[00:00:07] Speaker A: This is the EMG podcast.
[00:00:13] Speaker B: Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of the EMG podcast. Mike, we just keep rolling. We just keep rolling.
Today, ladies and gentlemen, friends and family, along with my partner, Carlio, we are going to be discussing how we select djs for your event and our musicians. And musicians. This is a question that we get often and a lot. So we thought, you know what? Let's just do an episode on this topic so that you can take a peek behind the curtain.
[00:00:43] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:00:44] Speaker A: And so the main question that is asked in a consultation or after a consultation, if you're viewing this as a prospective client of ours, is how do we get connected with a DJ? And is it just based off of availability?
That's like the two questions that are asked. And we're going to tell you how we connect you and tell you why it's not just based off availability.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: And I'm going to start with the fear. I'm going to start with why you're wondering or asking this question. So let's say that you've met with us and you say, yeah, EMG sounds great, and you have a contract that you're considering signing with us that says, DJ for four hour weding reception.
[00:01:21] Speaker A: Right?
[00:01:22] Speaker B: And then the question pops into your head, well, oh, my God, do I just get randomly stuck with a dj? Now, we also know that in other companies and other djs process, you will know at that time exactly who your dj is.
[00:01:36] Speaker A: And most of the time, you may be actually talking to the DJ.
[00:01:39] Speaker B: Correct? Now, let me just speak to that. Let's just say at our consultation, we say, this is the dj we're putting you with. We show you a slick video of that person talking and you listen to maybe a mix that's got your generic wedding stuff in it. So you are lulled into this sense of security. Like, I know exactly who it is. And so I feel very comfortable, as opposed to what we do, which is you sit down and we say, you're booking a dj with us, and you find out later in the process the unknown might seem scary to you. Okay, here's my counter to that. Do you actually really know that DJ? I've shown you a minute video of them and you've listened to maybe one mix. Do you actually know them any more than if you trust our process?
[00:02:22] Speaker C: Right?
[00:02:23] Speaker B: And so what I always say to my clients is, I don't want to randomly stick you with a country dj right now if you're not a country person. Right. As you know, we have a planning app we like to get you in that app, selecting music, we bring you through a very detailed consultation where Mike and I take, or any member of our event design team take really detailed notes, and all of those variables start to composite your soundtrack and your sort of musical picture of who you are and the party that you're looking for. And we are the ones that intimately know our djs. We are the ones that have had hundreds of events and years of experience working with them. And so we feel like we are best positioned, rather than you just sitting there being lulled into a sense of security to actually set you up for success.
[00:03:12] Speaker C: Right?
[00:03:13] Speaker A: And when you're reviewing these mixes on each one of their profiles and things like that, many times as you're listening, you're like, well, that's the style of that DJ. Want to just put that out there right now? That is not true.
[00:03:27] Speaker C: Right?
[00:03:27] Speaker A: So those mixes are specific to whoever that couple was at that time, at that wedding. And those mixes are representative of how they actually mix the tunes from song to song, the programming that goes into it. That's what we're looking for when we are getting these mixes from our djs, but also when we're auditioning them. And we're going to go through the process about how we do that as well. But you're going to hear a commonality of the mixing capabilities, the technical attributes that they have across all of the djs.
[00:04:03] Speaker C: Right.
[00:04:03] Speaker B: Pay attention to skill, not songs.
[00:04:05] Speaker A: Right, exactly, right. And how cohesive it is.
[00:04:08] Speaker C: Right.
[00:04:08] Speaker A: Because all of them are very cohesive. And to be quite honest with you, no company is going to show you a bad content.
[00:04:12] Speaker C: Right?
[00:04:13] Speaker A: At least they shouldn't. Right? I mean, to Mike's point, we're going to show you a packed dance floor. We're going to show you some great reviews. We're going to say that they're the best thing ever.
A lot of the times you're going to hear all that, but it doesn't really give you much information because if you're meeting with us, you probably already know that this is a good company, right. Because of the reviews that we have on Google and things like that, right?
[00:04:33] Speaker B: We have a 35 year history and reputation of doing great work and good business and throwing good parties. So when we hire our djs, part of what you're investing or trusting in when you sign that contract is our reputation and our processes to make sure that your entertainers are well vetted, trained and seasoned prior to stepping foot into.
[00:04:55] Speaker A: Your event, because it's in no one's best interest for that person not to be a good fit for you, right. It doesn't make you happy. And it sure as hell makes our reputation go down the drain. Right?
[00:05:05] Speaker B: So when we bring clients through a very elaborate consultation, when the question comes back to us, like, oh, do you just pick a dj based on availability?
[00:05:14] Speaker A: It's like, well, yes. The answer is yes, but not yes. And then that's that, period. It's yes and right.
[00:05:20] Speaker B: You need to be available.
[00:05:21] Speaker A: The best ability is availability.
[00:05:23] Speaker B: What we do is we look at your date, we look at who's available. We look at the music that you've loaded into our app, we look back on our meeting notes. We take intangibles into consideration, like personality. Just because you like this music and that dj is really good at it doesn't mean maybe personality wise you're going to mesh well. It's in selfishly our best interest to pair you all with people that make the most sense, to make you the happiest. Right. It sets everyone up for success.
[00:05:51] Speaker A: So we take it through a detailed process. We have myself, Mike, our third partner, Tom, our leadership team, with our production manager and our general manager all get together and we make sure that we have and go through these notes on each one of our files, each one of our clients, and then we pair that up with our profiles that we have of our own djs in event host, and then connect you properly with that person. It's a very detailed process. Now, you may ask. You're connecting me about a year out from our wedding date. I haven't really put too much music into the app. That's when we really rely on our detailed consultation notes. Right. We're basically doing an essay on you guys when we're meeting with you.
[00:06:31] Speaker C: Right.
[00:06:31] Speaker A: We're taking notes not just on your musical selections, but the type of vibe that you're looking for, what you're looking for in an entertainment company or a DJ. Right. All of those little things are key indicators for us, and we're reading through the lines to then connect that with the proper person on our end.
[00:06:45] Speaker B: And I think this is a good transition point because we're going to talk about musicians as well. But the hiring process, just so that you know what happens behind the scenes. We are at a place in time and scale and scope right now where we are pretty much only hiring experienced djs. And just because they have experience doesn't mean we instantly throw them into the fire.
[00:07:06] Speaker A: Correct. They have to fit the EMG mold.
[00:07:08] Speaker B: So a DJ reaches out and says, I'm interested in working with you. The first thing that we do is we send them an instruction sheet of here is a mix that we want to hear from you. It needs to be live. It has to start with this song, end with this song. We kind of make it a lot of hoops.
[00:07:22] Speaker A: A lot of hoops.
[00:07:22] Speaker B: A lot of hoops to jump through. They submit that we are a large company. Mike and I listen to those mixes.
[00:07:28] Speaker A: It all starts and ends with us. And even before they send the mix, remember they have to get screened. There's a screen from Brian, I'm sorry.
[00:07:36] Speaker B: There'S a screener interview by RGM. Then they submit the mix.
[00:07:38] Speaker A: It's a gut check, right? It's always a gut check on that first screen.
[00:07:41] Speaker B: The technical ability of that mix and how well they followed directions and could check our boxes.
[00:07:46] Speaker A: That's when the process really starts, right?
[00:07:47] Speaker B: There's. There's either a, hey, sorry, you need a little bit more work. And you kind of enter our system as an event staff. Or you know what? This was good. We're going to move you on now. It moves into a detailed interview process. The next step from there is they shadow an event with either us, Brian or Tom, where they are kind of immersed in how EMG does events. From there, they will be given the opportunity to jump on in a low stakes, 1015 minutes dance set with the training wheels of our executive team kind of standing right next to them. If all of that goes well, they have to go through our training process. Whether they've been a DJ for 20 years, it doesn't matter. We put them right back at the bottom of the barrel and they have to train up from there. Let's assume it's a super fast track dj that just has it. There's still a six to twelve month period where they are working on our events as an assistant. When we meet with you, we say that the assistant to the event host is fully trained on how to run a party. They likely are, but they are not yet at the. We're going to give you the reins to be a host. Throughout this process. They're being paired with many members of the EMG team all across the company. Bands, djs, and they're learning our process and our system and how we do things right from there, there is a slow, gradual release of responsibility before they are ever put out onto their first event. And behind the scenes, they're learning our planning process and how to meet with clients and how to talk to clients so that you fully get the EMG experience right.
[00:09:16] Speaker A: There's a lot of oversight, a lot of supervision. Our leadership team is constantly checking in. We're constantly getting feedback, not only from them, but we're also providing them feedback. It is a very meticulous process, because if it's not one of us doing it, it needs to feel like it's one of the owners doing an event.
[00:09:34] Speaker C: Right.
[00:09:34] Speaker B: Because we're promising you what is important to us, and everybody needs to carry.
[00:09:38] Speaker A: That out to bring this to summation about the djs and also the musicians, too, you are investing in elegant music group. You're not investing in Mike Sawpole or Mike Carleo.
[00:09:51] Speaker B: Can I riff off of that?
[00:09:52] Speaker A: Yeah, riff off of it.
[00:09:53] Speaker B: Let me go back to company X that says, oh, they're not even telling you who their DJ is. That's shady. Well, if company X is showing you that DJ Joe Smith is available, what happens if Joe Smith is sick a year and a half from now? Now, that's not something that we are immune from. Right? That could happen, but we have the processes in place to provide you with another wonderfully skilled DJ that went through the same process as yours. So what might be assuading your anxieties at time of the short term? At the short term can quickly be debunked. You don't really know the DJ. You were kind of assuaded by a slick piece of content. Somebody could still get sick. These are all things that could happen here as well. But we feel a much deeper, further expanded upon process that can solve for those things more robustly.
[00:10:45] Speaker A: And our event design team is specifically trained to take that information in and connect you with the right experience for your day. We do not feel that a DJ can also design an event.
[00:10:58] Speaker C: Right.
[00:10:58] Speaker A: It just happens to be that we're also musicians and that used to happen like that. But we train our event design team to meet with our couples specifically, because they are the best people to talk to. When you are working with an elegant.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: Music group employee, can you speak briefly about musicians?
[00:11:14] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:11:14] Speaker A: So the musicians is a very similar process.
And so what we do is we get about, I would say, five to seven audition tapes a day. We are a place where people want to come work because we pay our people very well and we, on the back end, provide them the resources to do their events and do their job properly with no questions asked. That is not the same of other companies that do the same thing in.
[00:11:42] Speaker B: The world of being a musician, correct?
[00:11:44] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. So they come in, it starts with either Mike or I looking at these videos to see if they can get to the starting line.
[00:11:52] Speaker C: Right.
[00:11:53] Speaker A: They have to meet a certain criteria that we have, and then we move them to our interview process. Sorry. Before they get to the interview process, they have to do a same instructional audition tape. Audition tape with three particular tunes for what they're looking to do at elegant music group. Then I review those, or Mike reviews them and say, hey, they're good to go. To move to the interview process. They then meet with our talent relations team, and they get interviewed for the gut check and making sure that they can follow directions, they can show up on time. All these little things that we're looking.
[00:12:24] Speaker B: For, checking the boxes, checking all the boxes.
[00:12:27] Speaker A: After the interview process is done, it is then sent back to Mike or I to then give the final approval. So it's a very, very important process that we take because, again, ceremonies, cocktail hours, receptions, all are high stakes.
[00:12:40] Speaker B: So you're on our website and you see a great guitar player, and you say, is that going to be the. I have to know who it is. Is that going to be the guitar player? Here's my counter to that. We are the people that hired that guitar player in that video. We also hire all of our other guitar players, too.
Why would we totally change up our process and kind of hoodwink you? Everyone is up to that standard. It would be impossible for us to get all of our musicians on video. There's just too many of them, but they all run through the same process. So if you love the people that you see in our materials, you're going to love pretty much anybody that we put on an event for you.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: Right. As the experts, you're investing in paying us to make sure that we're providing the expertise not only on your end, but also on our end, to be able to provide that product for you.
[00:13:28] Speaker C: Right.
[00:13:29] Speaker A: So I'm a musician of over 20 years. Mike is a musician of over 20 years. We have other people that have degrees and have worked all over the world with amazing artists and have the pedigree to be able to say this person is the right fit for EMG. On both the DJ side and also the musician side, we recognize that there's.
[00:13:47] Speaker B: A fear of the unknown. I feel that way when I bring my car to the mechanic. It's a world that I don't have expertise in. Correct. And so the unknown for you, I think, sorry. The sense of I see who the person is lulls you into a false sense of security and speaks to your anxiety. What we would challenge you to do is trust the process, trust our infrastructure. And that is really the important piece when we look at trusting in us to select the right dj or the right musician for your event.
[00:14:18] Speaker A: I'm not even going to answer. That was phenomenal.
[00:14:20] Speaker C: It was great.
[00:14:21] Speaker B: Thanks. And we'll chat with you soon. Take care. Bye.
You can find
[email protected] or on Instagram.
[00:14:29] Speaker C: At elegant music group.
