If you have decided that you want some kind of entertainment at your function there are a myriad choices available, if you want music, and specifically music you and most of your guests will dance to, then the choices are limited to four:

1) A square dance/line dance/barn dance caller

2) An iPod (or other player) and hired (or in-house) sound-system

3) A band, be it traditional or contemporary

4) A DJ

A square-dance/line-dance caller:
This is an audience participation performance that may only run for part of the evening and therefore may need to be run in conjunction with something else. Some callers also offer a DJ/disco as part of their service or are themselves part of band. It’s very much a matter of taste as to whether you feel sufficient of your guests would enjoy this type of entertainment to make it worthwhile for all or part of the night. If the caller doesn’t offer any kind of follow-on or complementary entertainment then you may be in for a short night or the additional expense to get a band, DJ, or a system into which to plug an iPod, etc.

If you are looking at booking The Music Man in the UK I can work in conjunction with Ultimate Country Show to provide a full-service disco and barn-dance, country show or Western-themed evening – cost additional to my stated Packages.

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An iPod/Lap-Top/CD-player/Jukebox:
Whilst there are variations in what you can and can’t do with each of these playback devices the main pros and cons are the same. All in, any of these options is usually cheaper than anything that involves hiring a person or people to provide the entertainment, that said the apparent ‘pro’ of price needs to be considered against the ‘cons’…

Jukebox: The only one that readily allows your guests to have some input into what is being played which can make for a good diverse set of songs, but it only needs one person to commandeer the jukebox to make that apparent ‘pro’ a major ‘con’ (pun only vaguely intended). No matter how careful you are in your CD/song selection for what is to be loaded onto the jukebox you can’t be sure that someone won’t come along and select every song by one artist to play all in a row. And what will happen if the person you have put in charge of the jukebox overrides that person and resets the jukebox? How many people (whose songs were to follow) will be inconvenienced by this? Jukeboxes can be great fun, but they can also start fights.

CD-Players, lap-tops, and iPods: Depending on where they are situated, these stop people from interfering with what’s playing, but by that very fact may not cater to everyone’s tastes. If they are accessible they have similar issues to jukeboxes. CD-players and to a lesser extent lap-tops and iPods are limited to what you have available to play. In the case of CD-players, can you find five CDs that you own where you’d want every song played at your function? That’s assuming you own all the songs you want played.

Lap-Tops and iPods: give the most flexibility with regard to number of songs, play lists and so on, but again, limit input from your guests – even if you go to the trouble of printing off a list of available songs. Your choices, really, are shuffle/random or pre-organised play list(s).

Random order/shuffle: has its own particular problems – maybe you’d get a favourite dance number then, just as you were getting into it, you’d have to slow right down for a lovely ballad, then you’d have to change gear again for an up-tempo rock number... you get the idea. The right songs in the right order with smooth transitions and continuity are an important part of an enjoyable experience – having to change gear for every song is actually very tiring and means your guests probably won’t last as long.

Play lists: might sound great when you’re putting them together (after all they’ll be songs that you like) but the songs and the order might not work on the night – some songs are better played at certain times during the night, some songs that sound good when you’re sat in front of the computer don’t sound anywhere near as good on the night with friends and family around.

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A band (traditional or contemporary):
Bands are usually the most expensive of the available options for a dance. But there is nothing like having two or three or more people on stage actually performing – as it gives people something to look at as well as dance to. Apart from price the biggest draw-back with bands is available repertoire. Bands are only likely to know a few hundred songs - they can conceivably learn a couple more for a big event. If you know the band well and like their repertoire this is of course less of an issue.

Bands will necessarily put their own spin on the songs that they do perform, from minor differences like the (mis)interpretation of lyrics to total re-workings of the original. Bear in mind, also, that bands have breaks – a 45-50 minute set followed by a 10-15 minute break would be quite common.

If you are looking at booking The Music Man in NZ I can work in conjunction with either Tongue & Groove (Auckland’s favourite functions band) or Catch 22 (2002 Cover’s band of the year) to provide a full-service disco and band performance – cost additional to my stated Packages.

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A Disc Jockey:
DJs can offer an effective mid-point between all of the other options both in terms of price, available repertoire, audience participation, and performance.

Price: DJs are usually more expensive than a jukebox or sound system (for an iPod or lap-top), but less expensive than a band (though sometimes with similar amounts of gear to set-up).

Repertoire: DJs can have the same songs as your iPod (especially if you supply some of the songs), but also have a repertoire of songs that they find tend to work for their audiences in the same way a band does.

Audience Participation: DJs can play well-known action songs for audience participation, some DJs even engage the audience and lead the dance, though not for the entirety of their set, as dance-callers tend to do.

Performance: Some DJs include a certain amount of showmanship in what they do – even just dancing along to the music they are playing and enjoying themselves can sometimes be fun for people to watch. Most importantly though, an often overlooked aspect of a DJ’s performance is the sequencing of the songs – this means that over the course of the evening everyone gets a chance to dance, and a chance to rest and talk. Everyone will hear several songs that they really like in different styles and at different tempos. Where a bands performance can be broken into the individual song (and there will often be a short break between songs) a DJ’s performance is the whole night, which songs are played, and when.

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*Prices given are a rough guide (if you are on a tight budget you should definitely shop around):
• Very Low – up to $400 / £150
• Low - $400-$800 / £150-£300
• Mid - $800-$1600 / £300-£600
• High - $1600-$2400 / £600-£900
• Very High – over $2400 / £900

There are some DJs who offer their services at less than $400 / £150, and some of them may even be quite good, but given the expense involved in what they should be supplying it is definitely a risk hiring a low-cost DJ – you should at least ask whether they have a day job (allowing them to charge less as it is not their main income), the size of their music archive, and their experience.

If you are still unsure as to what option will best suit you please Contact Me - I’m not in the business of getting you to hire me at all costs, if a band or an iPod is a better option for you and your guests I will say so.

For a full explanation of the service that The Music Man provides and the Packages and pricing please click on the appropriate links, or go to Booking Form.

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