Is being a dj in ibza really all its crack out to be?

Should I answer your actual question or should I be honest ???

I’ll go with honest.

Everything you write here says “I am in it for the money”. And frankly, that is about the worst possible reason to be in DJ-ing for. Ibiza is still the #1 party island and playing there means you have a crowd that is there to do just that: PARTY! And in between you get to hang out with the pretty ladies and enjoy a wonderful climate.

Depending on who you are, where you play and how much, the pay is anywhere from decent to excellent (and when you are an international headliner it is near ridiculous) and sometimes you will be put up by the club, other times you will have to find your own way. All that matters not, imho. If I were a young(er) DJ now, I’d most certainly would be looking for a chance to spend a summer at Ibiza, regardless of what is paid or arranged. Clearly, if you have made your mark as a DJ elsewhere and are already DJ-ing for a (decent to good) living, you know what you are worth and you don’t have to ask at forums what the pay is like. You’d already know and/or you’d already know what you want to ask for in terms of gig pay and secondary things like accommodation and such.

So I am gonna take a wild guess and assume your are not there (yet). In which case I’d say go for a stint in Ibiza if you can get it. Enjoy the experience, rack up the hours and hone your skills with the party-ready Ibiza crowd. It’s a bit like Frank Sinatra’s New York: : “If you can DJ there, you can DJ anywhere”, well … almost.

But you will need to bring more to the table (decks) than a love of making the big bucks DJ-ing to get your foot in the door and your ass in the booth.

As for highest paid DJ … check DJ Mag and sites like Forbes for their annual rankings. 2015 I think the top 3 is Calvin Harris (66 mio or something), David Guetta and Tiesto. I read somewhere that Harris will be performing in Vegas for a whopping 400k/night, ridiculous by anyone standards, I guess.

Make no mistake though, all these guys got there primarily because of their producing, not their DJ-ing!

If you wanna take a year off and have the blast of your life, go south and find yourself a spot. Unless you’re already famous, forget the money, they won’t be there for you. BUT… you’ll get by… and YES the rest will be there unless you’re a social misfit. You Play, you Eat, you Sleep, you F… and you get friends and memories for life. The season starts in April and lasts until October. You play every night, no exceptions, 4-10 hours depending on how many DJs you are sharing the booth with. If you get a resident spot you can spend your days in the sun with friends you meet in the clubs. When the word gets around and you get to know the people, you’ll get a pretty discount in all the shops (there’s one price for the tourists and one for the locals/workers) and you’ll probably have free drinks everywhere once you’re face is recognized in the bars and clubs. Be ware of the alcohol and whatever or you’ll end up a drunk in no time. Everyone is talking about Ibiza, but there’s a lot of places you can go and it will be just as much fun there. When people go abroad to party, they do it everywhere, hard. As a DJ, it’s up to you that everyone you meet have a good time around you. That’s a part of the job, maybe the best. Before you go, make sure you have your insurances paid and a ticket home just in case. Sickness or an accident could ruin your life forever otherwise. I went to Corfu in the early 90’s and spend 7 months playing 6-7 hours every night 20.00-03.00ish. As I started early, I always had some of my British/Scottish/Irish colleagues over for a drink before they went to their clubs, and later I usually spent a few hours at their places and had a couple as well. I think I was the only Swedish DJ on the Island, very few were Greek and hundreds of the other mentioned. 10-15 just in the small village of Moraitika where I worked. I can easily say that this still is the best summer of my life and I recommend anyone to go and do it if possible. If you are at the beginning of your DJ career, you will get all the experience you need to kick-start the rest of your DJ life. Good luck!

Got it, thanks for the additional info. Glad you found the answers you were looking for.