I Don't Know the Name. It Goes Dun Dun Dun.

If you do not know the name, do not hum it. Send the DJ something they can open. A link, a lyric, or a short clip they can identify beats "it goes dun dun dun" every time, because dun dun dun is most of dance music.

People do this with good intentions. They remember a feeling, a chorus, the bit where the room went off at someone else's wedding. By the time they are at your booth, or in your inbox, the title has gone and the kick drum is all that is left. A DJ cannot file a kick drum. They can file a URL.

Why the hum does not narrow it down

A DJ's job is choosing recorded music for the room, then playing it in an order that makes sense. That job already includes a lot of songs with a four on the floor pulse. Describing the pulse is like describing a car as "it has wheels". True, and useless at the parts counter.

"It goes dun dun dun" also arrives at the worst moment. The DJ has headphones on, a track in, and a room that is either about to dance or about to sit down. A humming contest in that gap helps neither of you. You will be slightly flat. They will nod, because nodding is faster than a forensic investigation, and the song will not get played.

This is one of a small set of lines that sound like requests and work like riddles. The rest of the set, including "play it next" and "something we can dance to", is in things said to DJs that should require a licence.

Send something they can open

You need one of these. Any one will do.

• A link. Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, a file. If the DJ can press play on it in another tab, they can find it. Paste the link in the email. Do not say "it's on my playlist" and forget to share the playlist.
• A lyric they can search. One line, spelled as well as you can. Search engines are better at a misheard chorus than a DJ is at a rhythm you tapped on the table.
• A sample. Hold the phone near the original, not near yourself singing. Apps such as Shazam identify a recording from a short sample. A voice note of you going dun dun dun will not.

Add the artist if you know it, and the version if it matters. A radio edit, a remix and a ten minute club version are not the same request. If the first dance is a specific cut, say so. "The one from the film" is a start. "This link, from 0:42" is a booking.

Say when it has to happen

A title without a time is still half a request. First dance, parent dance, cake, last song, after dinner, not during speeches: those are instructions. "At some point" means the DJ will try, and the song may land when half the room is at the bar.

This is where the shape of the night matters. A wedding is not one long climb. Drinks, dinner, the first dance and the party are different jobs, which is the point of separating a wedding DJ from a club DJ. A song that would kill in the last hour can clear the floor at 7pm. Tell the DJ which hour you mean.

If you are the guest, not the person booking, the same rule applies in miniature. Catch the DJ between tracks, give them the link, and say "whenever it fits" if you do not mind the slot. "Next" is a different request, and it is often already too late.

Must play, please don't, and if it fits

A list of forty songs plus "read the room" is two briefs fighting. Split the list into three piles before you send it.

• Must play. A short list. The first dance. The song your dad will actually get up for. If everything is must play, nothing is.
• Please don't. One or two real noes. A genre the speeches cannot survive. A song that will upset someone in the room. Say it plainly.
• If it fits. Everything else. This is the pile a good DJ wants, because it shows taste without freezing the night.

Then stop adding. A DJ who has to honour a spreadsheet cannot follow the floor. The floor is the rest of the job.

Hear how they play a night like yours

If one song matters this much, the rest of the set matters more. A perfect first dance followed by an hour of the wrong room is still a miss. Listen to a mix from a night with your kind of crowd before you enquire. That is a better test than a paragraph that says they play a bit of everything.

A mix tells you more than a testimonial because you can hear the judgement: what they leave in, how long they stay with a lane, whether the night sounds like yours. DeckGigs puts that first. Hear before you hire. You get a starting rate and approved mixes on the profile. Hours and free dates show up when the DJ has added them, so do not treat a missing line as a promise either way.

Wedding requests are the ones that punish a vague brief hardest, because the first dance cannot be "dun dun dun" on the night. If that is what you are booking, start with wedding DJs, play a mix, and send the link with the time it has to happen. The song has a name. It is your job to find it before the DJ has to.

Quick answers

How do I request a song if I don't know the name?

Send a link, a lyric line you can search, or identify it with an app from a short sample. A rhythm on its own matches too much music to be useful.

When should I give a DJ my song requests?

Before the night, with a note on when each one matters. First dance, after dinner and please not during speeches are useful. At some point is not.

Will a DJ play every song I send?

Not if the list fights the room. Split it into must play, please avoid, and play if it fits. Then leave the DJ enough space to read the floor.