Forbes’ 10 Highest-Paid DJs List ⁰

by Hila • News • Tags: Afrojack, Avicii, David Guetta, deadmau5, Forbes, kaskade, Pauly D, Skrillex, Steve Aoki, Swedish House Mafia, Tiesto

No matter how big EDM currently is, its mainstream success is still so new that people aren’t accustomed to hearing it everywhere they go, and learning that DJs aren’t just those guys who drop Kool and the Gang’s “Celebrate Good Times” at bar mitzvahs for $600 a night. So when the topic of how much DJs actually get paid pops up, some people’s jaws drop harder than a dubstep track when they hear that these guys pull in upwards of $100,000 per night.

Forbes just released a list of the world’s highest paid DJs, with the unsurprising number one spot held by Tiesto with $22m and Skrillex trailing behind with $15m. Going down the list, you’ll find douchebag extraordinaire, Pauly D, who’s better at making that shit on his head look like tribal pubic hair than he is at putting a coherent set together. However, thanks to his success on MTV’s Jersey Shore and a big audience of people who love to watch train wrecks be train wrecks, the guy made a hefty $11m from his DJ gigs alone.

Check out the full list taken from Forbes.com below:

1. Tiesto ($22 million)
Dutch-born DJ tops our inaugural list thanks to an average nightly gross of $250,000, according to Pollstar.

2. Skrillex ($15 million)
24-year-old earned 3 Grammys for putting dubstep on musical map.

3. Swedish House Mafia ($14 million)
Scandinavian trio became first electronic act to headline Madison Square Garden.

4. David Guetta ($13.5 million)
French DJ crossed over into pop world with album Nothing But The Beat, added cash with endorsements for Renault and HP, as well as live concerts.

5. Steve Aoki ($12 million)
Turn up the volume: Aoki earns less per show than many of his fellow Electronic Cash Kings, but played over 200 dates.

6. Deadmau5 ($11.5 million)
Performing in a mouse costume and denouncing EDM didn’t tarnish his earnings prospects.

7. DJ Pauly D ($11 million)
Jersey Shore star scores half his annual earnings from DJ gigs.

8. Kaskade ($10 million)
Clean-cut DJ cleaned up with 125 shows over the past year.

9. Afrojack ($9 million)
Dated sometime DJ Paris Hilton; doubled as pop producer for Pitbull and others.

10. Avicii ($7 million)
22-year-old Swede packed clubs, picked up Grammy nomination this year.