What about DJ agencies with ZERO black DJs on their rosters or Black DJs who only serve to add diversity to the photo album page on the website and basically show audiences they’re not racist but meanwhile don’t fight to get their clients bookings.

*takes a deep breathe*

So this conversation shouldn’t really ruffle many feathers per se because there’s no gigs happening at the moment.

But let’s look at the infrastructure which allows DJs to get gigs in the first place

So the majority of DJs across all disciplines of music would take their bookings directly in the beginning.

You would negotiate your fee with the promoter via the email in your social media bio or a phone number on your mix cd (if you’re old like me)

When you went to broaden your horizons artistically and start to gig in places further afield. Chances are your going to need a BOOKING AGENT which is different from a MANAGER.

Traditionally a Booking Agent would help either get your new gigs/bookings/sets or administrate the ones coming in. This part is quite controversial as breaking off a percentage of your booking fee for administration you could possibly do yourself is entirely up to you

To broaden those horizons serves many purposes. Not only does it allow you over a period of time to increase your FEE (the rate a DJ charges per set, or per hour) based on esteem of playing larger capacity gigs from bigger brands in different geographical territories.

It means that your overall brand image as a DJ is enhanced.

You get to do that thing on the flyer where you put “international” before your name on the flyer!

Lol you might laugh but it means a lot at the time to young Black DJs some have never been on a plane before.

Now the thing I want to talk about is the ALGORITHM.

That word has been knocking around a lot in 2020. Whether it’s related to Spotify or the predicted A-Levels and GCSE grades fiasco.

But an algorithm is DESIGNED!!

At Booking Agencies Black acts who had music catalogue, radio residencies, domestic club residencies could still either NOT get signed to these agencies or worse yet were signed and not found work.

When you allow for the fact that there have been club closures since 2008 and yet a boom in festivals saw many DJs find work in other parts of the live gig economy. STILL the amount of Black DJs playing out was shockingly low and the BLACK FEMALE DJs the numbers were even worse.

The algorithm which determined what Black DJs would warrant getting a place with a reputable agency was as confusing as the algorithm used by OFQUAL

Again ask some Black DJs if they’re regularly working. Ask them if they are asked to attend festivals.

Many of the lists we’ve seen over the years on @residentadvisor, @DJmag, @Mixmag over the years were heavily influenced by the amount of gigs, more specifically international ones, if Black DJs weren’t playing there how the hell could we ever make these lists?

Larger promotional brands/clubs would go en masse to specific booking agencies at the time like Coda or Elastic Artists and negotiate artists for their lineups.

Hardly ever direct. Unless the DJ was outside of an agency and had a specific buzz why he would need to be booked

All well and good companies nodding their head like the Churchill dog in agreement to the plight of Black musicians but not fully comprehending the severity of their compliance to the problem.

The culture of Black DJs not appearing at festivals just became an expectation.

The space between Carl Cox and everyone else Black is absolutely huge.

In reality the ability of Carl should have spurned more investment from the industry in the area of finding new Black DJ talent from the UK and especially Black Women DJs who are shockingly underrepresented.

There’s been an algorithm in place for years. It’s unfair. The effects have been seen on a broader scale with the exam fiascos as this time it didn’t discriminate against colour.

Black DJs for some reason were never seen to be good enough for the larger gigs.

I’ve always worked in spaces with incredibly talented Black underground DJs, who have little to no exposure.

Black DJs will always get hammered in the PR stakes.

Which is part of why I’m doing the #BlackoutMixmag content with @Mixmag

Already some old ways have been dismantled based on the conversations I’ve started online. So yes. Tweeting followed up by action is affective.

But before the features land we can begin to start thinking about not just the publishing side of music. But also LIVE.

Black DJs and Black Female DJs need to be heavily invested in.

I’m amplifying SOME, but shockingly many Black women are discouraged because there’s no such thing as a Black Female version of what Carl Cox has achieved and we’re in 2020.

That is not good enough.

There’s some incredible white booking agents in work within an equally incredible racist algorithm which didn’t allow many of us Black DJs to show our potential.

No shows. Black DJs look for other means to enhance their visibility and profile.

Along comes BoilerRoom!

I won’t touch @boilerroomtv again personally because they will never disclose the fact that the grassroots DJs they ask to play and don’t compensate monetarily receive the same treatment as the larger acts they accommodate on the platform.

They profiteer from the fact that the lower the working class of the group playing on @boilerroomtv it then works for the DJ more than it works for Boilerroom so they don’t have to pay.

“It’s a good look!”

The exploitation is so crazy that even with their Redbull affiliation, travel expenses could have at least been satisfied. But again this is why certain things need to be said otherwise the measures these companies operate on don’t even remotely reimburse the communities affected