16 Tips on How to Start DJing on a Budget

16 Tips on How to Start DJing on a Budget

If you’re on tight budget or currently have no money and want to start DJing, this article is for you.

The good news is that DJing doesn’t have to be an expensive hobby or profession to start learning from scratch these days. The technology that’s around us has amazingly improved and reduced in cost, from DJ controllers to music.

Here a some of the best tips for becoming a DJ on a budget.

  1. Start DJing on Free DJ Apps & Software
  2. Buy second hand DJ equipment online
  3. Start DJing on a budget DJ controller
  4. Borrow a friends DJ setup & equipment
  5. Search for DJ equipment in charity shops
  6. Get DJ equipment on finance
  7. Grab a Black Friday & Cyber Monday bargain
  8. Save up over time and buy DJ equipment
  9. Search on Soundcloud and websites for FREE music
  10. Sign up to Competitions for WINNING Free DJ Equipment
  11. Join Facebook groups dedicated to DJ equipment & music
  12. Borrow money and start DJ gigs to pay back the money
  13. Start working as a Radio DJ (get access to DJ equipment)
  14. Rent a DJ Studio (as a group) to practice DJing e.g. PIRATE.COM
  15. Join a local / school community club (maybe DJ equipment there to use)
  16. Sign-up and download music from a record pool

Start DJing on Free DJ Apps & Software

FREE DJ Apps can be a great way to get to grips with the very basic concept of moving and mixing from one music track to another.

A few that spring to mind include:

All free APPs too, which makes it light on your wallet, plus you don’t need to buy any hardware, as in DJ equipment.

Low investment opportunity and great for those people interested to find out what a glimmer of what DJing looks like.

Some great features of these apps are is that you can use the DJ software on a tablet or laptop and linked with DJ equipment too. This is great news if you like the DJ software you’re working with e.g. in this instance djay by algoriddim.

edjing MIX is great because the developers of this app allow you to connect your music streaming subscription services to quickly access music you love. It’s a great feature, even better if you already pay for a music subscription service. And of course if you’ve already bought music, it’s possible to access it from iCloud, Google Drive or Dropbox.

Buy second hand DJ equipment online

AMAZON

Some people may not know that Amazon offer not just NEW products, but USED also. Some are ex-demo and some used, which makes it lighter on your budget if you’re aiming to DJ with a fairly decent DJ controller for example.

For example, RELOOP BUDDY DJ CONTROLLER, retails for £199 you can get a GOOD USED one for £150.

Deals Websites

If you based in the UK then here’s a fairly good website showcasing DEALS on DJ equipment, such as Refurbished DJ Controllers. https://uk.bestdeals.today/dj-controller-refurbished

Used DJ Equipment Websites

A great example of this is Reverb.com selling listings of DJ equipment at discounted rates, such as DJ Controllers.

You might find that shops and retailers sell ex-demo equipment at discount rates to save you some money and also second-hand used equipment is offered by DJs wanting to get rid of their old DJ controllers for example.

Start DJing on a budget DJ controller

I’ve written a great article here to give you way more detail on budget controllers.

Either way starting to DJ on a budget controller can be a bit more exciting that using your smartphone with a bit of DJ software loaded onto it. Lets face it, at the end of the day you’ll end up using some sort of physical DJ equipment to DJ on anyway.

Here’s one of my favourite budget DJ controllers to get you started.

Hercules Starlight BUY HERE

Hercules DJ DJControl Starlight DJ Controller

Borrow a friends DJ setup & equipment

There’s a chance that one of your direct friends or an indirect friend may have DJ equipment. My advice would be to get more acquainted with these people and see if they’ll let you join them for a DJ session at the house or wherever the DJ setup is.

Eventually you might be able to borrow their DJ equipment for a weekend. And even better for longer if they have a backup DJ controller or a secondary DJ controller for example.

Tip: DJing back-to-back with another DJ that’s better than you is a fantastic way to learn quickly and improve.

Search for DJ equipment in charity shops

Charity shops are an absolute gold mine for random things, and I’d put money on that one day you’ll come across a hell of a lot of DJ equipment. WHY you may ask? Well, here me out.

Considering the rate in which new DJ controllers have been released and there being a wider sweeping range of DJ controllers, CDJs, all-in-one DJ Controllers and turntables, this creates a mindset of UPGRADING DJ equipment.

Say if someone bought into a super budget DJ controller of Hercules Starlight, there’s a big chance that if that person then loves DJing, then will want to upgrade.

Therefore people may give away their DJ equipment to charities or at least sell second hand online.

It’s worth keeping your eye out in charity shops, if not now, then certainly soon.

Get DJ equipment on finance

Some online retailers of DJ equipment offer interest free finance.

So if you have a fair stable job and income for the next 12 months, why not consider putting a mixer or pair of XDJs on finance.

You’ll jump to the club DJ level equipment from the get go and invest for the longer term.

The learning curve may be steeper, but if you know that you want to be a working DJ, here’s a good starting point and investment opportunity.

Grab a Black Friday & Cyber Monday bargain

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are becoming more like week or two week longer sale periods now. Which is different from the previous “Friday” day sales.

Clearly retailers and online shops want to make more money and you DJs out there on a budget can capitalise on these deals and offers. The only downside is that you’ll have to wait a bit of time for these offers to spring up. In the meantime, try save up some money in anticipation.

Save up over time and buy DJ equipment

On that point, if you’re not in a rush and don’t feel comfortable jumping into finance deals, just simply work your ass off and save up the money each month towards a DJ controller, speakers and DJ headphones for example.

Say for example your ideal setup costs around $400, simply divide that by say 6 months ($66.66 per month) and then you’ll know how much you need to save up, and in 6 months you’ll be able to buy your dream DJ setup.

Search on Soundcloud and websites for FREE music

We’ve talked a lot about getting DJ equipment, but music costs money too. In fact record pools are quite good value for money in comparison to building up a collection at $99 per music track on Amazon or Beatport for example.

Search online for FREE music, this is even cheaper than these first two options.

Soundcloud has a massive database of new and upcoming artists that produce remixes, bootlegs and original music they’re promoting an therefore make their music FREE to download.

There are other websites out there that let you download free music too such as blogs that make genr lists of FREE music links e.g. to Soundcloud or Bandcamp.

Sign up to Competitions for WINNING Free DJ Equipment

There are some blogs, course providers, YouTubers and retailers that from time to time offer competitions for you to sign up to.

Of course you need to fill in your email address or offer some personal details to enter usually. But you’ve got to be in it to win it.

My advice would be to check out and follow YouTubers, social media and DJ info websites to keep an eye out for these opportunities. Signing up to email newsletters is an easy way to get updates of competitions too.

Join Facebook groups dedicated to DJ equipment & music

Facebook groups are incredibly helpful for connecting with other DJs and usually people that are in these FB groups share information. What’s great is that you can ask questions and get feedback on deals that people have found on DJ equipment.

An added benefit is that you can ask these DJs interacting in Facebook groups whether or not the DJ equipment is any good.

Feedback or advice is always a great way to not waste your money on poor DJ equipment or lack of features for example.

Borrow money and start DJ gigs to pay back the money

If you’re in the know of a friend or family member that may be able to lend you some money, why not ask politely and see if it’s possible to borrow money to invest in an upgrade to your DJ gear.

If your plan is to become a mobile DJ or wedding DJ, this will certainly give you the leverage and confidence to the person lending you money that you’ll get a return on the money as quickly as possible, potentially at least compared to working a normal job.

Start working as a Radio DJ (get access to DJ equipment)

You don’t always need to buy music or DJ equipment, there are radio stations out there I’m sure that you can get on their roster and start DJing using their equipment.

You of been lucky to learn DJing somewhere, at an in person DJ class or friends house. Put together a DEMO of your DJ mixes, e.g. record on DJ software and upload to Mixcloud. Share a link of you DJ mixes with Radio shows and maybe you’ll get the opportunity to DJ on their DJ equipment.

I know when I started DJing on radio, I’d had minimal experience on CDJs at the time, so it was a great opportunity to get stuck into CDJs and build more experience this way.

Rent a DJ Studio (as a group) to practice DJing e.g. PIRATE.COM

PIRATE.COM is a great company who offer music studios around the world with amazing DJ setups. Rent by the hour and get learning or mixing on their equipment. In the short term it’s a lot cheaper than buying equipment up front.

My advice would be to split a DJ studio session with some mates and hopefully you’ll all get better at DJing together, plus it’s a lot of fun and social DJing together.

Join a local / school community club (maybe DJ equipment there to use)

Some schools or local community centres have DJ equipment setup and allow gatherings to learn how to DJ. My school had a setup of DJ record vinyl turntables and a mixer, I remember walking past the community centre at lunchtime thinking I really want to join those guys blarring out Drum & Bass and Garage music.

Again, this is another method of learning how to DJ with little to no money.

Sign-up and download music from a record pool

Record pools are monthly subscription based. Meaning you can cancel anytime and all you need to do is pay for one month at a time PLUS you can download as much music as you can (on most record pools I’ve come across anyway).

Some noteworthy / tried and tested record pool websites I like include…

BPM Supreme

DJCITY

Note: some record pools have limited types of music and databases, but some claim they do constantly add new music.

Dan Dracott

I'm Dan Dracott from Beatmatch Guru. I love DJing and have done since I was 15 years old. I want to share my knowledge and love of DJing to help you guys get better at DJing.

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