It was the Friday of July 4th weekend and, as expected, the Montauk crowd was partying.
Soundtracking the party wasChristina Tinx Najjar, a social media creator with 1.5 millionTikTokfollowers.
Sometimes the crowd is unknown to her.
Xandra Pohl performs during the 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit Kickoff Party last September in Cincinnati.Taylor Hill/Getty Images
Other times its made up of her followers.
And, for some creators, thats been the plan all along.
At the University of Miami, Pohl played fraternity tailgates and parties, along with some smaller clubs.
But when she returned to Florida after the pandemic, her usual venues cut her rates.
Shes been racking up followers ever since.
This audience has helped her book DJ gigs again except far bigger ones.
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And Pohl can draw a crowd.
Madison Fiorino, a 23-year-old in Charlotte, N.C., saw Pohl DJ in March.
Najjars DJing career started a bit differently.
We were a few Aperol spritzes in and we were watching Sofi Tukker perform, she said.
We were like, We could do this.
We could totally be paid to party and go around the world and create fun experiences for people.
However, DJing can be harder than it looks.
Diplo, Duke Dumont, and Alesso have also performed at the apres ski spot.
It was obviously a crazy honor that we got to DJ that for our first gig.
Thats totally unheard of, Najjar says.
Were realists, we get it, were leveraging my platform to get our foot in the door.
THIS PATH, IN SOME WAYS, is well trodden.
Najjar sees the Hilton model as an ideal.
Shes a really incredible DJ, but she still has all of her other businesses.
And, for social media stars, DJing could be even more prudent than it was for their predecessors.
Its just that much harder to make the money that could sustain you to be a professional influencer.
And in nightlife, leveraging these followers has become strategic.
DJs, right now, are the new rock stars.
They are driving more traffic than even an amazing established musician, Cardoso said.
I think its very win-win.
But bringing influencers to prestigious venues doesnt come without conflict.
However, she noted, The TikTok audience can be a little cruel.
We live in a different time today.
Its not just about your craft theres so much more to being a DJ.
Can you sell the shows?
