Pennsylvania DJ Insurance – PA – cost and types of policies
This is the ultimate guide for existing or start-up DJs in Pennsylvania – (PA) that contains everything you will need to know about DJ insurance for your business.
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We will also explain some of the different steps you should take to turn your dream of making money from DJing into a reality.
So you’ve selected to become a DJ in Pennsylvania.
Maybe you came to this decision after you listened to someone talk about a great DJ they saw last night, or you saw the DJ at the favorite club in Pennsylvania, and now you really want to give it a go.
But, the question is – do you really know how to turn a dream into a real business?
If you were starting up thirty years ago, all you would have wanted was a few turntables and a basic mixer.
But DJing in Pennsylvania has changed since then. You may still choose to use a turntable, but in a completely different way.
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In addition to turntables, DJs in Pennsylvania now want CD players, multichannel controllers and digital software.
This means you need dedicated equipment like effects units, drum machines, and other hardware.
Your up-front investment in the gear may be heavy, but have you also given any attention to what will happen if the gear is stolen?
For this possibility, you should seriously be thinking about taking out the right insurance.
What kind of DJ are you?
The answer to this question will resolve what kind of, and how much, insurance you need.
In the entertainment world in PA, many of the dives employ full-time disk jockeys.
If you get such a job, you will have a fixed workplace, like a nightclub or dance hall, where you are the feature.
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Often, having a famous DJ at a club is what is drawing in it’s customers, so you are very valuable to them.
In Pennsylvania, there is also a lot of requirement for mobile DJs who move their services to temporary premises for a single or short-term engagement.
It is vital to remember that whether you are a club DJ or mobile DJ, you are running your DJ services as a business, and need to carry all of the sorts of mobile DJinsurance we talk about below.
DJing is a perpetual learning curve and you must still be learning new tricks like audience interaction, leading you on to better things.
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Once you have good DJ skills, try issuing your own genre of music. As soon as people in Pennsylvania get to know you for your music you can show off your work and you’ll end up getting gigs.
Become better at crowd interaction so that you are as a stage performer who gets the people to enjoy watching you put on a show.
It is all about vitality. People in Pennsylvania go out to see their favorite DJ’s because of what they are doing, not because of their gear.
What does a mobile DJ do?
A mobile DJ in Pennsylvania is maybe called a house party DJ, because mostly the venues are private parties.
Whatever, you need to choose the right gear, because mobility and easy storage are essential.
Instead of individual components like turntables, mixers, records, CDs and all the other gear that a club DJ has stored safely in his room, a mobile DJ has to move it onsite, and back to base, for every gig.
Most mobile DJs in Pennsylvania select a slightly more expensive option which is an all-in-one DJ system that operates off a laptop computer.
Such a system is a new component that makes sense for house party DJ’s because it means you’ll have less equipment to carry.
You may pay a little more but you could save big in the end. There’s less equipment to get damaged, so your insurance can cover you when someone spills their drink on your workbench!
What does a mobile DJ need?
The old fashioned route in Pennsylvania said you needed only a pair of turntables with a mixer, plus speakers. Nowadays, you maybe want to keep the traditional feel but get yourself some modern CD players or CD decks.
If you prefer to mix tracks directly from your laptop or computer using this traditional set-up, try fuzing tracks directly from your laptop or your iPhone using an all-in-one DJ controller.
Alternatively you decide to go purely digital, because records are very expensive source and you won’t need to be lugging around heavy bags to your gigs.
If you are comfortable, you can try mixing digitally on your tablet using commercial software. You could become a top-notch DJ today after you download the correct program to your laptop!
There are even softwares available for free that could get you mixing right away!
While you already have a computer, this is the cheapest way to become a DJ in PA especially for mobile DJs that need to travel a lot and can’t take hardware with them.
How do you get DJ gigs?
Most of the established DJs in Pennsylvania begin by making some mixtapes and give them to friends and club owners.
The mixes are also heard by others on Facebook and elsewhere online. Get feedback, because it’s important and will let you decide if you’re ready for professional work.
Managers in Pennsylvania will usually ask you to preview before they risk letting you play live. Be ready for this by having your stuff at its best.
Use Twitter to upload mixes, do live DJ shows, post photos of your gigs, and promote yourself all around Pennsylvania.
Have you considered trying out as Pennsylvania radio DJ, or digital radio is another route.
You will keep the option to mix and present from home even in the form of a podcast that people can download and listen to whenever suits them.
It’s a powerful way of getting your name in front of the public, and so building a following. You could promote this over a Facebook page, a YouTube channel, or a website.
What kind of insurance does a DJ need in Pennsylvania?
Every business in Pennsylvania carries risks of unexpected things, and so needs several fundamental kinds of insurance, to protect you in case something unexpected happens while you are working.
The most essential kinds of basic DJ business insurance in Pennsylvania are:
General liability insurance / Public liability insurance
Public liability insurance for DJs is necessary if some accident causes injury to a person, or damage to their property, while they are in the place where you are working, you could(may be sued for damages and pennsylvania court can judge that you are liable.
For DJs, some of the most common examples are trips and falls because you have many cables as well as containers in the venue where the event is happening, and people are dancing all around the floor.
If anyone before, during or after an event of which you are the DJ has such a fall, they may claim that your cables or boxes were placed carelessly, and sue for the damage or injury.
You could be held responsible for the consequences and you be forced have to cough-up large amounts.
One worry for mobile DJs in Pennsylvania is the chance of fires caused by hot lighting positioned around the venue. It could fall or start a fire if something inflammable comes into contact.
Also there is the problem of improper electrical wiring starting a fire.
DJ General liability insurance in Pennsylvania can cover your for all these potential claims. Normally, small DJs take around $1 million insurance in mobile DJ public liability insurance for a single claim, and $2 million for the full year.
Professional Liability insurance / Error & Omission insurance for DJs in pennsylvania
Consider where you are hired as the DJ for a dance night for a big employer, and an accident stops you from showing up, or your mixer malfunctions and the whole event has to be cancelled.
In this event the customer could claim the expected revenue from the event, as well as damages for loss of reputation and other such losses.
When a court decides against you, you will have to fund the money from your own bank.
Equipment insurance
Pennsylvania disk jockey’s most essential asset is the equipment is the highly specialized gear for music selection, speakers, lights, cameras and a whole basket of other paraphernalia that can cost tens of thousands of dollars, DJ equipment insurance in Pennsylvania is vital.
It becomes a big liability if you are renting or hiring the equipment, and so you must insure it against the likely risks, such as theft, malicious damage, fire, water damage etc.
Your Pennsylvania DJ business could freeze without the right equipment, so you are not only losing the value of the assets, but also future profit\cash flow.
Commercial Vehicle insurance
Most mobile DJs in Pennsylvania need to take their work gear to where it is needed, like function halls, sports clubs and other venues.
Suppose it fits into your private car, it’s vital to know that in Pennsylvania your private vehicle insurance will not cover the DJ equipment in the event of an accident, fire, theft or any other loss.
At least you need to add commercial cover to private vehicle insurance, but you are much more covered when you take out a commercial vehicle insurance policy in Pennsylvania so that you are fully insured in case of a claim.
Can DJs get temporary insurance if they are not working full-time?
Several insurance companies in Pennsylvania have begun to sell special kinds of DJ event insurance cover where a DJ can nominate a specific period when he or she wants to cover, when they are not working full-time.
You will reduce DJ insurance in PA cost by having lower premiums while still having the same risk cover.
You take out the cover for a specific period, like a day, or for a month starting on the nominated date.
If you are a casual mobile DJ who works in pennsylvania on bar mitzvahs in homes, then you will have a schedule of bookings, so you can take out the cover for those dates only with temporary DJ insurance or DJ insurance for one day or DJ liability insurance monthly basis.
You must take out all of the same kinds of professional liability insurance to protect yourself from the possible claims.
The great effect for you is that you don’t finish wasting money paying yearly premiums covering times when you are not needing full-time DJ equipment insurance cover.