West Virginia DJ Insurance – WV – cost and types of policies
This is the ultimate guide for existing or start-up DJs in West Virginia – (WV) that contains everything you will need to know about DJ insurance for your business.
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We will also explain many of the different steps you should take to turn your dream of making money from DJing into a reality.
So you’ve chosen to become a DJ in West Virginia.
Maybe you came to this decision after you listened to someone talk about a great DJ they saw last night, or you watched the DJ at the favorite club in West Virginia, 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 twenty years ago, all you would have needed was a set of turntables and a basic mixer.
But DJing in West Virginia has changed since then. You may still choose to use a turntable, but in a whole different way.
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On top of turntables, DJs in West Virginia now want CD players, multichannel controllers and digital software.
This means you need special equipment like effects units, drum machines, and other hardware.
Your starting investment in the gear may be heavy, but have you also given any thought to what will happen if the gear is lost?
For this possibility, you should seriously be thinking about taking out adequate 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 WV, many of the spots 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 well known DJ at a club is what is drawing in it’s customers, so you are very valuable to them.
In West Virginia, there is also a lot of requirement for mobile DJs who move their services to temporary premises for a single or short-term performance.
It is important 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 an endless 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 mixing your own genre of music. As soon as people in West Virginia get to know you for your music you can show off your work and you’ll end up getting gigs.
Master crowd interaction so that you are seen as a stage performer who gets the audience to enjoy watching you put on a show.
It is all about personality. People in West Virginia 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 West Virginia is sometimes 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 key factors.
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 West Virginia select a slightly more expensive option which is an all-in-one DJ system that operates off a portable 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 slight amount more but you could save big in the end. There’s less gear 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 West Virginia said you needed only some turntables with a mixer, plus speakers. Currently, you maybe want to keep the traditional feel but get yourself some current CD players or CD decks.
If you decide to mix tracks directly from your laptop or computer using this traditional set-up, try mixing tracks directly from your laptop or your iPhone using an all-in-one DJ controller.
Or else you want 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 competent, you can try mixing digitally on your tablet using commercial software. You could become a top-notch DJ today after you download the right program to your laptop!
There are even programs available for free that could get you mixing today!
Assuming you already have a laptop, this is the cheapest way to become a DJ in WV especially for mobile DJs that must travel a lot and can’t take hardware with them.
How do you get DJ gigs?
Most of the popular DJs in West Virginia begin by making some mixtapes and hand them out to friends and club owners.
The mixes my be heard by others on Reddit and elsewhere online. Request feedback, because it’s important and will let you decide if you’re ready for professional work.
Managers in West Virginia will usually ask you to audition before they risk letting you play live. Be ready for this by preparing your stuff at its best.
Use Facebook to upload mixes, do live DJ shows, post photos of your gigs, and promote yourself all around West Virginia.
Have you tries trying out as West Virginia 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 West Virginia?
Every business in West Virginia carries risks of unexpected things, and so needs several basic kinds of insurance, to protect you in case something unexpected happens while you are working.
The most important kinds of basic DJ business insurance in West Virginia are:
General liability insurance / Public liability insurance
Public liability insurance for DJs is required if some accident causes injury to a person, or damage to their property, while they are in the place where you are working, you will be sued for damages and west virginia court can decide that you are liable.
For DJs, some of the most frequent 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 moving all around the floor.
If some person before, during or after an event of which you are the DJ has such a fall, they may claim that your wires or speakers 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 possibility for mobile DJs in West Virginia is the possibility of fires caused by hot lighting positioned around the venue. It could fall or start a fire if something inflammable comes into contact.
The same goes since there is the instance of improper electrical grounding starting a fire.
DJ General liability insurance in West Virginia 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 west virginia
Think about where you are engaged as the DJ for a dance night for a big employer, and an accident stops you from showing up, or your gear malfunctions and the whole event has to be cancelled.
Now the customer could sue for 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 pay out the money from your own bank.
Equipment insurance
West Virginia disk jockey’s most essential asset is the apparatus 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 West Virginia is vital.
It becomes a big liability if you are renting or hiring the equipment, and so you must insure it against the possible risks, such as theft, malicious damage, fire, water damage etc.
Your West Virginia DJ business could halt 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 West Virginia must take their work gear to where it is needed, like function halls, sports clubs and other venues.
Even if it fits into your private car, it’s important to know that in West Virginia your regular 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 West Virginia so that you are fully protected in case of a claim.
Can DJs get temporary insurance if they are not working full-time?
Many insurance companies in West Virginia 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, in case they are not working full-time.
You will save DJ insurance in WV 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 specified date.
If you are a casual start-up DJ who works in west virginia on birthdays 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 sorts of general liability insurance to protect yourself from the possible claims.
The positive effect for you is that you don’t finish wasting money paying annual premiums covering times when you are not looking for full-time DJ equipment insurance cover.