CORPORATE EVENT MUSIC SETLISTS
I’m really excited to share some of my favorite set lists with you all. I was trying to figure out why I had this sense of giddiness to get to write this chapter. I think it is because at its core, loving to play music is about loving to listen to music, and we love listening to music because we love individual songs. I still occasionally find myself in the middle of a set playing a Van Morrison tune to 500 sales associates at dinner rounds and mid verse I’ll think to myself, “Hot Damn this is a good song!!”. So I guess that’s the thing, it’s all about the songs.
When Simon Cowell used to harp on, or praise, people for their song selection on American Idol, it was because he understood how important that choice was in fitting the range, the vibe and the skill of the performer. The song needs to feel right for the artist to be able to deliver it in a genuine way that will connect with the audience. This description extends perfectly to our work as background music providers.
If you’d like to go straight to the set lists. You can do so here.
MASTER ACOUSTIC SET LIST
UP TEMPO SETLIST
MELLOW SETLIST
POP SONGS
CLASSICS SONGS
Otherwise, here are just a few things to consider when thinking about how to structure your Sets.
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
“Ooooh, I LOOOOVE this song” – Everybody (If you are doing your job right).
The above should be the goal. If you’re set list is solid and you are performing well, you will see this being mouthed sporadically throughout the audience. I personally love that feeling. It is validation that I have chosen the right songs and that my delivery is connecting with the listeners.
When thinking about your audience at these corporate events it should be no surprise that the standard employee at an uber hip tech start up company (read: cool 20-somethings) listens to different music than your average vice president at a financial services firm (read: old white dudes). Not that you need to cater every song to meet what you perceive to be audience’s preference, but you should certainly be considerate and schew your set to accommodate them.
With that in mind, it is great to have what I call a MASTER SETLIST which is simply what I consider the best songs from all genres that I personally am able to perform at the highest level. And then some Genre specific sets to pluck tunes from as needed.
I use a list of Popular songs Given the make up of most corporate events, the spectrum stretches from mainstream hip hop to I use this as the starting point for all gigs. In a relatively diverse group of event attendees, I may not deviate much from that Set. But when the audience is clearly leaning older or younger, hipper or more reserved, I will pepper in more CLASSICS or more POP, more UPTEMPO or more MELLOW respectively.
It is also important to be able to “Read the Room” as they say in the comedy business. This of course goes back to being considerate of the vibe of the event and whether you’re fitting into, and in fact contributing to, that vibe and if not, adjusting to do so. This is what makes great DJs great. Playing live music for events is not that far from being a DJ, it just requires some additional talents.
CREATE AN INTENTIONAL FLOW TO YOUR SET
We talked a little in Chapter 4 about opening your set up with a simple looped jam that allows you to noodle around on your guitar with some solos over the top as the guests file into the venue. The same sort of thoughtfulness should be put into the flow of the rest of your set as well.
There is an old adage to the effect that people remember the first thing you say and the last thing you say and the rest is just filler. This should be taken with a grain of salt, but there is some truth to it.
So when structuring your sets Start your set off strong and end your set strong and then just make sure everything you play in between is flawless! 🙂