What a tech rider is for
A technical rider tells the venue what must be in the booth before you arrive, and how it should be set up. Digital DJ Tips puts it simply: “The DJ gives the technical rider to the promoter, and it's the promoter's job to make sure that all the requirements are met.”[1] The food, travel and hotel part is a separate section, the hospitality rider, and you only need it for gigs out of town.[1]
A short rider gets read. Every line in it should change something in the booth: if the venue could ignore a line and your set would be the same, cut it.
The six things every version has
- Venue provides. Players, mixer, monitors, with model names and how many.
- Artist brings. USB drives, laptop, controller, headphones, cables.
- Monitoring. Where the booth monitors go and whether they are on their own send.
- Power. How many sockets, of which type, how close to the booth.
- Setup time. Minutes between the previous DJ's last track and your first.
- A name and a phone. Who to call if something on the list is missing. A missing mixer found on Tuesday is a problem; found at 1am it is a cancelled set.
Template 1: club DJ, USB only
TECH RIDER: [DJ NAME] Updated [month year]. Questions: [name], [phone], [email] VENUE PROVIDES - 3x [player model, e.g. Pioneer CDJ-3000], same model and firmware, linked - 1x [4-channel mixer model, e.g. Pioneer DJM-900NXS2 or DJM-V10] - 2x booth monitors, at ear height, on their own send, with a level control in the booth - Stable table at standing height, cleared of drinks ARTIST BRINGS - USB drives (rekordbox), with a backup - Headphones SETUP: 5 minutes. Changeover during the previous DJ's last track. POWER: none needed. NOTES: [one line only if it matters, e.g. "No smoke machine at the booth."]
Template 2: club DJ with a laptop
TECH RIDER: [DJ NAME] Updated [month year]. Questions: [name], [phone], [email] VENUE PROVIDES - 2x [player model] + 1x [mixer model] with a free USB port for [rekordbox / Serato DJ Pro / Traktor] - Space for a laptop next to the mixer: [width] cm - 2x booth monitors, at ear height, on their own send - 1x power socket ([Schuko / UK / US]) within reach of the mixer ARTIST BRINGS - Laptop with [software], [controller or audio interface] - All cables to the mixer: [type, e.g. 2x RCA] - Headphones SETUP: 15 minutes before the changeover, at the side of the booth. POWER: 1 socket at the booth.
Template 3: hybrid live set
TECH RIDER: [ARTIST NAME], hybrid live set Updated [month year]. Questions: [name], [phone], [email] VENUE PROVIDES - Mixer with 2 free stereo inputs for the artist's gear - Table [length x depth] cm, stable, at standing height - 2x booth monitors, stereo - 2x power sockets ([type]) at the table ARTIST BRINGS - [Groovebox / sampler / synth], audio interface - Cables to the mixer: [type and number] - Headphones SETUP: 30 minutes. Line check before doors if possible. LAYOUT: photo or drawing attached.
For anything beyond the standard booth, a photo of your setup laid out on a table helps: Digital DJ Tips suggests exactly that.[1]
Template 4: wedding or private event, own sound
When you bring the system yourself, the rider turns around: it is mostly about power, space and timing. Some venues have rules of their own: The Great Barn in London lets DJs bring playback equipment but not speakers, and connects them to its own PA.[2] Ask the venue before you write the rider.
TECH RIDER: [DJ NAME], [event type] Questions: [name], [phone], [email] VENUE / CLIENT PROVIDES - 1x [16 A] power socket within [15] m of the dance floor, not shared with catering - A table [180 x 60] cm with a cloth - A covered spot for the ceremony setup if outdoors - Parking or a loading point near the room - The day's timeline (speeches, cake, first dance) one week before ARTIST BRINGS - PA for up to [number] guests: [speakers, subwoofer] - [2] wireless microphones for speeches - Ceremony speaker [on battery, if outdoors] - Dance-floor lighting: [what] - Backup laptop and controller ARRIVAL: [3] hours before the ceremony. SETUP: [90] minutes. DOCUMENTS: public liability insurance and electrical safety certificates on request.
Which documents and how much cover depend on the country and the venue. More in the wedding DJ press kit guide.
What to leave out
- Gear you never use. A request for a fourth player you will not touch can cost the venue a hire fee.
- Hospitality on a rider for a gig across town.
- Jokes. A production manager reads the rider at work.
- Anything you have not checked against your current setup. Date the rider and update it when you change gear.
If you want a drawing
A plain list is enough for most club gigs. If you want your rider drawn as a booth layout, with the manufacturers' specifications quoted, Mixgraph has a free tool for that, with no account.[3] It does that one job better than we do.
On PRESS-KIT.CLOUD
The tech section of the form has the same parts as these templates: “Venue provides”, “Artist brings”, power, setup minutes, monitoring, notes for the promoter, and a link to a rider PDF if you have one. Five presets fill it in to start: club USB, club laptop, hybrid live set, corporate or private event, festival headliner with a custom rider. It prints on your page and in your PDF, next to your mix and bio, so the promoter does not have to ask for it.
See a filled-in rider on an example: Keti Karst (three players, invented hard techno DJ) or Duccio Vanni (own sound, invented wedding DJ). The rider is one of five things a promoter looks for: the other four are in what to put in a DJ press kit.
Sources
- Joey Santos, “All You Need To Know About DJ Technical Riders”, Digital DJ Tips (a DJ school), last updated 26 March 2018
- Hillingdon Council, The Great Barn (a wedding venue in London), “Entertainment guidelines”, undated
- Mixgraph, “DJ tech rider template” (a free tool by a vendor of DJ tools), undated
All read on 2026-10-22.