Trance legend Armin van Buuren may have raised quite a few eyebrows recently when he sat down with Bloomberg Business about the crazy sky rocketed DJ fees the industry is seeing today where he himself earns an estimated $100,000 per show. Speaking to journalist Olivia Sterns, Armin tries to defend these crazy sums of money earned by stating the following:
“I bring a crew of five people for every gig. So, you have to have visuals for every show, buy your own fireworks because sometimes the promoter can only afford so much, I bring live talent with me to do tracks live and not only have the events become bigger but the DJs have to step up their game…unfortunately that costs money”. He also says that the figures published by the media is simply the gross sum and not the net earnings of DJs, which according to the superstar is not all that much.
Even if we do calculate all the costs associated with visuals – that are pre-synced to match the set’s music and beats – and talents brought on to play live you can be rest assured that these DJs are raking in at least 50% of their gross fees as their net income, and I say AT LEAST 50%!
So let’s say he earns a net of $50,000 per show and he performs a minimum of 5 shows a month (which we know is miles below the number of shows he actually performs), Armin earns a cool $2,500,000 from shows alone. Add the royalty checks and income from licensing and streams and you’ve got a pretty meaty sum of money.
Watch the interview below!
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