What do DJ's earn?

[fatphilb]

It was a few minutes after midnight when the models walked in—a signal that the party at Las Vegas superclub Hakkasan was just beginning. About two dozen of them took their places along the banquettes behind the DJ booth, dancing and smiling at the 3,000 gyrating bodies on the floor before them.

Moments later, Tijs “Tiësto” Verwest strode to the stage. He donned a pair of headphones, raised his right hand and the music swelled ever louder as a sea of cell phones rose to snap his picture, the thick air bathed in blue by the strobe lights overhead.

 

[diver]

That's why there are so many VIP tables at crazy cover charge and even crazier minimum spend. They are needed to cover the "overheads" and subsidize the night. The club probably makes its slice off the regular punters having had the night propped up by the table service crowd.

Of course if there weren't so many high-rolling posers stumping up premium tabs, the DJs wouldn't be able to command fees like that in the 1st place. Stepping back from it all, of course, the DJs are no way worth that spend and they could never command it without the prestige venues of the superclubs pulling in those revenues. So they are entirely dependent on each other when matched.

If the VIPs went, the headliners would either have to drop their fees or go elsewhere (likely the latter to places like Vegas and Miami). Question then remains, would the superclubs be able to get their same net cut from enough regular punters if they slashed their entry fees, hired cheaper DJs and cut their drinks prices. Well, if the headliner is costing enough then quite possibly yes IMHO. But without so much certainty of a 'full house'.

And I reckon that's what has locked in the status quo. It's simple risk-reward really. The clubs are scared to break away from the trend because they reckon "names sell". And they are right in that ! However some hedge their bets with a mix of big name nights and more low key ones - and that's also a sensible thing to do, especially if a market is on the point of over-supply. Entry fees are lower but on the whole drinks prices are not and this is basically the underlying source of profit for the club rather than the top billed headliners. They are cashing in on their name. Which is just business.

I Completely forgot VIP, excellent post.

 

[kimajy]

You don't even wanna know how much carola got paid for 2 gigs in London this weekend!!

Well, at £50 a ticket for a gig at the old Fridge in Brixton I'm surprised the punters weren't shoving £50 notes down his pants too ... maybe they were all reserved for other uses . That unmistakeable cry can be heard loud and clear through the hiss of the smoke machines ........ I shall say no more

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152635897609008

 

[kokkenrene]

People who go to clubs to be these so called V.I.P's are generally arseholes.

Thank you for that

Some of us like tableservice sometimes, and I do not spend much more than I would anyway

I think you will find a couple of arseholes at the west end too! Maybe even slightly more than in the so called V.I.P areas.

 

[Dirk]

Thank you for that

Some of us like tableservice sometimes, and I do not spend much more than I would anyway

I think you will find a couple of arseholes at the west end too! Maybe even slightly more than in the so called V.I.P areas.

Give me a dark, sweaty club full of weirdos any day over somewhere with VIP table service. VIP has nothing to do with House Music.

 

[fatphilb]

word

 

[Pablo Montez Junior]

Table-service should only really apply to ping pong or striptease parlours

 

[diver]

I like table service in a restaurant.

 

[Ikoda]

Tiesto was reportedly earning $250k for a two hour gig in Vegas each gig for his residency (once a month).
Deadmau5 was on $350k for a similar Vegas residency.

DJ's earn far too much in general, well the bigger names do anyway. Chatted to a few DJ's and agents over the past few years while putting nights on and some of them are asking for silly money. Obviously it would be morally wrong of me to write DJ fees on a public forum, but they have made me laugh. Plus it's not just the fee itself, it's usually FEE + VAT + TRAVEL + HOTEL, it soon builds up, then some want even more, like meals before the gig etc.

It can exist in the Trance scene too. It makes some DJs horrifically expensive.

 

[kokkenrene]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Jante

 

[andyallwood]

clubbing went down hill once they introduced a VIP part.

 

[Pablo Montez Junior]

The writing was on the wall the moment mainstream America discovered dance music. It wouldn't have been such a catastrophe had it been confined to Vegas, but the obsessive money bling culture spread from r&b to the dance scene around the world via guetta and all those other overpaid, underskilled sync baboons and the devastating impact is now being felt. Tables, VIPs etc are just symptoms of the deeper problem ie the gradual strangulation of dance culture by market forces. RIP thanks for the memories. Yours, with love, a dinosaur from 1990

 

[andyallwood]

money ruins most things

 

[Ikoda]

money ruins most things

Tough call, as they are doing it as a career. But even so, the money some people ask for is just silly.

 

[diver]

Early to mid nineties when I found myself being drawn into the dance scene, most of the top jocks at the time were earning anything from £1000 - £2000 per 2 hour set. There would have been exceptions maybe, say if Junior Vasquez came to town or it was double time on NYE.

Dj's did not think they were anything special, in fact most were embarrassed by the fame they had encountered from having a good ear for music. Some would even carry their own record boxes !!! Even Oakie Cokie, when at the top of the Saturday night Cream summit only managed to secure a £200k two year deal, but he had to travel down most weekends from that London.

It was headline news when Healy was asking for £10k for a NYE set but that is peanuts to what is being laid out now. Whether or not a night was good was word of mouth between fellow clubbers and that filled the nights. The promoters stumped up their own cash and the best won, many have had their heyday now and done very nicely out of it.

Now clubbing has become some sort of "must do" for the 18 - 25 year olds. They are brainwashed by the media into thinking that The Tiesto House Mafia are the best thing since the Beatles. I call it clubbing, but most of these big earning nights are in stadiums or mass venues, the high earners taking what they can at that time. Can you blame them? Probably not, but they have sold out in my opinion. They will play music that they probably don't even like themselves. I would suggest that most are thinking about some sort of retirement fund?

So the only answer is to vote with your feet and wallet. I am more than likely never going to Creamfields for example even though its a 10 minute drive from my house. I am more inclined to listen to lesser known DJs in low profile clubs in the UK. Ibiza, slightly different but staying away from so called "big" names who think that they are Rod Stewart.

If you don't like it, don't do it.

 

[mr_why]

I'm more interested in what the second and third tier DJs earn.
For example, what does Magda playing Space or Pacha get, Adam Beyer at Cocoon, Joris Voorn etc etc....

 

[onemore]

i agree with the what you say about the current situation, but i think you are looking at the 90's with a little bit of rose tinted glasses. Yes, the money was nothing like it is now (even allowing for inflation) but these people were still superstars and treated as such. Oakies 2 year residency fee was more than the 200k i believe, and he hardly had to make his own way upto cream every saturday, some weeks a private jet was used.

I think ever since the superclub era, the fees have been have not been in proportion (and i have ran a club night for nearly ten years), and strangely it is maybe the DJ's who keep their fees in check that are the most talented.

A lot of the time it is the agents driving the fees up, I have rarely encountered a DJ who has come across as purely in it for the money. The vast majority of DJ's that i know/have booked have been nice people.

But you are totally right, if people want to complain about DJ fees (and the knock on effect on their entry price) the only way to resolve that is vote with your feet.

 

[onemore]

I'm more interested in what the second and third tier DJs earn.
For example, what does Magda playing Space or Pacha get, Adam Beyer at Cocoon, Joris Voorn etc etc....

Ibiza fees and UK fees are not really comparable. When agreeing a fee the agent wants to know venue capacity, entry price etc. From that alone you will understand that Ibiza fees are far far higher than a standard UK or European club fee.

The three you mentioned would get a big fee for those Ibiza clubs you mentioned. When i say big i am not talking in the 'EDm sphere of fees, but a large amount of cash still!

 

[lewishfc]

im sure it will be relative, but heard hawtin takes circa 20k for an average sized gig for him, and heard a night in edinburgh paid around 14k for magda, marc houle and danny benedettini.

 

[Ikoda]

I have rarely encountered a DJ who has come across as purely in it for the money. The vast majority of DJ's that i know/have booked have been nice people.

But you are totally right, if people want to complain about DJ fees (and the knock on effect on their entry price) the only way to resolve that is vote with your feet.

Are nights that much more expensive, though? I know within the Trance scene, I've always paid around the £12 mark for a ticket. Obviously some nights are more expensive. Some less so. But that entrance fee doesn't buy you the cream of the crop anymore like it would of done a decade ago. Although the mid tier DJs (and above) have pushed their prices up and up, it's hard for club nights to push them too far, as after awhile the punters just wont pay it.