Unless you live in a country-music bubble, you know electronic dance music is big — billions of dollars big.
The recent list of the highest-earning DJs is just as eye-popping. The biggest earner, Calvin Harris, made $66 million in the past 12 months — a comfortable raise from the $46 million he scored in 2013.
Below are the five highest-grossing DJs in the world.
Calvin Harris
On a list of the best-paid pop musicians, Harris would be between Paul McCartney ($67 million) and the Black Eyed Peas ($61 million) but way below top earners U2, who made a whopping $195 million over the last 12 months.
Still, the 30-year-old Scottish DJ has come a long way since recording his debut, “I Created Disco,” at home on an Amiga. Now he has a residency at Vegas megaclub Hakkasan and gets the likes of Rihanna and Ne-Yo to guest on his records.
Not bad for a bloke from Dumfries.
David Guetta
Two decades after getting his start in dank Parisian clubs, the French pop-house producer has turned his brand of garish, Ibiza-style hedonism into a money-making machine, to the tune of $30 million in the past year.
What propelled him to the next level? Co-writing and producing little songs you may have heard of like the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling.” Between his original albums, remixes and festival gigs, Guetta is happily unstoppable.
And so sure of himself that he got fellow megastar Avicii to co-produce his latest hit, “Lovers on the Sun.”
Avicii
Avicii, a.k.a. Tim Bergling, made $28 million last year, largely thanks to his huge hit “Wake Me Up” from his own album, “True” — a mix of country stylings and EDM beats that proved to be surprisingly effective.
The 24-year-old Swede is now fully part of the mainstream, right down to producing a song (“A Sky Full of Stars”) on the latest Coldplay album.
Tiësto
Tied with Avicii at No. 3 is the Dutch veteran Tiësto (Tijs Michiel Verwest to his friends). This guy started 20 years ago as a trance maestro — a subgenre much maligned by purists — but has cannily adapted to changing tastes. And he shows no sign of fading, having landed a lucrative residency at Hakkasan.
For many, though, Tiësto’s finest moment remains his 2000 remix of Delerium’s “Silence” featuring Sarah McLachlan.
Steve Aoki
The son of Benihana founder Rocky Aoki — and the only American in the top 5 — Steve Aoki may have the widest range of the DJs in this list. In 2001, while still in college, he founded the record label Dim Mak, which discovered bands as diverse as the Kills and Bloc Party, and even branched into apparel.
Aoki is a workhorse who played 277 gigs over the last year, helping him make $23 million — Bud Light and Scion endorsements contributed to the tidy total.
Maybe this hyperactivity is why he only released his first proper album, “Wonderland,” in 2012, with catchy tracks like “Earthquakey People” featuring Weezer’s lead vocalist and guitarist Rivers Cuomo.