Were you wondering how much do DJs Make in 2020?
Those who are interested in the DJ game have multiple hurdles they need to jump over if they ever decide to dedicate it as a career.
The first thing you need to know is that you won’t be headhunted or ‘discovered’ until you’ve fully mastered and homed your skills and find yourself with a steady stream of venues to play at.
At first, you’ll actually lose money in order to make money. Most DJ’s start out renting equipment to use at venues in which they either play for free or for drinks as payment.
If you’re a beginner, expect late nights and slow starting jobs with little to no pay.
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How Much do DJs Make?
The average salary for a DJ is $40,000, but this is average does not include the unpaid DJs as they start out.
The average salary range is between $18,000 and $102,000. This basically means that you make what you want based on how much work you’re willing to put into your DJ’ing.
The main source of income for disc jockeying tends to come from performances despite the free gig starts most DJ’s start out doing.
If you decide to get into music publishing and sign with a major label, this will mean that most of your earnings will go to the top of the food chain rather than your own pocket.
Royalties from tracks you have writing credits for or produced the beat to is another income that most major DJ’s benefit from.
Budding beatmakers or EDM contributors start out on SoundCloud, but if you’re business savvy it would benefit to have your own label or join a smaller label.
Club DJ Salary
Club disc jockeys are paid by the clubs themselves, so you will become dependent on representatives and club owners.
Some clubs in major cities could offer you as little as $40 an hour, whilst others may offer $150 based on clubber admissions at the door and overall sales.
The best way of knowing is by enquiring at your local clubs and getting in touch. Some of the best club DJ’s, from Mr Thing to Mark Ronson, played in major city clubs every night of the week.
There may be openings to be an opening act rather than a featured act, depending on if you have prepared your set etc. If you were a featured act playing in a major L.A. club for four hours a day, 7 days a week, you could expect an annual salary of $100,000+.
If you played at a small club for an hour a week, you’d expect about $2,000 annual salary. It’s all about how much time and effort you’re willing to apply.
Wedding DJ salary
This is where a lot of DJ’s start out. Most weddings prefer DJ’s over hiring bands or cover bands since they tend to be a lot cheaper, last up to 5 hours and play familiar songs.
If you have little experience being a disc jockey, you would expect a five hour set to set the wedding planner back an average of about $250. Even someone with little to no experience can earn $50 an hour.
If the equipment costs at least $1,500, then it would be paid for within just 6 weddings. Wedding disc jockeys may find the gigs to be quite laborious and tedious however since 5 hours of Abba and Grease Megamixes aren’t exactly the most fun for someone hoping to get into clubs.
Experienced and full-time wedding DJ’s with a wedding gig every weekend of the year can expect a salary of $84,000.
House Party DJ Salary
Depending on where and how the house party is set up, being a DJ within this arena will either make you a lot of money or none at all.
A simple house party with around 50 guests will probably offer less than that of a wedding since house parties normally tend to have playlists anyway.
Depending on how well a DJ promotes themselves, their connections and negotiating skills. Some experience DJ’s could appraise an event based on the number of guests, location and how far the commute is.
If the even was, for example, a college party, in an outdoor location requiring generators for power, with more than a thousand partygoers, you could expect up to $1,000 for a couple of hours work.
The Highest Paid DJs of Our Era
These are some of the best and well-known DJs in the game and have a repertoire for greatness. They all started with humble beginnings but made a name of themselves after striving to perfect their acts.
You’ve probably heard of all of these names, but you probably don’t know how much they’re making per year from having the best job in the world. According to Variety Magazine, the highest paid DJ’s as of 2019 are:
- The Chainsmokers
- Marshmello
- Calvin Harris
- Steve Aoki
- Diplo
- Tiësto
- Martin Garrix
- David Guetta
- Zedd
- Armin van Buuren
The most interesting point to note about this list is that more than half are well-experienced DJ’s that have charted their own remixes or songs.
But having said that, the top two highest-paid DJs have only just found success recently, within the last 5 years or so.
Those who find instant success find the most monetary gain at first, but only the best DJs who constantly produce good beats or EDM find themselves consistently within the top ten.
How Much do DJs Make?: Conclusion
In conclusion, disc jockeys can make a decent if not well-to-do living, with years of learning and dedication under their belt.
Any budding female disc jockeys may find that the market for disc jockeying is saturated with men, so they’ll be more in demand for a more diverse club or venue set.
If you are to consider becoming a disc jockey, you will become an entrepreneur in the process.
DJ’ing and entrepreneurship go hand in hand in this current climate, so you will always be learning as you graft for a paycheck.