Yesterday, we talked about the Forbes annual Electronic Cash Kings list which ranks the top 10 richest DJs in the world by total net worth. While music sales obviously have a hand in that, if I had to guess, the bulk of revenue comes from syncs, touring, and maybe even brand sponsorships.
If you’re interested in knowing whose music is selling the best, then Music Week takes it right back to the music with the perfect listicle which ranks the top-selling DJs of 2016 from the Forbes list. The numbers denote how many singles sales they’ve had from June 2015 to June 2016, taking into account any track that the artist has appeared on or collaborated on during that time.
1. Calvin Harris – 2.8m
2. David Guetta – 1.9m
3. Diplo – 1.4m
4 Skrillex – 1.3m
5. Tiësto – 582,539
6. Zedd – 443,703
7. Steve Aoki – 155,000
While it’s probably no surprise to see Calvin Harris in peak position, David Guetta sitting in second place is fairly surprising to me. Diplo, Skrillex, Tiësto, Zedd, and Steve Aoki round out the rest of the top seven. The gap between #1 Calvin Harris and #2 David Guetta is absolutely insane, so maybe I have been jumping the gun when I questioned whether Calvin Harris’ era of radio dominance was over.
The list corresponds fairly well overall with the Electronic Cash Kings rankings with all seven of these artists on this list top seven on the Forbes list – even if there are some scrambled orders. Calvin Harris sits in first place on both lists while Guetta jumps from third in net worth to second in sales. Tiësto slides down from third in net worth to fifth in sales as does Steve Aoki who falls from fifth in net worth to seventh here.
H/T: Music Week