I occasionally get to see what search terms lead people to Not Your Jukebox. A couple of weeks ago, the question of “why do white DJs make all the money” led some curious soul to this site. After an initial chuckle, I realized that this is actually a damn good question. When you look at the top earners, per Forbes magazine, 15 of the top 16 are white. The one non-white is Steve Aoki, and well… close enough.
So why is there so little diversity when it comes to the top earners? Why didn’t techno legend Carl Cox even make the list? Especially considering he is frequently booked solid a year in advance. Even house legend Derrick Carter quipped, “Shoot, If I had the answer, I’d be making all the money, too. It would be ‘Why do white DJs and Derrick Carter make all the money?'”
Digging a little further and looking at the DJ Mag top 100 (yes I know, I puked in my mouth a little too), it was not surprising that their list was looking a bit like Abercrombie & Fitch propaganda (albeit not nearly as in shape and much hairier). After some time searching through various lists, the trend was pretty clear: ethic diversity and women (especially those that weren’t dressed like they were about to dance around a pole) were generally scarce among top ten lists.
Black pioneers founded DJing and house/techno music, so why has it become so predominantly white? Sinbad called attention to this very issue during a radio interview earlier this year (fast forward to 17:40).
So what happened? Is it just a standard case of white male dominance and cultural appropriation? I reached out to some of my black DJ and producer friends to see what their views on the matter were. Some didn’t even want to broach the subject, feeling it was not the right time to discuss the topic given much of the issues going on nationally (like in Ferguson) and didn’t want to rock the boat or risk alienating themselves from the promoters they were currently working with. The fact that there was this kind of trepidation made me want to bring this issue to light that much more, why should there be hesitance when it comes to pointing out inequality?
My first call was to Detroit to get insight from friend and manager Cornelius Harris, head of AlterEgo Management and member of the techno collective Underground Resistance. “My general understanding is that on average,” he explained, “black men make about 75% of what white men make. In terms of electronic music, I can say that when you’re talking about ‘names’ the gap is bigger. But that may be because the fees are insane to begin with. Some of these guys are making $40,000 on a so-so show. So yes, that’s a huge jump from what the original guys who invented techno make.”
Devlin Jenkins (aka Vagabond Superstar), a house DJ staple of the Pacific Northwest, confirmed another important point, “It’s about marketability. It’s easier to market a white DJ than it is a black one. It always has been. White men have always been more visually flexible and can fit into more molds and cookie cutters than can minorities. You can be punk, metro, gay, flashy, posh, etc. as a white man and it seems ‘natural’ to the masses, more so than for a minority.” He continued, “Being white is more pliable and versatile than any other race because it’s been burned into our minds, not only in the US, but globally. White DJs are more willing to be gimmicky and trite for money, whereas minority DJs aren’t. Try to imagine DJ Sneak doing what Paulie D does, or DJ Heather doing what Paris Hilton does or any minority doing what Deadmau5 or Skrillex do. Visually it just wouldn’t be taken seriously and wouldn’t get one quarter of the traction. Plus as a minority, you’ll always be a minority first instead of a DJ first. These days it’s more of a surprise to see a person of color seeing the success of a Deadmau5 because no one expects a person of color to make it that far.”
Everybody I talked to generally agreed with the assertion that the business side of the music industry being primarily white-owned comes into play as well. Success in any business relies heavily on who you have access too. White artists generally have more access to the white connections that have access to the white-owned labels and white-run events. When looking at EDM, which is where the high dollars are currently at, the trend further crystalizes. The crowds that attend EDM shit shows festivals are primarily white, so it is no wonder that the powers that be would want to reflect that on their stage. The real question is what came first, the white crowds or the white DJs?
Even the underground sees its share of imbalance. A longtime mainstay DJ of the Southern California scene (who because of the sensitive nature and local politics of the topic wanted to remain anonymous) points out, “I’ve been dealing with this kind of thing for 20 years,” he says, “When it comes to local talent, promoters book their friends at a higher wage. There isn’t a lot of black rave promoters in the area so unless you’re the exception and extremely close with all the white and Hispanic promoters, you are getting paid less, if at all.”
Clearly there is a problem here, one I find especially out of place for a scene that is supposed to be all about love, peace, unity, respect, and equality. At one point I even joked that the problem is that the moneymaking genre is EDM and there just isn’t enough soul for black DJs. But as Cornelius quickly pointed out, “There are plenty of cheesy black guys looking to make a buck. I guess that’s why there’s Seth Troxler.”
Despite all the possible reasons of why this inequality exists, the question remains: how do we fix it?
Not Your Jukebox 
I’ll gladly comment on this.
The difference is “black” culture doesn’t support it’s Artists and DJs like “white” culture does.
That’s the problem/ solution… period. We have amazing DJs and I’ve had the pleasure of spinning/ performing with some of them. Jazzy Jeff, GM Flash, Mixmaster Mike, Capri, Dummy, Jaycee, Premier, Craze, Presyce, Qbert, D-Styles. The same goes for Artists. We have TONS of talented DJs who are masters of this craft and Artists who put out real music… but the problem is the culture doesn’t support the culture. White culturalists will spend $400 on tickets to a festival. Black culturalists won’t spend over $40. As a result, the white events get larger and extravagant, while black events get smaller and more basic. Why spend money on events when people won’t come? Why go to events when it’s the same old thing and no one makes it worthwhile? Those are 2 questions that outbalance each when looking at it from each perspective.
If you want “black” DJs and Artists to flourish and reach stardom like “white” DJs and Artists… we have to SUPPORT them then.
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So much truth here. Black people don’t realize how much power they have. Black people set the trends in the US; what they think is cool becomes cool and on a broader level, whatever Americans want, the rest of the world wants. If Black people began to support their own, then others would follow. Problem solved.
We give away our power.
brown noser…stop hating your own white people, all black people have is a badass attitude and a swagging that some whites look up to and imitate…but in terms of music they have nothing…you just wanna swag that’s all.
If black people earned the same money as white people maybe they would spend that kind of money it’s nearly always a colour thing when it comes down to hiring a DJ you’ll get a lot of white people who don’t like black people but love the music they would rather hire a white DJ who plays black music than a black DJ & theirs a small minority of white people who only want black djs their are so many factors ie white djs who are racist but don’t hire black djs unless he’s a big name with a big following, white owners of night clubs & bars that won’t hire black, clubs in this day & age that won’t let black or brown people into their clubs even tho those same clubs are playing black music & the majority of night clubs owned by white people & the white promoters feel soulful house is for black people & if they played that music it would attract too many black & scare away a lot of white people who feel safe in their own environment their is two solutions to address the balance start playing more soulful house on daytime radio & start marketing that music to everyone all I’m seeing is white DJ & all hearing is EDM & your so call dance music with only white male & female singers It’s called white privilege it has to be controlled by the white music industry
That’s a pretty narrow view of the situation. 1st, EDM dj’s aren’t given support on black stations. Somehow the black station in every city is ONLY Hiphop. This subtly builds the subconscious problem of only allowing hiphop acts a platform. The funny side of that is that most hiphop acts are picked by an industry now controlled by white people not concerned with he health of black communities. Take that with minorities typically being the poorest of music consumers and you have a perfect situation of black people being separated from an industry they started.
…and this is how you lose the grip on the culture you started.
I somewhat disagree. Are we going to ignore population? Income? And let’s not forget, good ole racism! Hey, it is what it is! We created the art of the DJ and MC. It can’t and never will be denied. That alone should’ve propelled us to the top of this chain. But you’re right, I don’t think Black DJ’s would put tv’s on their head and scratch records in Mickey Mouse costumes…Seriously. I do t know about all that.
Reblogged this on The DJ Stone Crazy Spot and commented:
Cool blog to read.
and more yet, there are no “DEEP” house dis on the list.
Maybe its because all the good black DJ’s give less of a toss about cash than the music or culture they peddle. Rather than measuring success in monetary value we should measure success in a form that represents impact and influence upon electronic music. That being said, no level in that imaginary scale of measurement could ever top ‘invented techno’. Good work Underground Resistance, keep it up!
Techno sucks and is the easier shit to create
Excellent read. Not Gonna add anything.beyond that as I’m a white Producer \ DJ \ Promoter \ Label Owner and as the article articulates beautifully, probably best to keep my mouth shut….except this- I’ve always paid the artists both local and out of town guests including DC, Farina, Gene Farris, BBB, Collette, the list goes on, in addition to my artist roster for my house label Proper Wax & Digital has a blend of white black Indonesian, etc….I’ve always paid what was asked of me. And don’t write an artist agreement differently for a white producer that I would a producer of ‘color’. Talent is talent. Period. Thanks again for the article
Wow. You make it sound like appropriation. The record player made by a white guy, The first DJ was white. The first DJ to use two turntables was white. The first to best match was white. A black man was the first to see the attraction of scratching. Appropriation it is not.
Lastly, who makes up the majority of the paying customer base?
really dont think so black people made house and techno music you just stole it for your white supremacy self try it off what black people invent.
Lose an argument? just blame white supremacy. Smh.
House music was invented by Frankie knuckles by taking two White invented genres and mixing them. (Learn your history, ma’am) Some could call that appropriation. I call it putting a new spin on things.
You say it was a white man who was the first DJ. Be that as it may, it just so happen a white man, Jimmy Savile is credited being the world’s first DJ. That said, let’s ask a question what was he jamming to????? If we look at what ol Jimmy was jamming, he was jamming the jazz!!!!! So ironically, this white man supposedly being the world’s first DJ, was jamming jazz – a black artform. Am I saying he appropriated jazz????? I’m not going to say no or yes, but I will say he made significantly more money than Buddy Bolden – the father and pioneer of jazz. Something you’ll wanna think about DJ Cee. Yera.
DJ Cee, just how fucking stupid you can be????? You say Frankie Knuckles mixed two white invented genres to create house music. And what white genres of music was that????? I’ll just assume you’re talking about disco and electronica. Now for all your fucking talking about “somebody need to know there history”, ask the question how was disco invented????? Disco was heavily influenced by Motown, funk, soul, and even salsa. All of these influences that shaped disco, are black. These same influences also went into house music. So WTF are you talking about saying “Frankie Knuckles mixed two white genres of music together”, when house music was largely created mixing from the numerous influences I cited above????? Yeah, I think its obvious who don’t know shit about this history!!!!! DJ Cee, DJ Dumbass would be a very fitting name for you😁😁😁😁😁!!!!! Yera.
Good truth in this article. Very true👍👍👍👍👍👊👊👊👊👊!!!!! However, it would be even better if you can keep these insecure clowns of your blog in the comments. Just something you should consider if you want the best expanded insightful answers to such topics. Yera.