Scratch Music Group Expands Into Wedding Industry With Scratch Weddings

NEW YORK, Oct. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Scratch Weddings, a division of Scratch Music Group, the nation's leader in DJ booking, technology and education, is revolutionizing the wedding market by giving couples access, for the first time, to the largest and most diverse, skilled and affordable group of marquee-level DJs in the country. Scratch Weddings' team of more than 700 DJs are the best of the best with extensive experience spinning at weddings and in the nation's top clubs and lounges and collaborating with major recording artists like Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson and The Black Eyed Peas.

"We have upped the ante on wedding DJs and are giving couples access to highly skilled and professional marquee DJs at a price they can afford," said Rob Principe, CEO and founder of Scratch Music Group. "With the largest team of marquee DJs in the country, a history as the world's top DJ learning center and an unparalleled record of corporate event success, Scratch is ideally poised to give couples the wedding entertainment choices they deserve without any hassle or risk."

According to Principe, Scratch Weddings was a natural next step for Scratch Music Group. "Our wedding business has doubled with inquiries coming in from 46 states. Recommended by more than 80 top wedding venues nationwide, including W Hotels, we have earned WeddingWire's 2011 'Bride's Choice Award,' The Knot's 'Best of Weddings' award and consistently receive five out of five stars on consumer rating sites like Yelp."

Scratch Weddings couldn't come at a better time.  According to the Wedding Entertainment Report 2011 (published by The Wedding Report, Inc.), an overwhelming 80 percent of wedding guests say the element they remember most about a wedding is the music and entertainment. Yet, as humorist Joe Queenan wrote in his recent (August 13, 2011) editorial in The Wall Street Journal, some wedding DJs can leave guests remembering all the wrong things:  

"They play music that is too loud for anyone to have an intelligent conversation, and when the groom's father angrily complains that they're doing too much Justin Timberlake, they switch to Eminem. They cue up the most repellently saccharine country-and-western ballads for the bride's first dance with her father, or if not that, something hopelessly inappropriate like 'Baby I Need Your Loving.'"  

Scratch Weddings' DJs are highly trained and seasoned music professionals with deep, cross-genre musical knowledge. They are also recognized as the best in the business at song selection, mixing and blending, reading a crowd and building and maintaining energy at an event. To ensure their consistent quality, each Scratch Weddings DJ has passed the Scratch Test™, a 10-step screening process developed internally that tests a DJ's critical talents, background and appeal.

To avoid a one-size-fits-all DJ performance, Scratch Weddings provides couples with a completely personalized music experience, from customized and tailored music mixes (think Glee-style "mash ups") to lessons at their world renowned Scratch DJ Academy if they want to take a turn mixing at their own wedding, which is fast becoming a hot trend.

"Advancements in technology and social media, including the popularity of iTunes and Facebook, have given us much greater access to, and control over, our music. As a result, DJ audiences, particularly those getting married today who are part of the iPod generation, expect a lot more," said Principe. "Our goal is to give couples the best service and most choice when it comes to talented, experienced, professional and affordable DJ talent. Most importantly, our staff and DJs are skilled at syncing seamlessly with the wedding couple, their guests and delivering on their wedding day vision."

During the matching process, Scratch Weddings gathers info from each individual couple – including their personal style, music taste and any unique preferences (i.e. language, culture, etc.) – in order to provide the best fit that is in line with their overall vision.  Couples also have full access to DJ bios, photos, videos and music mixes via Scratch's online tool at www.scratchweddings.com. Once a couple has been paired with their ideal DJ match, Scratch Weddings also assigns to the couple a highly-experienced music manager whose job is to work closely with them and their wedding planner, venue and DJ to coordinate all the musical details of the wedding.

The most trusted, risk-free and stress-free DJ option available, Scratch Weddings offers couples a guaranteed DJ replacement in the event of an emergency, as well as liability insurance and a money-back guarantee for 72 hours after booking.  

About Scratch Weddings:

Scratch Weddings is the nation's leading provider of highly skilled, experienced and affordable marquee-level DJ talent for weddings. Unlike typical, one-size-fits-all wedding DJs, Scratch Weddings – with its diverse team of more than 700 highly-trained DJs – provides couples the most choice available in the wedding DJ market today, serving all language, cultural, music and other specific needs. Scratch Weddings exclusive team of DJs combines extensive wedding experience with seasoned, professional backgrounds including collaborations with major recording artists like Lady Gaga, The Black Eyed Peas and Michael Jackson and residencies at the country's most respected clubs and lounges. In addition, all Scratch Weddings DJs have passed the company's Scratch Test™, a proprietary 10-step screening process that tests a DJ's critical talents, traits, background and appeal. Scratch Weddings is a part of Scratch Music Group and is based in New York City with additional offices in Miami and Los Angeles. For additional information about Scratch Weddings, visit www.scratchweddings.com.

About Scratch Music Group:

Scratch Music Group is a venture-backed, high-growth music and technology company.  Since its founding in 2002, Scratch has built the first and largest national team of heavily screened marquee DJs (700+ members), which it utilizes for thousands of weddings, corporate events, tours and music festivals each year. Scratch works closely with leading brands including MTV, Saks, Vans, Bloomingdale's, ESPN, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Ann Taylor, Pepsi, Sandals & Beaches Resorts, W Hotels and many more. The company also runs the Scratch DJ Academy – the world's first and leading DJ and music production learning center – which was co-developed with Jam Master Jay of Run DMC.  Scratch Music Group has booked DJs for over 15,000 events and entertained more than six million guests. Additionally, Scratch has authored a nationally acclaimed best-selling book titled On the Record (published by St. Martin's Press, 2009) and recently released its first music mixing software product (Mix!), available in major retail outlets nationwide.  For more information about Scratch Music Group, visit www.scratchmusicgroup.com.

SOURCE Scratch Music Group