Forbes has some attention-grabbing info to share for those of you, with inquiring minds, who might be curious in knowing what the top-of-the-heap salaries are for professional DJs who perform their talents in the United States and abroad. Collectively, the cold cash earned for Forbes’ top-ten DJs for 2012 capped at $125 Million, which outstripped the payroll for the L.A. Lakers—whoa!
Talented and coveted DJs make the lion’s share of their loot by touring; and their production costs are trivial which makes for hefty take-home pay for several hours of work; as you shall see.
Tiesto #1:
Tiesto, a resident of Los Angeles, is among the cream of the crop when it comes to sought-after DJs . In his mid-forties, he takes in a cool half a million on any single gig, which equates to over $80,000,000 per hour during a three-hour performance, or simply put, $22 Million a year. And that’s working only about 100 days out of the year– Pretty impressive! Part of his net earnings is attributed to his low overhead, coupled with having a heavy-duty presence on Twitter and Facebook. Those two venues, alone, attribute to some 13 million followers and fans.
Skrillex #2:
In his mid-20’s, this unassuming-looking young man is mind-blowingly wealthy; and $15 Million per year is a jaw-dropper considering Skrillex has been of legal drinking age in America for only a handful of years. Living in, both, California and New York, Skrillex nabbed three, prestigious Grammies, as of May 2012.
Skrillex is considered a musical icon in 19 countries; and in 2011 rocked the house with an astounding 322 performances, playing many of his own tunes. Not bad for someone who doesn’t even know, yet, what it feels like to be 30.
Swedish House Mafia #3:
This talented trio hails from Scandinavia; and raking in $14 Million a year ain’t bad.! They were the first DJ outfit to headline at Madison Square Garden which was an astounding achievement, considering the MSG venue accommodated more than 13,000 wired patrons with tickets selling for several hundred bucks a pop.
David Guetta #4:
At 13.5 Million a year, this French DJ has produced an acclaimed album, Nothing But The Beat; and with lucrative endorsements and live concerts and music festivals being performed all over the world, depositing copious amounts of cash in the bank on a regular basis is just another day’s work.
Steve Aoki #5:
$12 Million a year buys a lot of toys! This DJ giant is in his mid-thirties and boasts of over 200 performances a year. His rubbing-shoulders-with-fortune is multi-faceted since he can add ‘record producer’ and ‘record-company founder’ to his list of musical accomplishments, as well. The list goes on: he owns a management company; and if that isn’t enough, he is heir to the ‘Benihana’ fortune—a highly successful restaurant chain that could keep a small country fed on a regular basis.
In addition to numerous DJ companies such as Tristar DJ, etc. there is any number of DJ schools in the country. One DJ academy in New York City accommodates thousands of students a year who have dreams of making it big. Instruction covers basic scratching, mixing and usage of prominent industry technologies. For an overall cost of about $2,000 and about a year’s worth of study, club-ready, DJ hopefuls take a deep breath and wonder if they, too, will ever become a part of the ‘Electronic Cash Kings’ list, as well… one just never knows!
Karen is an author in Nebraska as well as a retired educator. Click here for DJ in Dallas.
