Money! Money! Money! by MIREILLE SILCOTT No local club tale has given this column as many inches as the old story of Todd Terry and Playground in 1995: Terry's invited to DJ at the club. He asks for $5000, a five-star hotel and for an entourage of "friends" to flown along. He figures that'll be worth him playing records for two hours. Terry was discreetly uninvited. So sorry, you've read the story twice already. And Terry got like a $1000-a-minute to play some blowout in Ass-Upon-Arse, England this past New Year's, so the tale hasn't aged too well. But I had to pull it out to start this special 3am about cash and DJs. Fact is, your average clubgoer didn't care too much about DJ's wages until the past couple of years. Now the topic's hot enough for Mixmag to run it on its cover. Not that you give a blank about what Oakie or Tongie or any other cokie-blokies make. I don't care either. But I do care about what Mark Anthony makes ($750 an all-nighter; Shock paid him $1200 for New Year's). Or Alain Vinet ($300 for a regular night; $500 New Year's). Or Laflèche ($400 for Sona Saturday). Or Luc Raymond (same), XL (same), Chris Pronovost ($250 reg; $1000 New Year's), Mateo ($300 average rave), or Double "A" & Twist ($500 average rave for both). Not because I'm interested in their wellbeing or anything, but just 'cause it's, well, juicy. And--admittedly--horribly obnoxious. But given the huge-ish issue of DJ exclusivity that's developed among house clubs recently (Sona barred resident Alain Vinet from playing Playground Bar last month, forcing him to choose clubs. Vinet chose Playground), it's a topic pretty of the moment. Big-leaguers say it's getting harder to make a living DJing, even though the average top salary has risen from $200-250 for a club gig to $350-400 in about a year and a half. "But no clubs buy records anymore, and DJs have to spend at least $150 a week on music to stay in the race," says In Beat owner Chris Pronovost. "And a few years ago, you could play four gigs a week," says Mark Anthony. "Now, it's one gig, maybe two, that's it." Of all the house DJs, Anthony was the first to go through the exclusivity ringer in 1994. He was keen on the idea at the time. "Back then, Playground was paying me $750 a week not to play elsewhere in Montreal. That made sense. But clubs asking for exclusivity for $300 is ridiculous. You can't live." Luc Raymond, a DJ once notorious for gracing five different clubs a week, says the current situation is workable. "You gotta build contacts out of town. You can understand why Sona wouldn't want DJs playing for the competition." Raymond now plays Sona's Saturday 5 a.m. slot, so things must look pretty from where he's standing. "The city has become too small for DJs to play both clubs," he continues, "because, like, unfortunately, both clubs are the whole city." >>> News you need! Completely unconfirmed rumour has it that Sona will be moving before September because some expanding Quebec library is scouting the club's present locale.