In Part 1, I wrote a bit about the practices and strategies of the “mainstream club.” That mainly consisted of information, rather than speculation and a strategy of change. That debate could go on until trumpets sound and kingdom come, yes?

And I’m not exactly going to start discussing that now. To change the industry — a business that has had its successful trends wrought in figurative stone, by now — will take enormous work. That work has to start somewhere, so what I’m going to talk about is how to get “in” those types of clubs, where music is secondary to other, more prurient interests.

When I mean “in,” I’m not talking about getting a couple of hours to play in the main room on a Saturday night. That path is simpler: Hang out at the club, get to know the bartenders and security, and ask them to hand the owner/promoter your demo CD.

By “in,” I mean a more organizational role, where you have a greater control over the music and mood of the night. Now, I don’t know of any way to walk up to a successful club owner and get him to change his fantastically successful Friday night parties into an alcohol-free club worship experience. I don’t doubt the power of the Holy Spirit, but most of our own experiences won’t be that easy.

Clubs are there for profit. It follows that the most fruitful and opportunistic area to look at are where you, the DJ/promoter, can bring in a new type of music or experience and make the club money.

There are two specific situations to look for: The empty room, and the empty night.

The Empty Room

The “empty room” is something that a lot of ambitious club owners have. They’ve renovated, rebuilt, whatever, and their main room is doing fine, but the former-storage room or new second level is basically empty. Most clubs that have multiple rooms simply don’t put them to good use. In the U.S., the hip-hop/top 40 room will do great, but what about the other rooms?

Much of the time, they stick some slightly obscure brand of hip-hop in there. Maybe it’s reggaeton, salsa, underground rap, or old-school. Maybe the owner has put a house DJ in there, and the Mariah Carey remixes bang all night long. Maybe it’s even an underground house DJ, but he plays for 8 hours each night and doesn’t promote, so there are only small trickles of people, making faces as they walk in the room. “What is this stuff? Who listens to this?”

Maybe the room is even closed, because the owner doesn’t want to pay for the staff to keep six people dancing in the room.

This is a major way to get into the club owner’s ear. It’s wasted space, essentially. He or she just might be willing to give that room a new blend of music on a trial basis.

If this is the case, remember, you will be playing with and against the music in the main room. Most people who come to that club will not be there to hear what you are going to play. In any case, the owner isn’t really interested in splitting the crowd; he or she wants more people.

This is where the grunt work comes in. Remember how most mainstream clubs have low cover charges? This gives you your advantage against other underground events. Advertising heavily in your local community can work wonders. Clubs are easier to plan trips to than map-points or hidden raves, and the “casual” fans of the music you spin might be more inclined to show up at an established location for $5.

It’s worth noting that certain genres will be easier to pull off than others, in this regard. Setting up the gabber room next to the G-Unit room isn’t likely to be a success, but asking to spin melodic trance in the room next to where Avenged Sevenfold is playing isn’t going to cut it either. A little common sense in pitching a genre for an empty room can go a long way.

The Empty Night

This tends to happen at less successful clubs, but even fiscally booming establishments have this problem: Some night in the week is dead. It’s probably a weekday, say a Tuesday or Wednesday, and nobody shows up, not even to sit and drink. If it is that bad, then the club might not even be open.

This allows for the most dramatic change in a club’s focus. If nothing is working, the club owner might try anything.

A lot of what was said in the previous section applies here as well. The owner is not looking to split an audience, so driving out the 50 people that show up in the 1000-capacity club is not going to fly if you can only attract 30 regular attendees for your electronica night.

But here’s the good news: If you can generate more revenue for the night, you’ll have more influence on other things. Sure, it’s a Tuesday, and nobody really comes out, but 100 people are now in the club listening to your music. On a Tuesday. Suddenly, the owner is more receptive to this genre.

And if you’re doing something really risky, like a club worship night, feel free to totally sell out the people who are going to show up. I’ve mentioned how clubs make their money: booze sales. Even charging $20 at the door isn’t going to make up for that, and the club owner knows it. A little mention, dropped into the initial pitch somewhere, about how raves typically charge $3 a bottle of water and $4 for a can of Coke, and watch the eyes. You’ll see gumdrops and happiness dancing there. It stings to make people pay that much, and maybe it’s a sin in itself, but hey. I believe the ministry is more important, and stadium-esque pricing for drinks is almost expected nowadays. Simply showing the club owner that you know what keeps his club profitable makes you appear more business-savvy than most.

So…

This mysterious entity, the “mainstream club,” is still going to be a challenge and will almost certainly never disappear. Not in this world, anyway. As long as you know what it is and how the game is played, you are immediately ahead of the average DJ and the average clubgoer. Even if you never play at one, you can model your ideal ministry over everything the mainstream club isn’t.

And with the Holy Spirit, who knows what we can do with any club?