If no one danced to the music you played at an event, did you fail as a DJ?

The answer to that question depends in large part on the sort of event you played. If you’re playing at a park or in an art gallery, or in any forum where your music is meant to be the background to other activities, then you won’t expect to see any dancing, and any you do see is likely to seem out of place. But what if you are DJ’ing a wedding, or a company party, or any of the typical party events that DJs often end up playing, and few, or no, guests are dancing? What if you’re DJ’ing in a night club, and no one is dancing? Does that automatically equate to a failure on your part?

Not necessarily.

I’ve been DJ’ing long enough to learn that not everyone goes out to wedding, party, or even a club, to dance. Especially at family gatherings you will find that some, often most, of the guests are there to catch up with relatives and friends. They are they to mingle, eat, chat, and generally socialize, and dancing isn’t on their radar. They may well appreciate the music as a nice background element to the party, but they aren’t going to venture onto the dance floor.

There are always some guests like the ones I just described, and at times, that description applies to most of the guests. Some groups just aren’t dancers. That said, how do you know if people aren’t dancing because they don’t want to, or if they aren’t dancing because you’re playing the wrong music?

There’s an easy answer to that question. They’ll let you know.

If there are people ready and willing to dance, but they don’t like the music, they’re going to come up to you and make requests. They’re going to tell you what they want to hear. So if you have an empty dance floor and a long line of people making requests, you need to make a change in the music you’re playing. On the flip side, if no one is dancing, but guests are for the most part ignoring you, that means they are content with what they’re doing. Unless you’ve been specifically instructed by the person hiring you to get them dancing no matter what, you’re better off letting them continue to enjoy the party in whatever way they want to enjoy it.