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Re: How much $ are the "big" guys making
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 8:01 pm
by drake89
Hertz wrote:Attila wrote:Haha I can't believe how little most of you think these guys make
http://www.prettypolly.com/artist-availability.php#
Rusko:25K-35K
A-Trak:20-30k
Kaskade:75-100k
Major Lazer:20-25k
Datsik:15k
MSTRKRFT:25-30k
Nero:15-20k
Skrillex:200k+
Even shitty bands from the 90s no one cares about charge 20-40 grand.
LOL@That site "Bob Marley 10K - 15K Generally Available"
On a side note, if you're producing for the sole reason of trying to make money, your energy is better spent elsewhere.
It's should go without saying that that's the most those guys would ever get. I know for a fact there's no way datsik or excision made more than a couple three thousand when they came to town (nashville) the last couple of years. Also these prices are probably fairly recent as all of the artists have been getting more and more popular as of late.
Re: How much $ are the "big" guys making
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:04 pm
by nowaysj
Like Kode9's $3k price... so sad.
Re: How much $ are the "big" guys making
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:11 pm
by wormcode
I don't think it's sad. Some people still play for free too or just travel costs. Who the fuck would ask 100k-200k to stand around with a laptop, that's what's sad.
Re: How much $ are the "big" guys making
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:15 pm
by nowaysj
Yeah, agree, but with money, everything is relative. S is 70 times more valuable to our society? Yeah, fuck that.
Re: How much $ are the "big" guys making
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:24 pm
by Sharmaji
keep in mind that the Pretty Polly website is an aggregator, aimed squarely at colleges, which everyone knows is where you go to make double what you'd make at a regular club or festival gig.
$ as a performing artist fluctuates like crazy. I don't see anything wrong w/ charging as much as you can to do what you do. If rusko can pull a 30k guarantee, awesome. Of course, from that, $4500 goes to the booking agent, $3000 to the manager, at least $250 to the tour manager, $1500 to the bus, $1000 to the business manager, and god knows how much daily for lights/video/lasers/etc in a tour production package... it starts at about 33% off the top in business costs alone.
Re: How much $ are the "big" guys making
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:53 pm
by wormcode
That's true yes, but I just don't think dancing robots and pyrotechnics are needed for a good show. Average pop star act these days is like 500+usd for a mediocre seat in a stadium. A friend of mine paid close to 700 for Britney Spears last year and she said it was horrible, like I told her it would be haha. Most of the time they don't even really play/sing, but as you mentioned most of the money goes towards other stuff.
Re: How much $ are the "big" guys making
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 10:13 pm
by nowaysj
For $700 a ticket you should be given a small caliber revolver with a sing round... I'm going to end this fantasy now. Would a bb gun make this more acceptable?
Re: How much $ are the "big" guys making
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 10:21 pm
by Sharmaji
wormcode wrote:That's true yes, but I just don't think dancing robots and pyrotechnics are needed for a good show.
this is true.
but we're talking about EDM here, not indie rock, and once you get to a certain size show, it's what people expect. 3500 kids off their tits at Terminal 5 are gonna be quite disappointed by (insert DJ name here)'s set with zero production when they just went to see Steve Aoki and he had lasers, an LED frontdrop AND backdrop, etc, etc. it's what it is these days.
Re: How much $ are the "big" guys making
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 10:57 pm
by Altron
Big names definitely make around $10,000-$20,000 if I had to estimate. Maybe more if we're talking about artists that are big enough to have their shows sell out. A while back, Skrillex played a free show in STL. Though there are tons of haters, me and a few friends got the opportunity to have a short chat with Sonny. Honestly he's probably the first artist that I've met that didn't treat us like fans, but rather like friends. He even walked over to my friend who had a green laser and was asking him to shine his laser on the cig he was smoking, as well as danced around to Rusko with us, and just seemed to enjoy hanging around with everyone. I recall thanking him for playing a free show that night, and his reply went something like: "i make about 20 grand a show, I don't mind doing free shows for you guys". For such a down to earth friendly guy, it's funny that he is #1 on the hate list.
Re: How much $ are the "big" guys making
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 11:11 pm
by nowaysj
Personally never heard anyone hating on him, just his fans and the music.
Re: How much $ are the "big" guys making
Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 12:21 am
by alphacat
Big up Sharmaji for breakin' down the math for, btw.

Re: How much $ are the "big" guys making
Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 1:19 am
by deadly_habit
nowaysj wrote:Personally never heard anyone hating on him, just his fans and the music.
this
including other bigger names who have played with him who dislike his music, never a bad thing to say about his character just his tunes and performances
Re: How much $ are the "big" guys making
Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 1:31 am
by narcissus
Altron wrote:Big names definitely make around $10,000-$20,000 if I had to estimate. Maybe more if we're talking about artists that are big enough to have their shows sell out. A while back, Skrillex played a free show in STL. Though there are tons of haters, me and a few friends got the opportunity to have a short chat with Sonny. Honestly he's probably the first artist that I've met that didn't treat us like fans, but rather like friends. He even walked over to my friend who had a green laser and was asking him to shine his laser on the cig he was smoking, as well as danced around to Rusko with us, and just seemed to enjoy hanging around with everyone. I recall thanking him for playing a free show that night, and his reply went something like: "i make about 20 grand a show, I don't mind doing free shows for you guys". For such a down to earth friendly guy, it's funny that he is #1 on the hate list.
yeah i've heard that.. he gets hated commonly in my area, because most of us were getting a little tired of dubstep any way when skrillz came along. we just think all the squawks and squeeks are annoying.
Re: How much $ are the "big" guys making
Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 8:24 am
by Mad_EP
Attila wrote:Haha I can't believe how little most of you think these guys make
http://www.prettypolly.com/artist-availability.php#
Rusko:25K-35K
A-Trak:20-30k
Kaskade:75-100k
Major Lazer:20-25k
Datsik:15k
MSTRKRFT:25-30k
Nero:15-20k
Skrillex:200k+
Even shitty bands from the 90s no one cares about charge 20-40 grand.
Looking around the site, I really don't think this company really is the proper booker for all those artsists. Like Sharmaji said - an aggregator or other 3rd party that solely focuses on college tours. The first hint is that they are listing the prices. I've been in the business for a while, and no legitimate booking company with any game lists the artist's prices publicly. A big reason for that is that prices for artists vary by a huge margin due to various circumstances. If a club DJ is on tour, their prices to play on a Monday or Tuesday are usually much lower because the big nights are Thurs-Sat... and when on tour, if you aren't making money, you are losing money. However, this tactic doesn't necessarily apply if the exact same DJ is at home and not needing to fill in holes in the schedule. Also - sometimes there are other desirable factors... when I was a classical booking agent, the gigs in Hawaii never paid even close to the full fee ... but the artists happily accepted the offers because everyone likes the idea of playing Hawaii and then chilling out for a few. There are other factors that booking agents will consider - which is why most ask the promoter what the venue capacity vs. ticket price will be.