Music festivals, a long-standing summer tradition in Europe, have spread to the United States and across the globe. They’ve become the venues to go to get a firsthand look at and listen to new music. Naturally, every DJ and upcoming producer is now looking to one day play on one of these massive stages in front of hundreds of thousands of screaming fans.
Booking a spot at a music event has become incredibly difficult. To begin with, becoming acknowledged by the event organizers will need a significant amount of effort! You would definitely need to have the support of an A-list producer to start putting yourself out there.
Generally speaking, if you’re an A-list DJ, you’re easily earning 6-figure numbers. But how much a DJ makes when they perform at an EDM festival depends a lot on the event, the time slot and is always open to some level of negotiation.
On the other side, aspiring producers and DJs are making a lot of money! They’re still making six-figure salaries. It seems really fantastic to me! Nonetheless, there is a lot of discussion (and misinformation) about how these DJs are hired and what occurs to bring them on as a festival headliner. We go into great depth in the next post. Therefore, if you’re interested in the topic, or even if you want to book your favorite celebrity one day, keep reading!
The Booking Process
The booking process for every event is almost same in structure and technique. To simplify it, let’s break down in general, and in simple terms, what happens when a festival wants to book an artist:
- The “promoter” (in this example, the festival) contacts their preferred acts/artists via their agency (s).
- The artist’s agent considers the date(s), venue, festival, location, capacity, profile, and other significant aspects to evaluate whether the event is worth the artist’s time or whether it is on the level at which this musician is anticipated to perform.
- Generally for festivals, the agency has a specific sum, dubbed their ‘Festival fee’. Depending on the festival, and the factors above, they will go back to the promoter with a price.
- The promoter then begins negotiating with the agency.
- After both sides have agreed on a fee, the agent goes to the artists/actor and makes a formal offer to them.
- The artist/act then confirms or refuses the offer.
Related Questions
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How much does EDC DJ make?
Most electronic music producer salaries currently range between $31,000 and $80,000 with the highest earnings of $104,000 per year in the United States. The amount of money an artist makes is determined by a variety of things. In a mid-sized town in the United States or the United Kingdom, the typical DJ makes $250 to $300 each night for a 4-hour performance.
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How much should I get paid as a DJ?
The average hourly wage for a DJ in the United States is $22.89 per hour as of March 8, 2023. While is seeing hourly wages as high as $74.04 and as low as $9.38, the majority of DJ wages currently range between $11.54 (25th percentile) to $18.75 (75th percentile) across the United States.
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How many DJs play at EDC?
Insomniac’s flagship festival, known for generating roughly 1.3 billion dollars in revenue for Las Vegas over three days, returns this weekend with more than 300 DJs performing across nine stages, four art cars, daily pool parties, a kickoff soirée, and more sonic diversity under the dance music umbrella than…
