I am shocked at the money these guys are making.....
1. Tiesto - $22 million
2. Skrillex - $15 million
3. Swedish House Mafia - $14 million
4. David Guetta - $13.5 million
5. Steve Aoki - $12 million
6. Deadmau5 - $11.5 million
7. DJ Pauly D - $11 million
8. Kaskade - $10 million
9. Afrojack - $9 million
10. Avicii - $7 million
Listen to some UK radio - bassdrive, radio1 / pete tong - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006wkfp
Outside the US house/dub/disco/everything is a lot more popular.
I'm a bit blown away by this but if you contrast it against other big artists its not to crazy and as Big D said, in other countries their type of music is huge.
I guess most of these guys are creating their own songs, more than a typical house DJ, but I didn't realize they pulled in that much cash. I get the Pauly D thing because of MTV but it is still is quite impressive considering they aren't traditional artists.
Don't forget, a DJ schedule is crazy too. It's not the casual tour with lots of travel/setup time. They don't wait on a tour bus like a full band. They make alot but it's the most grueling pace in music. They definitely make their money on volume.
I'm guilty of putting some money in their pockets
I've seen Deadmau5, tiesto, afrojack, kaskade, and aoki..... all were in Vegas at clubs and not a stadium/EDC type show but the little bits I remember were a lot of fun.
Don't forget, a DJ schedule is crazy too. It's not the casual tour with lots of travel/setup time.
I read somewhere recently Avicii will be playing 300+ shows within one calendar year.... Thats averaging like 5-6 shows a week for an entire year (not sure if that counts days he plays in an afternoon for a pool party and then at night too for a club as two different ones)
Low overhead. All you need is a laptop and a set of headphones!
Funny you should mention volume, Jason. I was surprised at how few albums Skrillex has out. He's only got two real albums and both of those are more like EP's. Yeah, he collabs with pretty much everyone, but it's surprising how little of his own stuff is out there. I actually just bought both albums and there is some good stuff on them. Dubstep is badass, but it kind of sucks because it's usually wrapped in dance music or electronic stuff. Dubstep is like heavy metal electronic music and really needs to be wrapped in hard rock. Korn's new album (featuring Skillex and other DJs) is a pretty cool direction for hard rock. I hope to hear more stuff like that!
It was my first one in an arena outside o a club...there were roughly 7,000 in attendance. My buddies and Idecided to check it out. It was pretty much that...listening to his music jumping up and down and getting drunk in our case. Other people were prob popping pills as I kept getting asked "have you seen Molly" couldnt believe the amount of hot chicas at the show all dressed in their neon slutty wear.
I make a living as a dj and i am starting to make my own tracks, but im not millionaire like these guys, mostly because i play music that the masses do not like that much ( australian progressive trance ), but i would like to share some info with you fellow wakeboarders about this topic...
most of the names on the list are not only "djs", they produce their own tracks, which is different than just playing tracks from other artists ( which is what a dj does).
producing electronic music is not easy as some might think, actually, it is pure audio engineering+music theory. yes thats right, engineering... to get to the sonic quality this guys have as a standard it takes time and lots of practice/study. its a very complex job that requires high level of commitment. a good example of the potential of elestronic music artists is daft punk, that scored the soundtrack of tron legacy (awesome by the way)
the thing is, some become millionaire because they like making music that could be played on the radio or mtv, hence big audiences=big $$... and some live from their music but do not make the big bucks because they choose to write music that is not commercialy oriented... just music that pleases their own taste, which moste of the times is not mainstream.
being a dj is not easy as well, i mean, if you really want respect from the scene. that means learning the technique right, as in, actually doing the beatmatching, scratching, loops, mix tricks and everything else by yourself.. without the help of software.
with todays technology everybocdy can become a instant dj because the software allows for auto sync of the bpm between tracks.. so all the job is done for you.
my opinion is that there are a lot of really futuristic music out there, done by awesome human beings, who deserved the same amount of money of this top 10 names.. but our reality is a bit different and away from that. independent of this, i have big respect for most of the artists in the list , they have worked really hard to reach the point where they are.
I must be old, cuz i havent heard of any of these guys.
Not sure the high volume of shows means hard work for these guys, but i will be the first to say i dont really know what a dj actually does while performing.
I know some guys from punk bands that played 300+ shows a year for several years. Those guys arent really sitting in a bus waiting to go on stage. They work their asses off. and they certainly werent making this kinda coin.
I grew up around the guys who spun Vinyl and that was a difficult skill to master. Watching them match BPM's was fascinating and it truly determined which songs you could blend together. Once you had a good DJ show you the difference between a good match/blend it ruined most of the experiences with average DJ's. Now it is Serato and it seems a monkey could have a good set.
I always thought it was funny about how irate DJ's would get when people tried to request a song or came up to the DJ area. I never understood that - these people are paying your fees but I assume it is annoying having 1000 requests while you are working. I would probably scream at people too if they did that to me at work.
Dave, Im right with you. In fact, I have this idea with some guys I play music with to try and cover a dubstep track with instruments. Just so much going on. Have you ever tried to duplicate the sounds these guys get in the software? The poster above is right, they are literally engineering sounds... as in looking at the wave on a scope and adjusting peaks/valleys, etc. Pretty crazy to see how much work goes into making a sound thats only a half second long. Imagine making a bazillion of those just to put together a few bars of music.
I was watching some youtube thing a while back that had Skrillex discussing his schedule, and he played like 3 shows in 24 hours. It was like some club show in london, then some east coast music festival during the day, then some late club show in LA. They are definitely putting in work.
It's not making the sounds that are the tough part. Most are samples that are then "tweaked" a little be it a filter, lfo, pitch, ect. The tough part is nailing a mixdown. I have been djing for 22 years and producing for 15 and I still need help with my mixdowns. Mostly because my ears are shot from having very very loud music blasted in them for so long.
As far as my comment about most of those dj's (namely SHM, David Guetta, Steve Aoki, and Deadmau5) being a joke to us real dj's is because these are the button pushers and guys who "fake their set". Djing is about mixing records. Not pre recording some mix in ableton(which for those that do not know, ableton is a program where you could just pick ten tracks, wack em into ableton, hit warp (sync) and it will do everything for you. All you would have to do is decide where you wanted each mix to start and end) and jumping around the stage like a t*at while you play the mix and pretend to mix and add cool effects in the mix. Don't get me wrong, Ableton is a great program as that is what I do all my production in but when I dj I am manipulating the pitch myself and making sure the records mixing are beatmatched perfectly which takes a skill known as pitch riding.My hand almost never leaves the pitch control through the entire mix. That is a skill. Pushing a sync button is not.
Also I have heard Steve Aoki throws cake at people during his sets. REALLY? Throwing cake? Get the F out of here. That is not what grand wizard theodore had in mind when he started this awesome art form.
Riley the bulk of the money comes from doing shows, not selling songs. yeah it brings in a great income but they are getting upwards of $50,000 for festivals. There is so much music piracy these days I would think anyone popular in any music genre (Except country.It has been proven country fans actually buy there music ) is relying mostly on tours to make a nice bulk of their income.
Yeah I agree with that to some extent Jaybee, but you can't make 22 million a year with just live tours. I think we may be arguing for the same point. The best or highest grossing dj's in the world have to have all the tricks up their sleeves. Good producer, good dj, good live shows.
As for all the other people who need a little electronic music education here is one of the best Dj's of all time and he still plays on vinyl.
Jaybee said it before too i think. Daft Punk they really are the pinnacle of electronic music. Their ALIVE 2007 tour was mind blowing on levels. Production, showmanship, and just plain awesomeness
Here is a little video to back up previous comments of said dj's being a joke:
Also Riley agreed about arguing for the same point
Has anyone seen the plasticman show. I am not the biggest fan of techno but this is what all these guys shows should look like with the money they are making:
I am actually shocked that he was not on that list. my guess is it has to be the overhead of his show. Must cost thousands and thousands of dollars to put on a show like that. Also I know Rabbit In The Moon was getting mid 5 figures for a show but again they have a really high overhead for their show.
Also I think G is in the know of what LED costs are so maybe he could estimate what a huge wall like that of LED's from the plasticman show would cost. My estimate is it would have to be somewhere between $100,000 - 500,000.
I just got back from Ibiza where most of the heavy hitters hold summer residencies. They're schedules are definitely packed and they're working non stop during the season.
For anyone that thinks they just play records, I'd suggest you watch the following trailer for Amon Tobin's ISAM tour. These guys are spending big money to have they're stage setups designed and shipped around the world. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLrt7-kIgIM
If you can Sell music and fill Arena's with thousands of people who are willing to pay $50 each to come see you then I guess your worth what the public will pay.
Little John, Got payed $30k to show up and play a set at a water park last year that's less than 2 hrs work for him and some how I guess it makes sence to promoters. What I cant understand is how Kim Kardashian gets payed $100k to show up at a club or some other place. tell me again exactley what does she make or produce?
^^^^^^^LOL^^^^^^^ Boners & Envy that's briliant that sounds like the Name of her next Perfume.
Mad Men aint got nothing on you. Your the Don Draper of W/W lol lol
) Sorry could not resist.
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