DJ Collective – an obituary… It's been a few months now since I turned my back on the so-called DJ Collective and can now pursue my work as a DJ in a much more relaxed and satisfied way. But let's start from the very beginning…

I've been working as a DJ for 25 years now and have experienced almost everything there is to experience in this industry. When I first came to Munich, I had already made a name for myself in Nuremberg, Ingolstadt, Pfaffenhofen, Augsburg, and Regensburg, and was regularly booked there. Through an acquaintance from the nightlife scene, I started getting more bookings in Munich, and I worked with her for a while, which is where I ventured into the wedding DJ business. Initially, I DJed a lot in Switzerland, and then more in Germany and Austria. But as is often the case when you work with someone who sees it more as a hobby and has no intention of expanding the business, but rather views it as a platform for self-promotion to impress women, you eventually go your separate ways…

At that time, a so-called DJ collective approached me and wanted to collaborate. This meant being featured on their website, generating gigs for me, and paying a commission for each gig. At the time, this didn't sound bad, as the "colleague" was also a full-time DJ, and so a good collaboration developed (for the time being)...

Over these six years, I proved myself to be a trustworthy and reliable partner and did a good job. Even the vacation coverage, where I always tried to distribute the backlog of requests fairly and efficiently, went exceptionally well, and I think everyone was satisfied. Over the years, there were also discussions about expanding the business, and this is where the idyllic picture began to crumble. Aside from a lot of talk and meetings, and the implementation of things/software that were never used, nothing actually happened. Furthermore, my counterpart became increasingly resistant to advice, and after a while, I felt like nothing more than a glorified receptionist.

During this time, I also got to know many so-called DJ colleagues, and some stayed on after I left. But I never heard from or read anything from most of them again, since I was no longer part of the job distribution network. Yes, I have to admit, that disappointed me, but it didn't surprise me. Because when I look at the bigger picture, I knew that once I had nothing left to offer, I wouldn't hear from or read anything again from the "job seekers who are always the quickest to respond." That's life…

Since I've been doing this for a very long time and I'm somewhat familiar with the industry's mechanisms (no one can know them completely), I've always warned that the quality of inquiries is declining year after year. But here, I was just given the runaround and put on the back burner…

The final straw was when my then-so-called "colleague and friend" betrayed me, which I don't want to go into detail about here, because I know he/she is reading this and will get upset again because it's all too personal. This breach of trust was the deciding factor for me to leave and end things, because a clarifying discussion with this individual was and is impossible…

I also won't mention the name of the "MP3-collecting, mobile electronics retailer DJ colleague" here, nor will I mention the name of the "DJ collective," since I don't even want to grant them the keyword in Google anymore. But back to the topic…

For me, the music was always the main focus of the business. All the organizational aspects (taxes, insurance, invoicing, etc.) and everything else are just basics you need to know if you want to survive in this business as a full-time DJ. I understand that after years, you might look for a side hustle, but your main business shouldn't suffer because of it. In the end, everything was just dumped on me, and my own projects and plans were pushed further and further down the list because I (unfortunately) felt obligated to keep passing on gigs to other "hobby DJ colleagues." I never differentiated based on whether a "colleague" was good at marketing themselves or not. If the musical requirements were right, they got the gig, unlike what's currently become the norm in this collective, where only the "DJs" who are willing to pay the commission upfront get the gigs...

When it was all over, I felt liberated. Liberated from all those parasites who didn't pay commission and were engaging in the finest form of undeclared work and tax evasion, who couldn't even afford to pay for their own drinks at these gatherings, and at every single one of these events, a few idiots simply left without paying for their drinks. But I understand that if you have a normal (boring) job and are squeezing in two or three DJ gigs a month on the side, you don't even have the money to pay for your own beer at a "DJ meet-up."

These so-called DJ meetups were really more of a "bring over the commission" event (you have to keep your bank statements hidden from the tax authorities, after all), as there was absolutely no meaningful exchange about new developments, whether musical or technical. Dangerous half-truths were usually spread, GEMA (the German performing rights society) was criticized, and other DJs were interrogated, with the constant refrain that "You're too cheap," in the hope that the other DJ would raise their prices so they could then offer themselves for 50 euros less. Conversely, if there were duplicate inquiries, the DJs would then pass the request on to the other "colleagues" to collect another commission. It was a perfidious game that would make any antitrust authority cringe...

My very good order book hasn't suffered at all after the split; quite the opposite, in fact. Now I'm working with venues and fellow DJs who previously avoided me precisely because of that "DJ colleague," who always tries to grab everything for himself and is in no way collegial or fair. My DJ booking inquiries are now much more focused on the music and not just the price (and believe me, my rates are in the normal middle range for a full-time DJ), as is unfortunately often the case when you're ranked number one on Google. I also have to say that not everyone I've met during that time is completely unhinged, and I've stayed on with a handful of DJ colleagues with whom I can have a casual chat, and I'm happy to recommend them from time to time.

For all DJ newbies, I can only say that joining a DJ collective isn't a bad choice for getting started in the scene, but if you want more and plan to stay in this business longer, stand on your own two feet as early as possible, develop your own style, and don't become dependent on someone whose website might rank at the top of Google search results, but who doesn't give a damn whether the gig is a good musical fit for you or even the client. These people are only interested in collecting commissions, basking in the glory, and if they ever lose interest, you won't get any more gigs. I've already described the extent of this and how clients and their data are handled in my blog post about " Facebook DJ Groups."

My conclusion from this time, or rather from both periods, is that it was an educational but ultimately frustrating period. Don't let yourselves be lulled into complacency by silly sayings like "there's enough for all of us" or "we're one big family" (no, we're not, and envy and greed are even more pronounced among part-time "hobby DJs" than among others). Just do your own thing and stick with it. In the future, I will also be very selective about my DJ colleagues and business partners and will avoid people who are resistant to advice, as well as anything that comes across as eccentric, because that's not my style, and you can't work together successfully and comfortably in the long run that way.

Some of you are probably wondering why this blog post is only coming now and not a year ago when everything was still fresh? Quite simply, sometimes you need to gain some distance from a situation to be able to view it objectively in all its facets, and I was able to do that now, without the bitter aftertaste of having been instrumentalized and exploited by 98% of the collective, which was unfortunately a fact…

At this point, a big THANK YOU to the DJ colleagues who give something back to me; I always enjoy working with you…

In that sense – chapter finally closed, topic resolved…