Guides
Hardware live sets as programming differentiator
Every underground lineup in NYC looks the same: eight DJs playing CDJs for an hour each. The programming blurs together....
Tag
dj-booking
Scene
There are a million highly skilled bedroom DJs who will never see the light of day
There are a million highly skilled bedroom DJs who will never see the light of day. Not because they lack...
BTS
We cut a DJ’s set after 15 minutes
Fifteen minutes into a set, the decision was already made. The DJ was playing YouTube-ripped tracks through a sound system...
Scene
Meritocracy vs identity lineups
The question that splits the NYC underground in half: should DJ lineups reflect the demographics of the scene, or should...
BTS
The ego-first flyer principle
The single highest-leverage flyer design principle at SLIST is not about typography, layout, or color. It is about ego. Specifically:...
BTS
The 10% show rate disaster that changed everything
I gave out 200 guest list tickets. Twenty people showed up. A 10% show rate. Two hundred invitations sent into...
BTS
Teaching kids to DJ: the tutoring business that trained a promoter
Before SLIST existed, before Mexico City, before the first rave, the business was teaching. Middle school and high school kids,...
Guides
What headliner DJs actually cost
DJ fees are the most opaque part of event budgets. Every promoter guesses, every DJ inflates, and nobody publishes actual...
Guides
How to book DJs when you have no reputation
Nobody wants to play for a promoter with zero events, zero followers, and zero budget. This is the cold start...
BTS
The commission-based DJ pay model
The standard model in nightlife promotion is simple: you pay DJs a flat fee, they show up, they play, they...