If you agree with the sign above and would like to see this happen, then collect all mobile phones at the door and eject anybody caught with one.
Harsh? Yup. Effective. Yup. Risky for business? Quadruple yup.
Everybody wants to complain about this issue but nobody wants to be the first casualty in the cultural war to win hearts and minds to your side. The ONLY way this will ever take off is if all clubs in a region actively collaborate with each other and unilaterally ban all mobile devices from all locations. And there isn’t a single chance in hell that’s happening. Not in a competitive marketplace.
Reality check: yes, there are places that can and do ban mobile phones and their usage. And yes, the vibe is different at those events. But many of those venues can only implement a “suggested” ban, meaning that they cannot legally enforce a no phones policy. Any club or establishment that begins to legally trespass its patrons because they have a phone is likely a place most of us can’t afford to go to regularly anyway.
Essentially, mobile cameras will never not be a “problem” on the dance floor. And that’s why you complainers that choose to remain stuck in a hobbled mindset will only lose more and more gigs to younger and less experienced DJs.
The old days of the classic rave are over and the more of us 40+ year old DJs that complain about phone usage on the dance floor, the more likely we’re gonna find ourselves as the butt or subject of a meme and certainly always getting booked for the door busting opening slots… if we get any slots at all, that is.
In A World Where Many DJs Will Fail, A Few Will Prevail
The DJs that succeed in today’s market will incorporate ways of making content and presenting content that capitalize on the fact that everybody has a camera in their pocket.
Think of it this way – as a DJ and producer, I’m trying to create content that I can share that would hopefully go viral and open me up to opportunities. It’s a grueling and thankless job doing this for myself. But it has to be done if I want to move up.
But what if I was promoting my show differently and somehow used my visuals in a creative way that expressed itself on the screens of every phone in the audience? And what if by doing that, now every video being uploaded to Snapchat and Instagram and TikTok was being shown to hundreds of other people, all with my unique and subliminal marketing visuals are included?
Or, what if I actually encouraged people to bring their phones and had things all around the venue to take pictures of and share online? Raffle ticket entries based on how many images of the show a fan took and posted to their socials? Perhaps my merch had QR codes on it that, when scanned with their phones, took them to my website to download a free track after I collect their email address?
My point is that for me, personally, I see no point in complaining about how things aren’t the way they used to be but instead adapting to and overcoming the current situation. If the Marine Corps taught me anything, it’s that there is no situation so insurmountable where you can’t do at least SOMETHING about it.
The destination for the successful and the failure comes down to what that “something” is – complaints or action.
Personally, I’m gonna go the action route and engage my phone addicted fans. They aren’t going anywhere.
”BuT cHAd, It jUST Isn’T ThE saMe! ThE spiRIt Is gONe aNd tOdAy’s RaVerS dOn’t KNow WhAT theY’rE MisSINg!”
You see that? 👆 That sounds like a boring ass, out of touch, NIMBY, boomer. This is not the way forward. If that is you, then just do us all a favor and stay in your basement and cope and seethe. I’ve got gigs to book and fans to serve. They are the ones with the money… not some 40+ year old dude or chick in a basement boobing about how things used to be.
Besides, the only people these days without a phone camera are the Amish. And the Amish aren’t rushing out to see any of us play bleep bloop music.