If you were Calvin Harris, how would you spend $66m? It’s a dilemma he doesn’t have time to consider as he is too busy packing 7,000 capacity White-House-sized nightclubs in Las Vegas for a reported $300,000 per set. As the top electronic producer in the world, he might be earning $10,000 per fist pump behind the decks, but his rise, together with his fellow EDM (Electronic Dance Music) artists, is showing no sign of slowing. The current EDM Revolution is being touted as the new Rock n’ Roll and no doubt many traditionalists are waiting for the collapse. Not only is the revolution here to stay however, it’s only just getting started.
Harris tops the latest Forbes ‘Electronic Cash Kings’ rich list with an annual $66m fortune, up 50% from the previous year and surpassing the likes of Rhianna, Jay Z and all of One Direction. To put this achievement into even greater perspective, he topped Tiger Woods, Simon Cowell, Ronaldo, Messi and matched Beatles legend Paul McCartney. The rest of the list is made up of other multi-millionaires including David Guetta ($30m), Avicii ($28m), Tiesto ($28m) with Steve Aoki, Afrojack, Zedd, Kaskade, Skrillex, Deadmau5, Hardwell, Armin van Buuren and Steve Angello sharing $153m. So what makes the EDM Revolution so special? There are three factors which make up what I call the ‘MEA Effect‘: Mainstream – Euphoria – Accessibility.
Mainstream
EDM is a marriage made in heaven with mainstream pop. Calvin Harris reflects back to a moment in pop history in 2011 when a combination of major artists including Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas and David Guetta were all hitting the top of the charts with EDM-heavy tracks. Whilst Europe has been partying for decades, the US – a sleeping giant in the EDM world – suddenly woke up. Collaborations with EDM Producers and the biggest names in pop became commonplace. Calvin Harris alone has worked with Rhianna, Ellie Goulding and Florence. Dance music took over the charts Stateside and Pop EDM was born.
