TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Music Discussion
-- Are DJs paid too much?
Pages (4): [1] 2 3 4 »

Are DJs paid too much?

Do you think DJs are paid too much? Here's my article on the topic: http://rantnrave.net/2012/03/13/ran...-paid-too-much/

The vast majority of us aren't paid enough.

Your blog entry doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Both DJs and sport players get paid according to their economic value, not some arbitrary measure.

@woony I'm not too sure what you mean by "doesn't make sense". As with a lot of opinion pieces and columns, what I'm trying to do is raise issues and discuss things - this is indicated by my use of question marks. But I guess if I'm alluding to anything, it's that dance music - just like football - is becoming too much about the money. A lot of money. David Guetta himself even admitted to selling out and that he doesn't make this popular, formulaic music because it's what's in his heart and he loves it; he does it because it makes him money.

quote:

Originally posted by elliehanagan But I guess if I'm alluding to anything, it's that dance music - just like football - is becoming too much about the money. A lot of money. David Guetta himself even admitted to selling out and that he doesn't make this popular, formulaic music because it's what's in his heart and he loves it; he does it because it makes him money.

The thing is, clubbing has always been about money. Large clubs can't afford to book DJs after their suspected artistic value, they have to book artists that reliably bring in the crowd. Even if the DJs have gigantic fees, the clubs still makes money which is why these DJs are getting booked.

For example, I always see people complaining that Swedish Housemafia gets so much money for being talentless hacks (which they are) but that they don't mention is that SHM brings in an ocean of people that are willing to spend outrageous amounts of money on tickets and drinks.

And this was the same in the 90s. If you're talking about sell outs, those are nothing new either.

quote:

Originally posted by elliehanagan As with a lot of opinion pieces and columns, what I'm trying to do is raise issues and discuss things - ...

Do people with too much time on their hands make blog-posts that are missing key pieces of information?








Just trying to raise some of my own questions.

May I ask which key pieces of information you're referring to? Ironic that your reply seems to be lacking in information. Does free speech not allow me to express my opinions? And besides, no piece of writing can ever be truly objective.

quote:

Originally posted by Woony The thing is, clubbing has always been about money. Large clubs can't afford to book DJs after their suspected artistic value, they have to book artists that reliably bring in the crowd. Even if the DJs have gigantic fees, the clubs still makes money which is why these DJs are getting booked. For example, I always see people complaining that Swedish Housemafia gets so much money for being talentless hacks (which they are) but that they don't mention is that SHM brings in an ocean of people that are willing to spend outrageous amounts of money on tickets and drinks. And this was the same in the 90s. If you're talking about sell outs, those are nothing new either.

Clubbing may have always been about the money, but raving wasn't.

I do say in the article that huge fees are relative to the money made from ticket sales and I do understand that sell-outs aren't a new thing, but that doesn't mean I can't still address the issue.

All I'm saying is that the gap between a well-paid DJ and a new DJ is gastronomical. Surely a DJ can be well-paid and feel appreciated without earning enough to have their face emblazoned on the side of their own private jet?

Maybe it's safer for me to just stick to writing interviews and reviews...

For main acts at festivals they need to paid a number with six zero's in Euro's!!
As long as they (nearly) sell out prices won't drop. Actually they will go up for sure. Nothing new.

Actually you should know how ridiculous it can be. Robin van Persie will earn 280,000 Euro a week if he goes to Manchester City, compared to poor 87,000 Euro a week he now gets from Arsenal....

Thing I wonder is if festivals and events sell out regardless of lineup (like, months before a lineup is even announced), can the promoters force a reduced fee on the names they bring in?

quote:

Originally posted by elliehanagan May I ask which key pieces of information you're referring to? Ironic that your reply seems to be lacking in information. Does free speech not allow me to express my opinions? And besides, no piece of writing can ever be truly objective.

1) Key pieces of information pertain to some form of information that can be referred to outside of your article which you are using to substantiate your points (there was only one citation used) along with contextual information concerning industry practices and how they compare with other musical performing artists with citation relevant to that.

2) This isn't a free speech issue. Apart from the fact that I am also exercising free speech in taking issue with your blog-post, me taking issue with your blog-post has little to do with free speech, at all.

3) You're the one raising the issue yet you've provided relatively little information with which to base an opinion on. Honestly, you might want to read up on rhetorical strategies if you plan on continuing in this line of "work". Your blog amounts to little more than a casual notion that could have occurred to anyone and indicates no familiarity with the subject you appear to be speaking to.

quote:

Originally posted by elliehanagan Clubbing may have always been about the money, but raving wasn't. I do say in the article that huge fees are relative to the money made from ticket sales and I do understand that sell-outs aren't a new thing, but that doesn't mean I can't still address the issue. All I'm saying is that the gap between a well-paid DJ and a new DJ is gastronomical. Surely a DJ can be well-paid and feel appreciated without earning enough to have their face emblazoned on the side of their own private jet?

There's no way you can compare illegal raves back in the day with "raves" today. It's a completely different type of event and culture.

And again, I don't really see your point. The difference between a festival headlining act and some DJ in a small local club has always been gigantic.

quote:

Originally posted by Sykonee Thing I wonder is if festivals and events sell out regardless of lineup (like, months before a lineup is even announced), can the promoters force a reduced fee on the names they bring in?

It may not effect sales in the current year but I think if the next events have a less heavy lineup ticket and drink sales will drop.

The other thing is there's not many dance music artists with the pulling power to headline a big festival. Guetta, SHM, Tiesto, Skrillex I think that's it? If you don't have one of those you will definitely miss a big chunk of the casual crowd.

quote:

Originally posted by Sykonee Thing I wonder is if festivals and events sell out regardless of lineup (like, months before a lineup is even announced), can the promoters force a reduced fee on the names they bring in?

I'm pretty sure over here, Pinkpop is just 5 minutes drive, the lineup does make a difference. This year Bruce Springsteen is closing on Monday and tickets for Monday were sold out within a few hours.
They start selling after most of the lineup is known, in this case the beginning of March and the festival is end of May.
(Not that I can understand why that many people still want to see Bruce...)

This thread is hilariously awful on so many different levels.

I'm glad we have DJRYANtm around.

Re: Are DJs paid too much?

quote:

Originally posted by elliehanagan Do you think DJs are paid too much? Here's my article on the topic: http://rantnrave.net/2012/03/13/ran...-paid-too-much/

Do you under economics in any way shape or form?

quote:

Originally posted by Woony Your blog entry doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Both DJs and sport players get paid according to their economic value, not some arbitrary measure.

^^ thats all there is to say, if a person can make a venue money they will get paid accordingly. Just like superstar football teams. I'm more concerned about the team owners share personally.

Some people like to think out loud I guess? I mean your questions are rhetorical, and the answers to them are obvious.
This industry works in a similar way to other known industries, i.e. Sports, Social Media, Entertainment, so why do you think the clubbing Industry is any different? And why, really, Tiesto for example, shouldn't be paid the amount of money he's being paid?

Be a little more down to earth.

Well paid footballers get paid because they are good. I don't see any footballers making tons of money because they are really, really, really good at marketing.

Tiesto pulls in what he makes, because of his marketing team. The music he pumps out is awful, but people believe in the "brand." Branding is everything. All these dj's are currently riding the fad wave that is the EDM. It's easy to prey on folks when they have little to know knowledge of this type of music and they just go along with whatever is told to them as being good. It's the way everything works.

Actually, footballers' wages are massively inflated by a very small number of mega-rich or profitable [football] clubs, and a large percentage of top flight clubs across Europe are actually in debt. A few clubs with rich owners or massive brands and revenues set the standard for wages, and the other clubs have to match these wages if they want to attract players. So really, the "economic value" of footballers is somewhat false.

There was a parallel to this a decade or more ago, when DJs began commanding such high fees that [night] clubs risked going out of business if their events didn't sell out. You could say this is a dance music equivalent of "doing a Leeds United" and gambling expenditure against predicted results, with disastrous consequences. A few extremely successful promoters set the bar high, and smaller nights couldn't compete financially. This is one of the reasons why a lot of clubnights went under around 2002, and the club scene has never quite recovered in the UK.

As far as I know, the situation has balanced itself a lot now. While the biggest DJs like Tiesto and Guetta earn truly massive amounts, I would guess that the average fee for a more mid-table DJ has probably gone down.

So yeah... your article is several years out of date, it doesn't make nearly enough out of the interesting parallels between football and dance music, and is basically devoid of content altogether. Harsh, but if you're going to join a forum entirely to promote your own website, you should expect criticism if your content isn't up to par.

quote:

Originally posted by EddieZilker 1) Key pieces of information pertain to some form of information that can be referred to outside of your article which you are using to substantiate your points (there was only one citation used) along with contextual information concerning industry practices and how they compare with other musical performing artists with citation relevant to that. 2) This isn't a free speech issue. Apart from the fact that I am also exercising free speech in taking issue with your blog-post, me taking issue with your blog-post has little to do with free speech, at all. 3) You're the one raising the issue yet you've provided relatively little information with which to base an opinion on. Honestly, you might want to read up on rhetorical strategies if you plan on continuing in this line of "work". Your blog amounts to little more than a casual notion that could have occurred to anyone and indicates no familiarity with the subject you appear to be speaking to.

Wow you people are mean! Anyone ever heard of the phrase "trancefamily"?! Columns are always about free speech and people voicing their opinions to create debate and discuss things. There's no need to be rude. And as to the "work" you're referring to - at the risk of sounding like a complete douche - I have worked in the music industry for five years now, so I do have some idea of what I'm talking about. This is purely an OPINION piece, not a dissertation.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Woony
There's no way you can compare illegal raves back in the day with "raves" today. It's a completely different type of event and culture.

And again, I don't really see your point. The difference between a festival headlining act and some DJ in a small local club has always been gigantic.

Well you may disagree but I think it's important to understand and be aware of the roots of electronic music and clubbing. And I don't think there's anything wrong with referring back to them to compare them with how things are today.

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.