Forbes Has Dropped Their Highest Paid DJs List, And We Need To Stop Paying The Chainsmokers
'One Kiss' is all it takes -- though a few seven-figure festival appearances can't hurt.

Every year, Forbes publishes their ‘World’s Highest-Paid DJs’ list — a 15-page slideshow of incredible wealth. And for the sixth year in a row, Scottish hitmaker Calvin Harris reigns supreme.
At US $48 million ($64,636,500), Harris decimates most of the list — and while he’s had a few hits lately, like the infectious Dua Lipa-featuring ‘One Kiss’, it’s due to a steady stream of six-figures Los Vegas sets, bolstered by the occasional seven-figure headlining festival set.
He’s followed closely by EDM’s favourite frat boys and lovers-of-inspirational-quotes, The Chainsmokers. They’re currently in the tail-wind of a three-year residency with Wynn Nightlife, where they also make six-figures per set — they’re sitting sweet at US $45.5 million ($60,596,700).
As you’d expect, the list features most of EDM’s biggest names — rounding out the top five are Tiësto (US $33 million), Steve Aoki (US $28 million) and Marshmello (US $23 million). The numbers dwindle as the list continues, but all of the top 15 raked in more than US $10 million, which is nice for them.
A few figures are missing, including deadmau5, Hardwell and Skrillex — the latter actually fell way out of the top 15 this year, after making US $30 million in last year’s list. Also missing is a single female DJ, which — while far from surprising — remains disappointing.
Forbes also noted that the top 10 made US $38 million ($51,170,500) less than the previous year, citing “the maturation — and some would say, plateauing — of the live electronic music market”. But we’re sure Calvin Harris will be fine.
Check out the full list here.
Forbes Highest Paid DJs 2018
15. Afrojack (US $10 million)
14. Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike (US $10.5 million)
13. DJ Snake (US $11 million)
12. Kygo (US $11.5 million)
11. Axwell & Ingrosso (US $12 million)
10. Martin Garrix (US $13 million)
09. Kaskade (US $13.5 million)
08. David Guetta (US $15 million)
07. Diplo (US $20 million)
06. Zedd (US $22 million)
05. Marshmello (US $23 million)
04. Steve Aoki (US $28 million)
03. Tiesto (US $33 million)
02. The Chainsmokers (US $45.5 million)
01. Calvin Harris (US $48 million)