What Happens When You Become A Superstar DJ?

I’ve used the term superstar because I knew it would catch your attention. For the purpose of this section, superstar status is a misnomer— by the term, all I mean is that you have reached the peak (or hopefully the plateau) of your career. This isn’t to suggest that your business can’t get better once you’ve reached this point; it’s just that it will be at a very good level, and you will be making a good living.

When you reach this status, you won’t do many new things, but you are likely to do some of the things you already do somewhat differently. Here are a few pointers:

You’re probably likely to gig less. There are several reasons for this (in no particular order):

❏  There will be more opportunities for other forms of publicity and income generation (for instance, from television or offers to write music for films).

❏  You will do bigger shows. It is simply not practical to do too many shows. (Generally, you can’t do mega shows year after year in the same city.)

❏  There will be larger geographical distances between shows. Travel and time zones will militate against too many performances.

❏ You will probably want more time for yourself, whether to spend with your family or to write new songs or to get involved with other projects.

❏  Your health. By the time you reach this stage, you may be past the very first flush of youth.

❏ You will probably take a more global approach and will be keen to ensure you are selling in as many geographical markets as possible.

❏ To maximize your penetration of global markets, you may well partner with other businesses. In English, this means that you may enter into an agreement with a record label. A good idea is to promote your tracks on music blogs.

❏ With your increased earning power/fan base, you may want to renegotiate your existing deals. If you don’t renegotiate now, you may not get another chance. You will also find that licensees and business partners will seek to maximize their earnings from the business they carry out with you—in short, they will increase their prices to your fans as far as they possibly can.

As I said, these are just a few pointers. How, when, and whether these are practical will depend on a range of situations, and to be frank, by the time you get to this stage in your career, you need highly specialized advice that will be unique to your situation.