isn’t particularly good.
I’ve seen some pretty crazy situations where people were planning to throw out a song that would have bombed the dance only to change it with something much more appealing once they knew everyone would know they were the one that wanted it.
You want to make sure you treat this shoutout as a way to honor the person for making the request rather than a punishment for the person that put out a dumb song request. The fact that people know who put out the bad song will be known without any excess meddling on your part.
5. Extensive Library Required
First things first, you should, as a DJ, have as big a library of tracks as possible. This should be as extensive as possible so that you know that you have most songs that a person could throw out already on you. If you don’t, that’s ok.
You just need to outsource your music acquisition from another platform or source.
Two great examples of outsourcing include having an iPad and using it as an “extra deck” as well as using a DJ software streaming service. Both of these options are great for pulling from a potentially much larger pool of music to play with.
Just make sure the sound quality is good where you’re sourcing the music, which means you should play around with some different sources and DJ software beforehand to make sure you’re getting the best sound if this situation ever happens again.
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Dealing With Song Requests: Summary
As mentioned in the beginning, DJing and taking requests is something you’re going to deal with throughout your entire career until you’re so big, no one will want to make a request.
Until that time, embracing requests is something that will only help you as a DJ, especially if you’re just getting started. So take it easy, keep it light, and have fun. Take what works and ignore what doesn’t.
By taking this stance, you’ll ignore the rude behavior and the people just trying to get you to play what they specifically want.
So long as you’re respectful at all times and stress the importance of having a good time, you can expect a reliable audience that will rarely want to throw off your performance by even asking for a request in the first place.
And if they do, they’re almost guaranteed to give you a song that they like as well as will be good for your overall performance.
