Most DJs don’t lose a gig because of bad skills. They lose the night to bad prep. The track that won’t load, the request you can’t find, the set that runs out of steam at midnight.
Friday is when working DJs fix that. Here’s a routine you can run in about 90 minutes, and it gets faster every week.
1. Pull in the new music (20 minutes)
Start with what dropped this week. Check your record pool for new releases, grab what fits your rooms, and skip the rest. You’re not trying to download everything. You’re trying to find the 10-15 tracks that will actually get played this weekend.
A good rule: if you can’t picture the exact moment you’d play it, don’t download it.
2. Sort before you file (10 minutes)
Don’t let new tracks pile into one giant “New” folder. Tag them as you go: genre, energy, and where they’d fit in a set (opener, peak, closer, transition). Future you will thank you at 11pm when you need something specific fast.
3. Set your cue points (25 minutes)
This is the step most people skip, and the one that shows up on the floor. For every new track, mark:
- The first beat you’d mix in on
- The last clean spot to mix out
- Any drop, breakdown, or vocal you might want to jump to
Ten minutes of cueing at home beats fumbling with a jog wheel in front of a crowd.
4. Build a playlist per gig (20 minutes)
Make one playlist for each gig, not one for the weekend. A Friday bar crowd and a Saturday wedding need different music. Fill each with more than you’ll need, about 1.5x your set length, so you have options when the room does something unexpected.
Then add a short “safety” playlist of tracks that work almost anywhere. That’s your reset button.
5. Clean your crates (10 minutes)
Every Friday, remove a few tracks that never get played. A lean library is a fast library, and a few minutes a week keeps it that way.
6. Test your setup (10 minutes)
Load your gig playlist and play the first 30 seconds of a handful of tracks. Check that files open, cues are there, and nothing is corrupted. Then back up your library to a second drive or USB. Do this every week, not just after something breaks.
7. Pack the bag
Cables, adapters, backup USB, headphones, laptop charger. Lay it out and check it off. Nobody ever regretted bringing a spare cable.
Make it a habit
The point isn’t to follow this exactly. It’s to have a routine at all. Once it’s automatic, Friday prep stops feeling like work and starts feeling like the first part of the gig.
