Hot girls are a DJ’s best friend. Whether they realize it or not, attractive females are the reason why parties get moving. They are the apex of an upside-down pyramid. Once they start dancing, the rest of the night falls in to place. Let’s take a look at the basics of this phenomenon and how it applies to a nightclub:

Phase 1: Beginning of the night

At the beginning of the evening, people are starting to arrive to the party. At best, they will be having a few drinks and socializing a bit but they haven’t built up the confidence to enter the empty dance floor.

Phase 2: Hot girls hear “that radio song” and must dance

This is why we love hot girls. They are confident, out going, and predictable. Because of their confidence, hot girls tend to be the first on the dance floor. If you are able to keep them dancing, the rest will fall in to place.

Phase 3: Less attractive girls get competitive

Now we will let the natural competitive nature of the female species come in to play. Whether they realize it or not, the sudden urge to become a sexy bitch is beginning to over power their social anxiety. Many girls will feel a sense of “they’re dancing so we can to” and make their way on to the dance floor.

Phase 3: Where did all the chicks go?

Let’s face it; guys aren’t the most intelligent creatures around. At this point they are probably feeling a decent buzz and are beginning to notice the distinct lack of women at the party. As they begin to regroup and ask themselves what happened to all of the pretty ladies, the alpha-males will have already made their way out on to the dance floor. Although they may just be stumbling around the party confused, do not underestimate the importance of the average male at the party. Not only do they consume the most alcohol and thus drive revenue, but they also serve the important role of space-filler. Without space-fillers packing the venue, the party will seem much less exciting and exclusive.

Phase 4: Enter the douchebags

By now the alcohol has been flowing for quite some time. Most of the guys who lacked the confidence to dance with the ladies have now had enough jager-bombs to get out on the dance floor. Unfortunately, there are still the lingerers who will begin to cause problems. Fed up of talking about “which broads they will totally bring home tonight” these fellows will begin to resort to another means of asserting their manliness: starting fights.

Unfortunately, this chain of events is almost guaranteed to occur. If we are able to understand this phenomenon and catch the douches early, the party may be able to enter the elusive phase 5.

Phase 5: Holy Grail

Parties rarely make it in to phase 5. The drama caused by douchebaggery usually prevents us from obtaining this Holy Grail. In phase 5, everybody is having fun, there is no drama and the DJ seems to be reading the crowd’s mind. A group dynamic is created and everybody feeds off each other’s energy. Nights like these are rare, but when you are there, you will know.

Some people seem to get it, and others don’t. In an industry where word-of-mouth will either make you or break you, it’s surprising that some club owners just don’t seem to care about the overall experience their customers have at the club. In order to build a following of loyal customers you have to make sure that they feel welcome in your club, that they are the reason that you are open and that this night is theirs.

Doing so starts with communication and coordination among your entire staff. Employees must all have a common objective and feel as if they are part of a team. If you are able to create a team dynamic and build friendships among your staff, they will be happy to come to work and will be better able to handle situations that arise in your bar.

Let’s face it, when alcohol is involved, people can be downright rude and ignorant. But, if your staff is friendly and coordinated, they will be better able to handle these situations in a professional manner. Your staff must know that the happier their customers are, the better off they will be. Bartenders and servers get more tips, DJs get to play to a packed house and security gets the power to allow whomever they want in to the hottest club in town. All this can be had if your team works for a common objective.

When owners do not create this team dynamic and staff members feel like they are just earning a paycheck, employees will do the bare minimum that they are required to do. In an industry where customers are usually intoxicated and emotional this is not healthy. All it takes is one mishandled customer to start spreading negative word-of-mouth for your business. If that person tells 10 friends that he or she had a terrible time at your nightclub and they tell five of their friends, you already have 50 people talking negatively about your club. Now consider what can happen if you have 10 or 20 unhappy people leaving your club. Although you may seem to be currently successful, in the long run, you may be doing significant damage to your business.

The Impact of File Sharing

A study was conducted recently by Birgitte Andersen and Marion Frenz from the University of London on the impact of music downloads and Peer 2 Peer file sharing on the purchase of music in Canada.  Statistics were gathered about our file sharing habits, how much music we download online for free and how much we actually pay for.

What is interesting about the study is the results it found. Among Canadians who participate in P2P file sharing, they were able to find “a strong positive relationship between P2P file-sharing and CD purchasing… we estimate the effect of one additional P2P download per month is to increase music purchasing by 0.44 CDs per year” (Birgitte Andersen)

Modern Day Record Collectors

At first these results may seem counter-intuitive. Why would your tendency to purchase music increase with your tendency to download it illegally? If we really think about it, a potential answer arises. Having access to unlimited amounts of free music on the Internet can turn the average consumer in to a modern day record collector. Traditionally, trying out new music was a risky venture. You had to pay for an entire physical copy of an album and hope that more than just one or two songs were good. This was a significant risk that many people didn’t want to, or couldn’t afford to take. The average consumer would just stick with what they heard on the radio or with what they saw on television. Rarely were they able to explore music and find a style that they truly loved.  Once you remove the financial risk involved with exploring new music and make it easy to find, share and discuss with other music lovers you give people the ability to become more than just passive music listeners.

The very act of searching for and discovering new music that you love increases your appreciation and respect for the artists who made it in the first place. By turning consumers loose on the Internet and allowing them to become true fans of music we are actually creating loyal customers who will spend the money to purchase the albums that they know that they will truly enjoy. By making this illegal, the music industry would be destroying a generation of modern record collectors who would have turned out to be their most loyal and outspoken customers. If the music industry is smart, they will allow online file sharing to continue unobstructed, but monitored, as it is a direct representation of the music that people are actually demanding. Using this data, the music industry can tailor its future efforts to better suit the needs of its customers and hopefully end the legacy of album filler and make every song a hit.