Skrillex: The $15 Million Dollar DJ

Over the last year Skrillex has performed in front of at least 250,000 people, playing his own tunes in over 150 live shows across 19 countries—a formula that means millions for him and for his DJ peers who follow a similar schedule.
Rock and pop stars are hurting: Music sales are down, album creation is time-intensive, and elaborate live set­ups generally result in just one-third of gross ticket sales for the artist while also crimping the number of per­for­mances in any given year. DJs don’t need to create their own music—their art is curation and mixing. While Skrillex and his peers have gained popularity by producing their own music, they generally release it free, rendering piracy, the bane of traditional artists, irrelevant.
Instead, they make their money from the road, and because even the best DJs travel light—often toting nothing more than a thumb drive—they take home the bulk of their gross pay, sometimes more than $100,000 for a few hours’ work, repeated nightly if they choose. It’s a volume business and a big one: The ten top-earning DJs pulled in a combined $125 million last year.
“This is the hottest segment of the music industry right now,” says Jonathan Shecter, who books DJs for Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas. “It’s so hot because it’s so cost-effective.”

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