Unfortunately the job of a DJ is one that everybody thinks that they can do - after all how hard can it be, you pick some tracks that you like and you bung them on.....no problem.

Actually, playing music to a packed dance floor is a hugely nerve racking and brave thing to do. Press the wrong button and there is total silence and a dance floor full of dancers cut off in mid flow looking in my direction. Keeping them on the floor is all about playing 'danceable' track after track after track. I spend countless hours each week searching for good 'danceable' tracks and building playlists so as to ensure the right balance, spread, beats per minute and timing for the evening. If I didn't invest the time and effort, it would soon show in my performance which would be reflected in an empty dance floor.

I am perhaps more aware than most that you can't please all of the people all of the time, if one person comes up and asks for something more modern the next person up will probably ask for something by Dean Martin. With such a wide track choice I simply have to aim for 90% and be happy with it. At the end of the day dancers vote with their feet and if the dance floor is full then there can't be much wrong with the music.

One of the greatest potential problems for me or any DJ for that matter is the dreaded request. Whilst on the surface the principle of someone asking for a track and the DJ playing it seems easy, it often doesn't work out quite to be that straight forward. There tends to be two major problems.

• The requester has no idea of the title or the artist but they like the tune, think it's 'danceable' and therefore is quite happy to try and sing it to you.
• The requester not only knows the artist and the title but has also brought a copy of it with them. These quite literally strike fear into even the most experienced DJ, for many such tracks have the capacity to empty the floor.

So why do some DJ's play rubbish I hear you ask. The fact is that it doesn't matter what the DJ likes - it's what the dancers like that counts and if it's popular with them, then love it or hate it, the DJ should play it. No matter how much a DJ loves a track, if it clears the floor then it shouldn't get played - period. Those of you who know me know that I'll regularly try new tracks out. If I played nothing but the same, safe tracks, time and time again it would soon get pretty dull so I get a real kick out of discovering a really great new track.

I'm happy to be judged on the tracks I play and happily, most of the time I get it right. I know this because you tell me. So next time you are dancing and you have had a great night please remember the poor old DJ. It's not quite as easy as just bunging on a CD!

Thanks for reading my musings and I look forward to seeing you on the dancefloor soon.

Ian.