Forbes Ranks the World’s Highest Paid DJs; Calvin Harris is #1

As America continues to fuel dance music’s popularity, the prices keep going up and even Avicii is admitting that “The money you get for DJing at these places has gone to extremes.” Forbes compiled the list of the highest paid DJs by combining income from live shows, endorsements, merchandise, record sales and other business ventures. Incredibly this allowed DJ Pauly D to make the list.

1.) Calvin Harris $46 Million

Calvin Harris made more money than Jay-Z or Katy Perry this year, dethroning Tiësto, David Guetta and Swedish House Mafia from the top earner spot.

2.) Tiesto $32 Million

Joining Calvin Harris at Hakkasan in Las Vegas certainly helped, but the guy also played 140+ shows last year. He ditched Ibiza for America and is still killing it.

3.) David Guetta – $30 Million

Guetta has the top 40 hits, major club gigs and a residency in Ibiza. He’s also a lot richer than you, so that’s another good reason not to like him.

4.) Swedish House Mafia – $25 Million

Even though they only had a partial tour, they still made $25 million. How they could leave so much money on the table to go their separate ways is crazy. If they ever go broke, expect a reunion.

5.) Deadmau5 – $21 Million

When you get paid $200k+ a night at Hakkasan and have merchandising deals out the ying yang, you don’t have to tour that much.

6.) Avicii – $20 Million

The youngest guy on the list will also be releasing True later this year. Expect to see him at the very top in 2014.

7.) Afrojack – $18 Million

Forbes says that he turned down Hakkasan’s offer for double his fee at Wynn Las Vegas to stay loyal to the club. Maybe Steve bought him one of those Ferraris to say thanks.

8.) Armin van Buuren – $17 Million

In the live setting alone, van Buuren outperforms everyone else on the list.

9.) Skrillex – $16 Million (tie)

$16 Million isn’t bad for a guy who didn’t tour at all this year.

9.) Kaskade – $16 Million (tie)

Forbes said, “At 42, he’s one of the older DJs on our list, but Kaskade parties just as hard as the rest of them.” Too bad he doesn’t drink.

10.) Steve Aoki – $14 Million

Aoki did more gigs than anyone on the list, 270 in the last 12 months. There’s a lot of money in white raver rafting.

11.) DJ Pauly D – $13 Million (tie)

Attention aspiring DJs. Get muscles, a tan and some fresh hair and land a role in a shitty reality television show. Become famous and start playing shows.

12.) Diplo – $13 Million (tie)

Mad Decent label boss, Fast Company’s most creative in business and #expressyourself founder isn’t doing too bad for himself.

via Forbes

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