While many American DJs have hopes of becoming travel deejays someday, existing travel bans will not allow them to make such aspirations come true soon. Due to the current state of the COVID-19 crisis in the U.S. American travelers are barred from entering other countries, particularly the members of European Union (EU) bloc.
Sad to say that the most that an aspiring travel deejay can achieve is to travel virtually, by getting hired at international Zoom parties and virtual nightclubs.
The EU Commission announced last June, 2020 that in order to speed up the recovery of member countries’ economies, they are opening their borders but only welcoming those coming low-risk countries. Currently, there are only 15 countries that have been recognized as low-risk in terms of international travel, namely: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Germany, Morocco, Thailand, Algeria,Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Rwanda, Serbia. Tunisia and Uruguay. EU officials commit to reviewing and updating the list every fortnight.
The EU also drew up a list of high risk countries for having the highest average number of new cases per day for every 100,000 people living in the country. The U.S. tops the list, followed by Brazil, Russia and India, which denotes that travelers from these countries will not be allowed to enter the territories of EU member nations.
Nonetheless, those who will be traveling for essential purposes such as diplomats, health care professionals, and seasonal agricultural workers and study purposes if coming from third-world countries, will be allowed entry.
Apparently, even if EU countries reach a point in which the holding of festivals and concerts will be deemed safe, American deejays can only join virtually or via streaming, if ever they do get invited.
Virtual Clubbing and Partying are the New Norms
Inasmuch as nightclubs and bars are trying to find ways to promote their clubs and at the least, keep their liquor-selling business thriving, many are offering streamed dance music played live by in-house deejays in their nightclubs. The idea is to encourage Zoom parties to use their drink delivery services, while having a real-life DJ as host.
On the other hand, others opt to hold a virtual Zoom party on a budget by booking a professional deejay on their own. These virtual gigs are keeping many deejays busy nowadays, making sure their playlist mix and their performance as virtual party host will receive raves and positive feedback. After all, once word of mouth recommendations go around, a disc jockey will be able to book virtual party gigs not only in the U.S. but even in other countries.
Important Tips When Preparing to Host a Virtual Party
In contributing this guest travel post, we at Team 9 also remind Zoom party DJs to always check their equipment, particularly their turntable. Being the basic device used for scratching and mixing when deejaying, turntables are prone to faster wear and tear. In case you will be needing and looking for a replacement, use the search words [phrase incl. wide range of DJ turntables] in order to get the most useful and relevant info.
As expert musicians ourselves, keep in mind that dance music choices are not completely universal, because people in other countries may have a different taste when it comes to danceable beats.
If looking to get booked internationally, don’t limit playlist samples in your website, to what American audience have in mind. Do some research about party scenes in different countries and the type of music generally preferred by party goers. Better yet, get into forums and find out from experienced travel deejays what partying is like in this and that country, as well as what kind of dance music ticks.