They spin music and they’re rolling in the dough to the tune of a quarter of a million dollars a night –sometimes even more. A new crop of celebrity DJs is making so much money they now have their own Forbes list.
Zack O’Malley Greenburg, a senior editor at Forbes who compiled the list, says all the money is coming from clubs and festivals where the DJs play in front of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people in a given weekend.
Calvin Harris topped the Electronic Cash Kings list for 2014, with a whopping $66 million, up from $46 million in 2013. Harris earned more this year than Jay-Z, Toby Keith, and every single actor in Hollywood except for Robert Downey Jr. O’Malley Greenburg says Harris made all that money writing songs, producing for stars like Rihanna, and playing club gigs in Las Vegas.
Former Parisian club manager David Guetta took the second spot with $30 million.
Dutch DJ Tiesto and Swedish DJ Avicii tied for third with $28 million each.
The only American in the top five is Steve Aoki, who made $23 million playing gigs and through endorsements with big brands like Scion.
The biggest cash cow? Those Vegas clubs. A few big ones like Hakkasan at the MGM Grand and XS at Wynn fight over the top DJs, paying them big money to draw wealthy young partygoers to their hotels and casinos.
And don’t forget about reality stars DJ Pauly D and Paris Hilton who are both DJs now. They didn’t make Forbes’ list but they’re still making decent money working the clubs. Last year, Pauly D made close to $10 million. Both Pauly D and Hilton are frequently at the Pool After Dark at Harrah’s in Atlantic City. Hilton is there next Saturday, October 11. (Fox 5 Business)