Recently, Forbes released some staggering figures on the incomes of some of our favorite DJs. Handfuls of multimillion dollar producers have wiggled their way onto our iPods, phones, and playlists so that we can listen to them anxiously until their tour stops again in our city. While these top-tier acts are at the level of stardom many strive to be at, it would seem that it is the mid-teir DJs, who cater to open-format sets, who are truly capitalizing on dance music’s success over the past years.
An open format DJ is not constricted to a specific genre or format throughout their sets. Ruckus is one such DJ, who recently played a set atop the Forbes building for one of their rooftop parties. This set in particular transitioned seamlessly from Jay-Z all the way to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, all the while intermingling his own personal taste of electronic dance music. While Ruckus didn’t cash in enough to earn him a place on Forbes’ highest paid list of DJs, it is safe to say that the man is still doing quite well for himself. Furthermore, he accredits the increase in demand for himself and other similar acts all to the EDM boom.
Ruckus goes on to say that this is because DJs are quite often seen as rockstars, and the ceiling of success for a DJ is no longer a city’s hottest nightclub; it’s a nation’s largest festival or stadium. Venues are rushing to book acts that can cater to a crowd that expects to go out for a night on the town with their dancing shoes on, and satisfy a wide variety of music tastes. This same crowd is just as easily jazzed by popular hip-hop tracks as they are the latest and greatest dance tune.
Check out the video below for DJ Ruckus’ discussion on the rise of EDM, and how it has affected open format DJs.
Via Forbes
