How to Plan Music for a Corporate Event in Austin

Most of the music problem on a corporate event is not the playlist. It is the timeline, the room, and who is allowed to be loud. Austin does not change that. It does change the calendar, because a few weeks a year are already full before a normal company party is.

Decide the job before you pick songs

Write down which of these the night actually is.

• People have to hear speeches, an award, or a video, and the music is between those.
• People are supposed to dance after the program.
• The music is the program, which is a brand activation or a reveal, not a dinner.

Those are different hires even when they are the same DJ. A dinner that turns into a dance set needs a handoff. A booth at a conference needs a volume cap and a short memory, because the demo next door is still talking.

What to send in the first email

Date, venue, city, guest count, indoor or outdoor, load-in window if you know it, and the name of the person who owns the run of show. Say whether you need walk-up music, a named hit for a reveal, or a dance block with a start time. If the venue gave you a sound limit, paste the number and whether it is dBA or dBC. Those are not the same reading. The longer note on that is the dBA vs dBC post.

You do not need a locked playlist to get a quote.

Austin, specifically

Jordan is based in Austin, so a downtown or Domain date has no flight on it. Site visits are possible before load-in when the venue allows them.

Three weeks book earlier than the rest of the year: Formula 1 at Circuit of The Americas, SXSW, and ACL weekend. If your party sits on one of those, say so in the first note. The F1 and SXSW page, the SXSW page, and the ACL page are the ones to read before you assume a festival logo means an official stage. They do not.

A brand activation is a different brief from a holiday party. Footprint, demo schedule, and the sound rule matter more than a two-hour dinner set. That page is here.

Solo, or live guitar

Solo is one booth. It fits a hotel ballroom, a tighter stage, and music under a program. Mixmode is Jordan on DJ with Kristian Cruz on live electric guitar. It reads as a live act, which is what some rooms want when the entertainment has to be watched, and it needs a bit more stage and one more input. If you do not know which one, say that. The quote can show both.

Production

If the hotel already has a system that can cover the room and a microphone for the CEO, the quote is performance and advance. If the room is a raw venue, a tent, or a lawn, sound and lighting have to be brought in and priced as their own line. Do not assume a Hill Country room has the same PA as a downtown ballroom.

Pricing is quoted per date; send the date and venue for a quote. A quote can cover a party block, a short program set, and Mixmode versus solo.

The booking page for this work is corporate events. The form is on contact. Not Sure Yet is a real budget choice if you do not have a number yet.