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While shopping in Wicker Park about a week ago I came across a flyer that piqued my interest. The flyer was advertising an event at V-live in Chicago featuring Steve Aoki. I’m not a huge fan of the pop-electro sound (please feel free to correct my choice of genre association) championed by scenesters such as Aoki so his playing a show in Chicago was not what caught my attention. The fact that the flyer advertised that the event would feature more than 30 other DJs in 4 rooms is really what caught my eye. More than that, the blurb on the flyer that offered a spot on the roster for any DJ with a follow of greater than 20 people or a “buy-in” opportunity for any “crew” intrigued me.

Wanting to learn more I reached out to my Twitter brethren for more info on what the promoters of this show meant by “buy-in opportunity”. The short answer I received is this: groups or DJs who purchase 16 tickets at the regular price of $20 receive 6 tickets for “free” with the option to play the party. I’m sure that there are most likely other packages available for a “crew” that wants to put more skin in the game but for the purpose of this post I’m going to stick with discussing the deal I just mentioned.

I’m not a math wizard by any estimation but as far as I can figure, in essence, the DJ in this equation is putting in $320 of his/her own money and buying a spot on the roster. If said DJ is able to move all 22 (16 they paid $20 for and 6 they got for “free”) tickets allotted for that investment at the face value of $20, he/she will net $120 and the chance to play a gigantic club in front of what he/she hopes to be a large group of potential fans. If 30 DJs are willing to buy into this model the promoter comes out way ahead because he/she’s just sold 480 tickets for a gross dollar amount of $9,600, has potentially put tickets in the hands of 660 people (in the form of purchased as well as “free” tickets), and has also enlisted a street team of at least 30 ambitious selectors that are going to be pushing the night like mad since they have a vested interest in it’s success. Everyone wins, right? I’m not so sure.

There are 3 reasons I don’t like this format for throwing parties. First, I think it shortchanges the partygoer by presenting him/her with a glut of unproven talent. Second, it’s providing a model which, if successful, would allow promoters to avoid paying DJs who have spent years building up their skills and their reputations and who’s time is better spent honing their craft than trying to personally sell event tickets. And, third, it is sending a message to aspiring DJs that their money and hustle is more far more valuable than their skills behind the decks (or laptops, or midi controllers, etc.).

The lines between performer and promoter have been increasingly blurred over the past 10 years or so with DJs stepping up and running their own nights and promoters learning to DJ so they can play their own residencies and keep more of the proceeds. For the most part, I understand this dynamic and have done my best to play along. Most of the people I know that are making any kind of dent on the nightlife scene tend to fall into two categories: good DJs that have taught themselves to be average or better marketers and good marketers who have taught themselves to be average or better DJs. Unfortunately, it seems to me that those that are more adept at the marketing side of things are starting to choke out those whose main talent is on the performance end of things. I fear that a wide-spread acceptance of the pay to play model could result in another big step in that direction. Namely, shows with mammoth size hype and mouse size substance. It’s the nightlife patrons that end up paying the price. If promoters are able to successfully run nights in which local talent is willing to pay to play and essentially promote for free what incentive do they have to take a chance on groundbreaking international talent that is trying to book shows in Chicago? Also, what incentive do aspiring DJs have to hone their performances when their time is better spent acting as a one-man ticket office?

Admittedly, I haven’t been in a big market for that long having moved to Chicago from West Palm Beach, Florida just a little over 3 years ago but it didn’t take me long to fall in love with the city and with it’s nightlife culture. One of my first and fondest memories of the city was on one of the first Sundays after I moved in walking my dog around the West Loop and happening to walk by Stanley’s on Van Buren when Major Taylor was spinning on the patio. The fact that a DJ as talented as that was playing just blocks away from my house on a Sunday afternoon was something that really struck me. Over the following months I had similar experiences, catching DJs like Jesse De La Pena, Zebo, Intel, Maker, Trew, OneFiftyOne, and SR-71 – really talented DJs playing anywhere from a small lounge to a big club like Smart Bar. Sure, all these DJs could pull a crowd but they were booked more on their ability to move that crowd than on their ability to bring people through the door and were paid accordingly. How would any of these Chicago mainstays fare going up against a wave of neophytes willing to pay to take those same gigs?

Finally, what is the message that this model sends to up and coming DJs? As far as I can tell the flyer did not stipulate that there was any standard to play other than the ability to pull a small crowd. The reward then becomes much greater for these guys to promote themselves than to work on creating, discovering, and presenting quality, interesting music.

I’m sure that many will disagree with the notions put forth here. They will point out that in this format the cream will rise to the top and the best acts that pay for their chance to reach the crowd at V-Live that Sunday will be able to begin to build their brands and work their way up the ladder of Chicago nightlife. Those people would be right, but the cream would rise to the top anyway. Why do we need to subject partygoers who are paying their hard-earned dollars to see what they hope to be a quality show to so much of the swill at the same time?

I have the utmost confidence in the overall integrity of the nightlife scene in Chicago and I’m sure that this one show is not going to signal anything as drastic as the end of quality nightlife in the city, but I thought I’d be remiss not to make some kind of comment and hopefully fuel some dialogue on the subject. If you agree or disagree with my views please don’t hesitate to drop in a comment. Different strokes and all that….