iPods Threaten Wedding DJs

Digital technology is posing a challenge to wedding photographers as people seek to get around the prices they charge for reprints. But now their compatriots, wedding DJs, are under attack too, from MP3 players. Couples are increasingly not seeing the point of paying somebody to load up a playlist with songs when they can do the same thing themselves, and play exactly what they want. Professional DJs -- like photographers before -- say there's quite a difference between an amateur loading up an iPod and the services a pro DJ can provide, though the line here seems a lot more blurry than in the case of a photographer. Apparently the biggest problem is that people want to play their own favorite music rather than "songs people want to hear and that people want to dance to," says one DJ. She recommends playing songs like YMCA and Whip It. If that's professional advice, no wonder people are going the DIY route.