Forbes The World's 12 Highest Paid DJs 2014 List
The numbers are in. Forbes have revealed the top 12 earning DJs of the last 12 months, and documented exactly how they earnt their tens of millions. Can you guess who made the number 1 spot?
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1. 12. Armin Van Buuren and Steve Angello (tie): $12 Million
Just making the list, in joint 12th place is dutch DJ Armin Van Buuren, who spent a lot of last year touring for his 'Intense' album and Steve Angello who pulled in $25 million with Swedish House Mafia as a group and $12 million as himself.
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2. 11. Hardwell: $13 Million
Hardwell might not be the top earner, btu he still currently holds the titled of the world's number one DJ. The Capital XTRA DJ operates his own record label 'Revealed Recordings' founded in 2010, and will play Madison Square Garden before the year's out.
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3. 10. Deadmau: $16 Million
He doesn't play anywhere near as many gigs as the rest of the DJs on the list, but he does pull in ridiculous sums for the ones he does play - sometimes up to half a million dollars.
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4. 9. Skrillex: $16.5 Million.
Skrillex has his fingers in many pies including his own record label, production of other artists tracks and tons of live shows.
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5. 8. Kaskade: $17 Million
Kaskade - real name Ryan Raddon - played over 120 dates in Forbes scoring period, 30 of which were in Vegas. The hard work lead him to take home $17 million in just one year.
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6. 7. Zedd: $21 Million.
Not only was Zedd's 'Clarity' album a huge hit, but he produced tracks for the likes of Gaga and Bieber and collaborated with Ariana Grande. Asking for up to six figures for a night out, Zedd earnt a whopping $21 Million in a year.
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7. 6. Afrojack: $22 Million
Afrojack played over 150 gigs in the year, including a residency in Vegas, plus released his debut album and had endorsements from Nike and G-Star. What does all of that add up to? $22 Million.
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8. 5. Steve Aoki: $23 Million.
Aoki makes it into the top 5 with annual earnings of $23 Million. To reach that sum, he played 277 shows in the scoring period - he told Forbes he does it by
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9. 3. (Tie) Tiesto: $28 Million
Tiësto is in at number three as he has been pulling in the big bucks with a residency in Las Vegas this year. Forbes reports that in the last 24 months he earnt $60 million - a sum topped only by this year's highest earning DJ. the Picture: Getty
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10. 3. (Tie) Avicii: $28 Million.
Capital XTRA DJ Avicii ties with Tiësto to make it in the top three highest earning DJs this year - the main difference? The Swedish DJ is only 24-years-old. His single 'Wake Me Up' became the first Electronic track to ever shift over 4 million records in the US.
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11. 2. David Guetta: $30 Million.
Not only does Guetta pull in big money from his one-off shows and Ibiza residency, he also counts his pennies made from penning songs for stars like Lady Gaga and Britney Spears and touring with Rihanna. With earnings of $30 milion... There's only one DJ who managed to top him in the last year.
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12. 1. Calvin Harris: $66 Million.
In at number one, and bundles above this year's number two, Guetta with $30 Million, is Calvin Harris who brought home $66 Million in the scoring period - that's approximately £40 million. And to put it in a bit more context, that's more money than Jay Z earnt. By hooking up with the likes of Rihanna to score in the pop charts, releasing his own singles such as 'Summer' and playing gigs as big a Coachella, Calvin - the boy who use to stack shelves in Marks And Spencers - is untouchable.
