Any Nadj Officials On Here?

Following recent appointments to the NADJ Committee and also following my becoming re-involved with some local DJs I have been toying with the idea of joining NADJ again and having another stab at forming either a local NADJ branch or alternatively a regional group similar to SEDA. So far I have about 40 interested DJs and reckon that others would typically follow once all the leg work has been done for them.

A couple of things that I am not sure about NADJ are:- the possibility of them making Pro Dub a condition of membership and how this might be enforced; the recent confusion regarding member numbers and the cost of the NADJ insurance policy.

I’m wondering what anyone else on here thinks about all this and if anyone…maybe Dan or someone else from the committee can provide any answers.

The main concern of mine is Pro Dub, as we all know it is a contentious issue and often misunderstood. I personally have a licence but lots of my friends don’t have one and they don’t actually need one either. I noticed that the NADJ Acting Secretary is also the NADJ Spokesperson on the Martin Lewis Money Expert public forum and on there he stated that NADJ might be introducing a membership requirement of Pro Dub soon. So…how could an organisation be sure that their members need one or not and how would they enforce this. An example would be that a DJ applies to join and says he plays everything from legal CDs. Does the organisation believe them or do they pay a membership official travel, subsistence etc. to go and check them out. DJs that I have recently spoken to…both NADJ members and non-members alike mostly express concern about this issue.

As for membership numbers…does anyone actually know the true figure? I have seen people that are supposedly in the know posting on forums to the effect that membership is in the region of 500 and also that membership is in the region of 400, however, from the NADJ site it would appear that it is closer to 300.

Finally I wonder what NADJ intend to do about insurance, if I am right it currently costs something like £130 to join and buy insurance and as we all know there are less expensive insurance options out there and if we are honest and compare policies they all have their good and bad points and are pretty much of a muchness. My concern is that if NADJ don’t come up with a more cost effective insurance option for the members and also if they continue to allow their members to publicise inaccurate information and also if they introduce Pro Dub as a condition of membership then member’s loyalties will be really tested. I was surprised to see topics on other larger forums which have DJs that I always thought were loyal NADJ members expressing concerns and doubts about the organisation. It is a shame as I would very much like to see NADJ turn itself round and become a serious voice for our industry.

Oh my...here's another thing. Just been reading the NADJ Spokesperson saying that the average fee for a NADJ member per job is £450...lol. Could have f**ked me backwards with a rusty bardge pole when I read that one

If all NADJ members were getting that as an average fee, then why isnt every Mobile DJ in the country a member, and why arent we all millionaires??????? WALOB!!!!!

Well yes I agree; fair enough there are some DJs charging that especially in London and the home counties but the true average is prob more like half of that. I know of a fair few NADJ members that do get a resonably high rate for the job but I also know several that are going out for £150-£180...I know of one for a fact that travels about 90 miles each way to work for £140.

Its not so much the actual price that bothers me because I just used that as an example...there are numerous examples that I could have used. Its the fact that its a NADJ Spokesperson who just appears to open his mouth and bullsh1t falls out.

Wayne; you know lots of the DJs in this area and you know they aint stupid. There's no way I want to start something off and be left looking a tw4tt.

Personally, I have my Produb and would like to all Djs who need it having it. I'm not sure it would work for NADJ making it mandatory for members to prove they have it (as stated by the acting secretary on the money saving expert thread) as it would be impossible to police and very easy for anyone to say 'I don't need it because I only work from CDs'. Must admit I'd not heard about this from anywhere else so find it quite odd that a major change to the membership rules should be announced on a non DJ forum before members are notified of the prospective change.

You just need to look back at all the posts on various forums to see what NADJ Committee have said about Pro Dub in the past, there has also been lots said by NADJ members and non-members alike, it is obvious that this issue is a hot potato and won't be well received.

I can understand the need for PAT and PLI because not having either of those could result in serious problems for clients and client safety but Pro Dub is a different kettle of fish.

£450!!! Sounds a fanstastic deal - sign up with NADJ and get that on average per gig
Totally with you on this Andy.
Far too many factors in play to give a meaningful "average price".

I totally disagree with the ProDub licence, and the terms you agree to if you do sign up to the licence;


Nice work... License Working Party
By NOT signing up to ProDub, they would need a warrant to inspect a DJ's equipment.

They should focus on DJ's/Fitness instructions/Dance Teachers using illegal downloaded/copied music first. Most serious DJ's will have a good collection of legally purchased music that is directly benefiting the music industry.

By making ProDub a barrier of entry, NADJ will either get DJ's lying to signup (which I assume is not an attractive profile of a member), or simply not bother.

The post made by Mark Davis under the user name of NADJ on the Martin Lewis forum was made without authority and I am assured that NADJ are not going to insist on Pro Dub as being a condition of membership. Apparently the official stance is that members should have all the necessary that they are required to have so if that includes Pro Dub then they are expected to have it.

I am comfortable with the above...likewise on WDJA we expect our members to have whatever they should have an leave it up to a matter of trust.

I'm not sure that I agree with you on the LWP though...maybe you know more than me, I have nothing to back it up but it has always been my feeling that the LWP were basically paid lip service and played. If you recall about a year ago Pro Dub tried to recrute DJs to enforce the licence and basically grass on their fellow DJs...that says it all for me about the Alliance really.

If I am to be perfectly honest I only bought a licence because a local DJ sent out mail shots which hit at least 2 of my venues. the mail shots were full of rubbish about Pro Dub but basically they did cause lots of confusion and fear amongst local venue owners and managers so I decided to buy one rather than push my luck. Poetic justice really that the 2 managers that I spoke with both said no way would they ever employ the DJ that sent the mail shot as he was a stirrer.

With you on all the above Andy.

I was having a dig at the LWP, and strongly feel the ProDub does nothing to benefit the music industry or DJ's.

The cost of setting this up, and the revenue from DJ's (as I doubt the other services - fitness instructors etc are contributing much), can't really gain them much, when factoring all the admin, marketing and meetings needed to get it off the ground.
Money would have been better spent enforcing piracy by some DJ's.

In my day job, music copying is ripe, colleagues can't understand why I pay £14/month for ProDisc, and top-up as required, so perhaps £20-£30/month on music depending on the type of gigs I have.

When I started out, I had a fairly good selection of music from my personal collection, but still had to get lots of Now CD's for ebay (Now23-Now78 for £150 - all originals if I remember!), then fill in obvious gaps and get a few classic CD's.
It cost a fortune, and only in the last 6 months can I say I have a pretty good collection.
As this is really the only barrier of entry (lets face it, some equipment can be very cheap!), its a shame the piracy is being sidelined for persecuting otherwise legitimate DJ's who are supporting most artists.


If the ProDub does become a requirement of venues, then I'll also need to look at using CD's exclusively (if the cases will fit in the car!) or stumping up their fee.

In all fairness....produb has affected how I purchase new material. I bought my produb to cover all my CDs that I'd put on my lappy. Since then I haven't bought a solitary CD. Instead I purchase the individual tracks I need from legal mp3 sites. So in real terms....I'm actually spending far less on music than I ever did!

eg. An average CD £12.00 . I probably would need two or three tracks off it......so if you take one of the sites I use thats 3x 79p = £2.37 for the downloads. So thats £9.63 I'm saving and the music industry isn't getting on each CD that I would have bought pre produb. If you multiply that several times over the year....that makes...mmm...quite a lot!

I only ever really used to download if I needed a particular hard to get 'first dance' or some special request but now if I am asked and in the rare case that I haven't got it I tend to ask the client to bring it along, I have the CD pool discs twice monthly and the Now CDs when they arrive and more recently I have been buying the proper DVDs so I don't really need a licence now.

Jason...Every DJ should have at least a couple of Slappas its surprising what you would fit in your car then.

I follow a similar view to Andy I only ever use CD all original, if I don't have a specific track I ask them to bring it, and stipulate it must be original. I'll cater for any legal media CD, tape, MD, or even Vinyl.

I carry over 12,000 tracks currently in 3 Leitz Vaultz CD cases, Space wise about the same space needed as a 100 capacity 12" case. Every track is catalogued on a PDF list on the backberry, and a papercopy in a small folder.

I buy the NOW comps as they come out, and subscribe to CD Pool radio, and hits, and suplement this with DMC CC discs, or Mastermix White or black and Grandmasters when deemed useful. I find this usually is sufficent topped up with the odd album or compelation disc.

I only ever use Itunes for my personal use such as on the mobile phone or in car MP3 but that's it. So I don't currently consider worth subscribing to Pro dub.

If a B&G bring me a special track on a CDR I play it for them. I think for the sake of 1 track its not worth upsetting them and I doubt anyone would be prosicuted for it. However, I must admit I don't know the law fully on this, but I thought if the B&G owned the original and the venue had PRS it would be ok...guess now that even a B&G should have a Pro Dub just for reformatting their 'first dance'.

The reason I don't mind them bringing me a CDR is that if I forget to return it its not as if I have pinched their original which would then have a lot of sentimental value as it was used at their Wedding etc.

Andy valid point it's not often I don't have the tracks requested, I always ensure they get their discs back, in the last 18 months only seen 1 CDR, although the quality of the recording was not that good hate to think where it came from, took ages for the players to read, and this was with brand new Denon players.

I don't do this anymore but in the past I have given the B&G a CDR with their 'first dance' and maybe some other special requests on it, I used to put it in a wallet with a card and give it to them as a keepsake.

My B&G from last Saturday gave me a CDR which the Best Man had recorded, it started off with I Will Always Love You and then a loud scratching followed by Pencil Full of Led...bet the authorities would have a field day with that one