Initial DJ Contract Made Easy

Dj contracts for zchool functions form

yo what's up guys welcome back to the channel and once again welcome back to DJ tips tuesdays alright guys here we go today's tip the pro tip is make sure you have an adequate contract now I mentioned this before on my previous DJ tips Tuesday's it might have been - DJ tip Tuesdays ago but well we were talking about corporate structure or company structure I did mention briefly contracts now contracts are absolutely important we all agree everyone knows sign a contract for everything you even signed a contract every time you click on that little agreement that pops up on the internet because you want to read that weird article that you found already yes you just signed your life away but when it comes to us when it comes to the DJ world you need to have a contract that's legitimate that's robust in that covers you as well as the client now a lot of these companies that I've worked for subcontracted or happen or know people that own DJ companies or even myself when I started way back in the day they have a very simple one-page contract it just goes over certain things like the date the price though might mention just a package in a small little disclosure in the bottom yes this is legally binding it is a contract and 99% of the time you don't have to worry about it now me personally I experienced the worst case scenario we did an event this is way back when I was the managing partner for synergy entertainment me and the other partners we were booked client was estatic we discuss what the music was that was to be played gave examples of it it was actually Dominican music and I was born in Dominican Republic and raised there for about a decade so I knew what kind of music they wanted my guys went out they did the event I wasn't there personally everyone danced we have footage the crowd was rocking the entire night and at the end person came up to them and said listen you didn't play exactly what we wanted you to play so we're not gonna pay you right worst thing you want to hear it especially after you rock down the party growing pains some people might do this to you most people all some people do anyways what else are you gonna do just gonna back up and you gotta go they sign the contract but at that point you try to reason with the client you reach out to the client they neglect your calls the next step is legal you'd take them to court at that point you need to figure out how much are you charging we weren't charging that much it was a very small event instead worth going to court for instead worth the headache you know to us it wasn't worth it but it was a valuable lesson the lesson was we need to make sure that we are covered completely and there are clients covered now here's the difference that smaller contract that we had and that most people have it's great it covers the event but it doesn't guarantee either you or the client that they are absolutely covered for everything my contract now I say showed you previously this contract pretty robust that's one page three pages of very fine legal right legalese this contracts great to effects it protects me protects the client why it is a serious contract it covers a lot of bases it protects the client makes sure that I'm signing something because my signature is there or the company signatures there stating that we will be at this event we're providing specific services at specific times everything has been discussed and it's in this contract they know that I need to show up because if I don't show up they have a copy of this contract and yes they can take me to court and vice versa I know that they know that we have discussed everything and we are going to deliver it as discussed and after that delivery then balance is paid if the balance is not paid then no one wants to go to court hate doing it I mean maybe we can appear in Judge Judy or Mathis of whatever other judge they have here the people's coordinate but it's a long drawn-out process there are also legal fees okay you need to file for a lawsuit because it is the most unreal committing then you need to take a McCord you need to provide the evidence eccentric cetera et cetera what happens when you have a contract like this everything is discussed you have the time the agreement was made cool and by this Agreement taking place the location of the agreement the venue the package that's discussed and it moves on further from that with total agreed price pricing for the deposit what is the payment terms payment terms could be ten fifteen thirty percent deposit up front a second payment and then a final payment or third year at the thirty percent upfront and then all payment at the end excetera senator that's discussed here all that is out of the way we also have additional services which is great because in my additional services I have is there a wedding ceremony great do we need sound reinforcement for bands during cocktail do we provide musicians that we provide up lighting or package that we're providing sometimes there are so many additional services that either we point directly to the proposal which most of the time we do anyways or we add an additional rider as per the request of the client or given these specific options that they want we move on from that my favorite part the microphone Clause yes you should be spending a lot of money on a great microphone that will not cut off or get interference but these things are out of our control sometimes we work in huge catering halls that are doing 10 20 30 parties and outside of the vendors that are there simultaneously you also have the microphones in the radio frequency equipment that the caterers using so never had issues where someone else's voice is cutting into my frequency that is the worst case scenario but I have had issues for the microphone has dropped temporarily and regardless of the channel switching we ended up switching up the mic but some people might take that and go well you know what that means that you have a render services correctly and then take you down that road which a reality if you did a great job and that's the only issue then that's being kind of extreme so you need to be clear also additional sound system do you need some reinforcements for a band during the reception do you agree that you have additional sound systems for whatever reason you also have late documentation fee another favorite because everyone is stressed out planning their special paid whether it's a wedding mitzvah sweet 16 just sixtieth birthday or retirement party graduation it doesn't matter people are stressed out they always push it off and they procrastinate because there are so many things so many logistical aspects over there pent that they just push it off to the last minute so you need to make sure you set a date and then you give some consequences even if you do not seek compensation if they go over there lot of time but it's just to push them there and give them vision initiative personally me I'd like to get all my documentation for my offence 14 days prior to the event at the latest of course we make exceptions but we make it very clear after 14 days no documentation is accepting and for us to provide the best service possible then we need that time because previously and this has happened to many of you and it still happens from time to time of rare occasions you'll get a phone call my worst case scenario happened actually a couple weeks ago and I will be posting a vlog a gig log in resource to that event but literally woke up was just getting everything together having dinner I mean sorry having breakfast feeding my daughter etc etc 8:30 in the morning in a phone call there are changes to the formalities X Y and C that is last-minute because the event took place afternoon so yeah worst case scenario but this helps to mitigate that problem and avoid the issue so will happen eventually then you get the juicy part alright like coverage of Acts of God make it clear if there's a hurricane coming you will not be playing we all assume then that's common knowledge but you know common sense but not send that all sense is common perhaps somebody didn't heed the warning they still want to do it this came in handy when sandy came to New York we had an event that got reschedule we always provide open dates as long as we're available the policy is we're available and your dude got cancelled for whatever reason we will reschedule to another if we're hoping multi-up company we can handle multiple applications operations multiple dates not a problem right - procession unless you know as soon as you sign this contract how long you have to sign a to cancel or agreement or and how to proceed you know is it a phone call instead by mail etc etc it goes down to what happens if non-payment non-payment obviously we have the rights to take you to court or they had the right to take us to court and whoever is taking whoever in accord the defendant will be paying the legal fees personal damages somebody trips or if somebody's really drunk and then destroys your equipment get to cover safety that tripping issue a safety has multiple paragraphs control performances you guys for the most part us will be in control of performances in tandem with the catering hall and other vendors that's so someone doesn't come out of left field and tell you how do you do your job and then you can't deliver and that causes your service not to be rendered appropriately we also have warranty travel travel is very important especially if you need to travel outside of state lines and after a certain amount of miles then this Travel section discusses it stay accommodations hotels I want to say motel because I don't know what town you're in and I definitely don't want to get raped execution of contract and etc etc etc the point that I'm trying to make is make sure you have a robust contract okay you're doing professional services you need to make sure that you cover yourself as flaws your clients small contracts are fine this contract or similar to this contract is great gives you peace of mind it helps you look more professional and yes when I hand this over to a lot of clients that they're taken aback but it's fine because I email it in advance or I give it to them as a police review careful take your time and then we can discuss any changes I can have a writer written up that we can attach to that which I've done before for previous clients and that's all taken care of now where do we get this you can go to a lawyer yes it's gonna cost you a ton or today's modern age go to legalzoom.com or any legal service you can just find a mobile entertainment service template and just mold it to what you need and your company info and then of course it's always advised to have that reviewed by a lawyer and just let me know if they okay now that'll cost you pennies to the dollar compared to the lawyer drafting the entire contract for you cool so let me know what you guys think let me know if you have any questions about the contracts or where I got this contract if you have different contracts or if you want to share any experiences when the contract either saved you or because you didn't have one and it definitely screwed you leave a comment below okay let us know like as always let's make this a conversation don't forget guys once again comment below take that like button slap that Bell slap it again and tell a friend to stop it twice get those notifications and I will have more gig logs coming soon I've just been dealing with a lot but trust me they are coming see you next time on DJ tips Tuesdays Music