If there’s one thing DJs in the upper echelons of dance music are good at, it’s making money. Lots and lots of it – but in their eyes, there’s one way to distinguish between a good DJ and a great DJ . Namely by continuing to make lots and lots of money over a long period of time.

Step forward, Mr Peter Michael Tong MBE. He has recently announced the arrival of the Pete Tong DJ Academy. Reaction has varied from the usual brand of sycophancy by the dance music press all the way to cheeky online comments such as “Tongy couldn’t mix a pudding, let alone two records”.

Let’s just say we at Ears To The House hope his mixing skills have improved since the 90s – some of those Ministry of Sound albums from back in the day aren’t exactly masterpieces of DJing talent. But we digress.

For the princely sum of £418 – and seemingly local taxes in certain jurisdictions – Tong will teach you how to become a DJ. Modules include “learning to count”, listed under Learn To Mix Part 1 on the Beginner course. Elsewhere, the truly earth shattering lesson of “how to save a mix” is included, and the school even finishes with a Pete Tong endorsed DJ exam when you’re finished listening to various anecdotes from his friends.

And who are these anecdotes from? Well, Carl Cox, Jamie Jones, Nicole Moudaber and a few others have been wheeled out to contribute in various ways. Whether this is Tong accepting his name might not have the pulling power it used to, or is a ruse designed to rake in more money – their names only seem to appear on the more expensive Advanced package – is something we’ll let you decide.

You might be forgiven for still pondering about that £418 price tag, however. And thanks to the cherished modern wonder that is the Muzik Magazine bot on Twitter, we can confirm the cost of DJing lessons has gone up somewhat over the years. This page from the May 1996 edition contained an advert offering an “8-part course on cassette for would be DJs”.

Muzik issue 12, May 1996, page 145

Full magazine: https://t.co/wyrL1hEZoB pic.twitter.com/ZDkblQ2BJl

— Muzik non-stop (@muzikmagbot) May 1, 2022

The price? A very modest £9.95. Which adds up to a whooping 4,100% rise in the cost since 1996. And we thought it was only the price of food and fuel which was going up…