The Travel DJ Blend with DJ Brian B DJ Brian B

Phil Morse has been educating DJs around the world through his learning platform, Digital DJ Tips, for years. In this episode, we talk about how the art of DJ'ing has evolved to this point, where it's headed and whether or not the future of Dj'ing is in a good place. He also is releasing an updated version of his book "Rock The Dance Floor!" on May 30th, 2024 (the 1st version was an international best seller). Grab your copy of the book via the link in the show notes.

Our job as a DJ is all about the "fun"...until life lands you a severe hit (that eventually happens to all of us in one way or another) which leads to a reality check in keeping things in perspective. I had the privilege of sitting down and talking with Chris Atwood, a stroke survivor, a DJ himself with the SCE Event Group and genuinely just a good dude. He talks through his life before the stroke, during and where things stand now. Shoutouts to Mike Walter and Jason Jani who get their flowers from Chris on this episode as well.

Though it's not often considered, clarity in messaging is critical in closing a sale, gaining marketshare, justifying your rate, etc. If you are struggling in any of these areas, it almost always is directly linked to a confusing message. In this episode, I share 5 questions to run every bit of communication/messaging through in order to keep your messaging clear, concise and memorable.

I had a "triple event" weekend which was both a sobering reminder and an encouragement to pursuing artistry. When I was starting out in this industry, my whole sales process and value proposition was wrapped into what I could do "at" their event. The problem with that is you can't guarantee a lot of those things because so much of it is out of your control. A few years ago I shifted to selling the things I could control. While that may add a few more layers to my process (that I actually do enjoy), there still is the "day of event" pay-off that you hope for as a creative. What happens when the pay-off doesn't occur? I cover that and more in this episode.

With my music episodes, I try to present to you evergreen tracks that will be with you for a while. I subscribe to a ton of record pools beyond digging through blogs, Patreon, streaming services, Shazam, and the like. I thought I would share my top 10 most interesting musical track finds with you from the month of April 2024. Bonus: I'll give you the source on where to find the tracks I talk about. Not only do I hope to save you time in finding gems but I also give you my take on how/where I use them within my sets

Earlier this year, the Knot published 26 "Do Not Play Songs" from the perspective of a guest attending a wedding. Some (not all) DJs made comments to the effect of, "These are go to songs for me" or "I'd feel handicapped without them." In an effort to help those DJs, Drew Pierce (fellow DJ, editor and programmer extraordinaire) and I give you replacement song ideas for songs #14-26 on the playlist with part of this interview. If nothing else, keep these song ideas on your radar in case they do appear on a client's do not playlist.