How the music gets chosen
Before the event, your guests answer an eleven question music questionnaire on their phones, which takes about two minutes. Their answers are drafted into a set list, I curate it, and you approve it before the night. On the night I play it live and read the room, and your must-play and do-not-play lists override everything else.
Built from your guests' answers
The usual way a DJ builds a set is to ask for ten songs and guess the rest. Here the raw material comes from the room. Every guest who wants to gets a link, answers eleven questions about what they want to hear, what they would rather not, what languages they speak and a few songs by name, and that is it. Two minutes, on a phone, done.
A hundred guests answering produces a picture of the room that no conversation with the host can: the table that will get up for cumbia, the table waiting for the one Russian song, the twenty people who will lose their minds at a 2009 track nobody else has heard of. The draft set starts from that picture.
Your lists override everything
Before any of that, you give me two lists. Must-play: the songs that have to happen, and the moments they belong to. Do-not-play: the songs that must not, for any reason. The must-plays go into the set where you want them. The do-not-plays are absolute. They are not played, they are not played as a request, and they are not played because a table is chanting for one. Nothing your guests answer changes either list.
What your guests will get
A link, from you, whenever you choose to send it: with the RSVPs, in the group chat, the week before. It opens in a browser. No app, no password. Guests confirm an email address once, so each person answers once and the answers are theirs. Eleven questions, about two minutes. The answers are used to build your set and are deleted after the event.
It is optional. Some guests will not bother, and that is fine. The more who do, the better the draft.
The approved list is a plan, not a script
The obvious worry: a set list agreed in advance means a DJ who cannot read the room. The list is the plan, and it is a good plan because it came from the room. The night is still played live. If the floor is full and the plan says slow down, the floor wins. If a song that looked right on paper clears the floor, it comes off and the next one goes on. What does not change on the night is your rules.
What you approve is the shape and the material: this for the entrance, this block through dinner, these are the ones the room asked for, this closes. You read it, you change what you want, you sign off. Then the DJ does the DJing.
What a set list looks like
Sample, names removed, in the shape a typical reception takes. The note after each song says where it came from.
Doors and dinner
- Sade, Smooth Operator (guests' answers)
- Nina Simone, Feeling Good (guests' answers)
- Natalia Lafourcade, Hasta la Raiz (guests' answers, Spanish speakers at three tables)
Opening the floor
- Whitney Houston, I Wanna Dance with Somebody (couple, must-play)
- Ruki Vverh, Kroshka Moya (guests' answers, top answer from the Russian speakers)
- Bruno Mars, Uptown Funk (guests' answers)
Peak
- Bad Bunny, Titi Me Pregunto (guests' answers)
- Badshah, Kar Gayi Chull (guests' answers, one side of the family)
- Leningrad, Exponat (guests' answers)
- ABBA, Dancing Queen (guests' answers, five separate tables)
Last hour
- Journey, Don't Stop Believin' (removed, do-not-play list)
- Etta James, At Last (couple, last dance)
From booking to the night
Quote and hold.
Get a quote for your date. A signed agreement and a deposit hold it.
The planning conversation.
Timeline, the moments, your two lists, the song if you want it, and the venue's sound policy and music-off time.
The guest link goes out.
From you, whenever you choose. With the RSVPs is a natural time.
The set list comes to you.
Drafted from the answers, curated, with time to change it before the night.
The run sheet.
Written by me and handed to your coordinator or host, carrying the music-off time, whether that is the venue's rule or the city's.
The night.
Played live.
What does the drafting
The first draft of the set is generated by an AI from the questionnaire answers and your two lists. That is the extent of it. It turns a few hundred answers into a first cut in the order a room usually moves, faster than I could by hand and without losing anyone's answer. I curate the draft, you approve it, and I play the night live. It does not choose your first dance, it does not touch your lists, and it is not in the room.
A song made for the occasion
Every booking includes one, and most hosts take the custom edit: the songs that belong to the night, cut into a single piece for the entrance or the moment that matters. A full original track is the other option. It is opt in and it starts with a conversation.
You hear it and approve it before the night, it plays at the moment you choose or not at all, and the file is yours to keep. It takes lead time, so it is arranged when you book.
Questions
How is the music chosen?
Your guests answer an eleven question music questionnaire on their phones, which takes about two minutes. I draft the set from their answers, curate it, and send it to you to approve before the night. On the night I play it live and read the room. The whole process is on the how it works page.
Who actually picks the music?
Your guests supply the raw material, I do the curating, and you have the final say. Your must-play and do-not-play lists override everything else. What gets played is a set I built and you approved, played live.
We have songs we need to hear and songs we never want to hear. How does that work?
You give me both lists in the planning conversation. The must-play list goes into the set at the moments you choose. The do-not-play list is absolute: not played, not played as a request, and not played because the floor asks for it.
Do our guests have to answer the questionnaire?
No. It is optional, takes about two minutes, and needs no app or account. Guests confirm an email address once so each person answers once, and the answers are deleted after the event. The more people answer, the better the draft, but a set gets built either way.
Do you MC?
Yes. Announcements, introductions, handing the mic to the people giving toasts, and keeping the timeline with your coordinator or host. Short, clear, and then out of the way.
How far in advance should we book?
As soon as you have a date. Saturday dates go first. If your date is close, ask anyway; the form takes a minute and the answer is either a quote or a straight no.
Get a quote for your date
Send the date and the occasion. I reply with availability and a quote.