Spoiler alert: women are paid less than men in pretty much every single job and field they may pursue in employment. The music industry is no different, and in fact, specific sectors of the music industry are very inaccessible for women. One such arena is the world of DJing, where plenty of incredibly talented women are doing awesome shit and yet often remain at a disadvantage when it comes to opportunities, rate, and exposure.
Case and point, Forbes shared their annual list of the world’s highest paid DJs and the results are grim: There is not a single woman on the list. While money isn’t everything, it’s certainly an indication of success and the continued ability to pursue a chosen vocation.
The writers and editors of this list remain hilariously oblivious to the fact that this might be an issue, dubbing the people (men) on the list as “Electronic Cash Kings 2016.” No conflict about using the word king because there are no women! Anyway, who actually tops the list? None other than Calvin Harris of course. It’s his fourth time as the highest-paid DJ in the world which doesn’t make me that mad because “This Is What You Came For” is such a fucking jam, and also because he is one of the only people to publicly put Taylor Swift on blast. (Shouts to you too, Kim.)
Harris earned $63 million, followed by Tiësto with $38 million and David Guetta rounding out the top three with a cool $28 million. It’s worth noting the numbers are calculated solely on earnings from the realm of DJing these Electronic Cash Kings rule over. The full list is below via Forbes.
1. Calvin Harris, $63 Million
2. Tiësto, $38 Million
3. David Guetta, $28 Million
4. Zedd, $24.5 Million
5. Steve Aoki, $23.5 Million
6. Diplo, $23 Million
7. Skrillex, $20 Million
8. Kaskade, $19 Million
9. Martin Garrix, $16 Million
10. Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike, $15.5 Million
11. Afrojack, $15 Million
12. Avicii, $14.5 Million