Don't think there's money in DJing? Tell your parents they're wrong.

Forbes released their 2017 highest-paid DJ list, and for the fifth consecutive year, GRAMMY winner Calvin Harris was crowned Electronic Cash King, earning $48.5 million. He recently released the star-studded single "Feels" with Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams and Big Sean from his latest album, Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1.

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Coming in at No. 2 on the list was GRAMMY winner Tiësto with a $39 million haul, closely followed by GRAMMY winners the Chainsmokers, whose track "Something Just Like This," featuring Coldplay, hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Other GRAMMY winners abound on the list, including Zedd ($19 million), David Guetta ($25 million), Diplo ($28.5 million), and Skrillex ($30 million).

While electronic music might be easy on the wallet, for these highly creative and collaborative artists, it's about more than just the money. DJing is about the creativity.

"We work with artists because it makes sense, because we're excited about them," the Chainsmokers' Alex Pall told Forbes. "Anytime we work with someone, it's because they offer something to us creatively that inspires us."

EM Awards 2017: Electronic Music Gets Its Own Awards Show

Kylie Minogue has taken home the golden gramophone for Best Pop Dance Recording — an all-new category — at the 2024 GRAMMYs, for "Padam Padam."

Minogue came ahead of of David Guetta, Anne-Marie and Coi Leray ("Baby Don’t Hurt Me"); Calvin Harris featuring Ellie Goulding ("Miracle"); Bebe Rexha and David Guetta ("One in a Million"); and Troye Sivan ("Rush").

The win marks Minogue’s second GRAMMY win after six career nominations. She had previously won Best Dance Recording for "Come Into My World."

The Australian pop star — along with producer Peter "Lostboy" Rycroft and mixing engineer Guy Massey — are the first-ever winners of the Best Pop/Dance Performance category. It was one of three new categories introduced at the 66th GRAMMYs; the other two are Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical and Best African Music Performance. 

Lostboy took the stage to accept the award on behalf of himself, Minogue, and Massey. 

"Padam Padam" charted at No. 7 on Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic chart; it was a much bigger hit in the UK, where it was a No. 1 hit. The song was embraced by the LGBTQ+ community on both sides of the Atlantic. 

"It's hugely important to me and so touching," said Minogue of her popularity with LGBTQ+ fans in an interview with GRAMMY.com earlier this year. "I hope that for that community and beyond, I just want to say I am open-minded and I want people to be happy in themselves. That community needed support and still needs support. I'm here. And they padamed for me."

Keep checking this space for more updates from Music’s Biggest Night!

2024 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Full Winners & Nominees List

By any measure, 2023 was a remarkable year for electronic wunderkind Fred again.. Over 12 whirlwind months, the South Londoner born Fred Gibson accelerated himself from hyped producer to top-line artist, packing festival stages and selling out an eight-night Los Angeles residency.

While this explosive success seemed like it happened overnight, the Fred again.. phenomenon began building in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. As dance music continued its evolution away from the more-is-more EDM era, Fred again..'s earnest, deeply personal, yet still danceable productions struck a chord with fans craving connection in lockdown.

In contrast to big-name DJs up high on faraway festival stages, the producer felt endearingly grounded, from the intimacy of his music to the enthusiasm of his social media posts. His polished, wide-ranging sound — which blends influences from pop, UK garage, house, trance, and the post-dubstep of his key influence, Burial — is also deeply rooted in online culture, incorporating snippets and samples taken from FaceTime, YouTube and voice notes.

Fred again..'s reputation as a dance music star for the internet era set the stage for his Boiler Room performance in the summer of 2022, which has racked up 29 million views and climbing. The Boiler Room takeoff was buoyed by his Swedish House Mafia and Future collab, "Turn on the Lights again..," and a host of unreleased heat that materialized on his third album, Actual Life 3.

Building on this powerful momentum, Fred again.. evolved from internet sensation to full-on superstardom in 2023. His year of highs peaked with four nominations at the 2024 GRAMMYs, including the coveted Best New Artist Category — where he's the only dance act.

As Music's Biggest Night draws closer, here are six feats that made Fred again.. dance music's indisputable rookie of the year.

He Found GRAMMYs Glory On His Own Terms

Before breaking out as a solo artist, Fred again.. earned his stripes as a sought-after producer, working alongside everyone from grime luminaries Stormzy and Headie One to pop superstar Ed Sheeran. Fittingly, his first GRAMMY nominations were for work behind-the-scenes on Jayda G's luminescent house anthem "Both Of Us" (Best Dance/Electronic Recording in 2021) and Sheeran's global hit "Bad Habits" (Song Of The Year in 2022).

The 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards mark the first time he's been recognized for his own music. In addition to Best New Artist, the producer is nominated in Best Dance/Electronic Music Album, Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022), and twice in Best Dance/Electronic Recordings for the '90s trance-channeling Romy collab, "Strong" and the bass-heavy "Rumble" with longtime collaborator Skrillex and Flowdan. 

The four nods are a crowning achievement for Fred again.. as a solo artist that recognizes his individual achievements while also celebrating his evergreen talents as a collaborator. 

He Built On Prior Success  

On his first solo album, 2021's Actual Life (April 14 – December 17 2020), Fred again.. reflected the isolation and strangeness of a COVID-19 lockdown by lacing audio clips of his "actual life" into a collage of electronic production. He followed it later that year with Actual Life 2, which used the same format to explore themes of grief and new beginnings with samples collected from his social feeds. 

"Social media is obviously capable of being a really negative thing," he later told NPR. "But it was also very clear to me that it is capable of being a very beautiful thing." 

That year, Fred again.. also released "Marea (We've Lost Dancing)," featuring musings via FaceTime from DJ-producer the Blessed Madonna on the loss of the dance floor community during the pandemic. Distilling the signature Fred again.. joy-meets-melancholy equation into a cathartic house package, the track became an unlikely lockdown anthem. In 2022, Fred again.. made his Coachella debut with a full live show, soundtracking sunset in the Mojave tent for a tightly packed crowd. 

Coming a few months after Coachella, Fred again..'s Boiler Room set — from his hometown of London, no less — was perfectly timed to send him stratospheric. Over a tight hour, his hybrid DJ-live set showcased his next-level skills on the Maschine+ drum machine/sampler and previews of new music that fans cut into clips and dissected online. Throughout it all, the producer projected a beaming, can't-quite-believe-it elation that was hard to resist. 

When Actual Life 3 arrived that October, complete with those Boiler Room highlights, its crowd-pleasing mix of emotion and jump-up energy already had a captive audience who were now desperate to catch Fred again.. live in 2023. 

He Formed An Instantly Iconic DJ Trio

Fred again..'s banner year was turbo-charged by his DJ bromance with brothers-in-bass Skrillex and Four Tet. Cheekily self-coined "the Pangbourne Mafia," a reference to the sleepy English village where they convened to make music, the trio kicked off 2023 with a surprise back-to-back-to-back set in London, and the fun snowballed from there. (As Fred again.. put it in 2022, "Other human beings are infinitely more inspiring than anything else in the world.") 

Following a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden in February 2023, the DJs were called in last-minute to close weekend two of Coachella. For fans who fell in love with Fred again..'s Boiler Room, it was a surreal thrill to hear "Danielle (smile on my face)" and "Delilah (pull me out of this)" ring out across an expansive sea of festival goers. 

He Ticked Major Goals Off His Bucket List

Instead of coasting on the goodwill of his breakout 2022, Fred again.. spent 2023 searching out new challenges and shades to his sound. In March, he teamed up with Irish singer/songwriter Dermot Kennedy (whose soulful croon appeared on the first Actual Life) and legendary lyricist The Streets on the track "Mike (desert island duvet)". 

Fred again.. appeared on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series in April, which he approached with his customary wide-eyed zeal. The performance of Actual Life cuts featured Fred again.. as a one-man band, jumping between keyboard, vibraphone, marimba, and microphone, while looping his vocals and beats to dazzling effect. 

In May, hot on the heels of that adrenalized Coachella closer, he switched up the pace and released an ambient album, Secret Life, with his musical mentor Brian Eno, who he first met at just 16 years old in Eno's a capella choir group.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Fred again.. (@fredagainagainagainagainagain)

He Played His Biggest Live Shows To Date 

Closing Coachella with your best DJ buddies is hard to top, but Fred again.. kept leveling up. In June, he and his onstage partner Tony Friend played to an expanse of revelers on shoulders and waving colorful flags at Glastonbury, which he later called "my favorite show we've ever played". 

From there, he took his well-honed live show across the U.S. and Europe, complete with precisely-cued visuals across a multi-screen setup with LED panels. Instead of jumping from city to city, the producer set up record-breaking residencies in Los Angeles and New York that allowed him to deliver the same highs over multiple nights. 

This summer, he's set to headline Sunday night at Bonnaroo — reportedly his only U.S. festival appearance scheduled for 2024 — followed by select festival dates across Europe and the UK, including the famed Reading and Leeds double-header. 

He Kicked Off A New Musical Era 

In August, Fred again.. released "adore u" with Nigerian artist Obongjayar, describing it on his Soundcloud as "the first song of a whole new world to me". Inspired by the pair's respective siblings, "adore u" arrived as the perfect synthesis of Fred again..'s earnest, open-hearted world view and club-ready instincts. The producer followed "adore u" with the aching house shuffle ''ten," featuring US rapper Jozzy, and the rowdier drum & bass-filled "leavemealone" alongside previous Best New Artist nominee Baby Keem. 

This trio of 2023 songs reflects a broadening of Fred again..'s sound and influences ahead of his next album project. Whatever highs are yet to come, 2023 will stand as the year that Fred again.. made his own. 

David Guetta Reveals The "Accidents Of Life" That Birthed Hits With Bebe Rexha, Nicki Minaj & More

As any fan can attest, dance music is a broad church spanning myriad micro-genres, fan communities and city-specific scenes. The genre’s reach was as wide as ever in 2023, stretching from the biggest festival stages to the most intimate clubs, with variations in moods and beats-per-minute to suit all tastes. 

Nostalgia for rave’s ‘90s heyday was everywhere, fueling big-name releases and underground club sets alike. [Surprise supergroups](https://www.grammy.com/news/coachella-2023-weekend-2-recap-skrillex-four-tet-fred-again-gorillaz-bad-bunny-eric-pyrdz-performances-surprises-video) and [long-time collaborators](https://www.grammy.com/news/skrillex-fred-again-friendship-timeline-collaborations-videos) hit big in 2023, while albums from [James Blake](https://www.grammy.com/artists/james-blake/17760), [the Chemical Brothers](https://www.grammy.com/artists/chemical-brothers/7746), Disclosure and Everything But The Girl showed there’s still power in the electronic LP format. 

With festivals and DJ touring schedules back to a pre-COVID pace, dance music also enjoyed a busy year on the road. Across North America, [ILLENIUM](https://www.grammy.com/artists/Illenium/38165), G Jones, ZHU and ODESZA (not to mention Beyoncé’s house music-indebted Renaissance tour) sold out venues across the country. In a genre that can feel impossible to get your arms around, these five trends were undeniable in 2023. 

Everything Old Was New Again

Wherever you looked this year, DJ-producers were reaching back to the racing sounds of trance, rave and Eurodance that dominated dancefloors in the ‘90s and early 2000s. David Guetta and Calvin Harris spent 2023 memorably mining this past — the latter’s "Desire," featuring Sam Smith, could be ripped straight from a decades-old pop-trance compilation. 

Meanwhile, South Korean DJ-producer Peggy Gou released "(It Goes Like) Nanana," a dance-pop earworm with shades of ATB’s late ‘90s hit, "9PM (Till I Come)." Already a hugely popular draw as a DJ, Gou’s time-warping groover became her first Billboard chart entry and ignited buzz for her debut artist album, expected in 2024. 

On the less commercial spectrum, European producers like DJ Heartstring, Narciss and Marlon Hoffstadt continued to contextualize vintage sounds for a new audience. Meanwhile, a cluster of Dutch DJs, most notably Job Jobse, Young Marco and KI/KI, played throwback anthem-fuelled sets on festival stages usually reserved for steely techno, including at Dekmantel and Time Warp. 

For some DJs, looking back to the past meant embracing the fast and furious tempos of hardstyle and hard dance, two subgenres with passionate niche followings but little mainstream crossover. Continuing a trend from 2022, speedier BPMs were very much in vogue, as DJs kept pace with fans demanding a harder, faster workout. 

Women Danced To The Front 

Many of the year’s most invigorating and genre-blurring releases were made by women. Having built a steady career as a producer and singer, Kenya Grace broke out in 2023 with "Strangers," which caught fire on TikTok and converted new fans via a sleek mix of pop, drum & bass and Grace’s hushed vocals. Peggy Gou’s aforementioned "(It Goes Like) Nanana," also captured the TikTok zeitgeist with a widely-viewed video of Gou teasing the single for a dancefloor in Morocco. 

Electronic chameleon [Charli XCX](https://www.grammy.com/artists/charli-xcx/18360) stayed squarely in the limelight, following 2022’s stellar *Crash* with the one-two punch of "In The City" featuring Sam Smith and "Speed Drive"(from *Barbie the Album*, which is nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media alongside *AURORA*, *Weird: The Al Yankovic Story*, *Black Panther: Wakanda Forever- Music From And Inspired By*, and *Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3: Awesome Mix*). Meanwhile, two of the year’s standout albums came from women coloring outside the lines of their best-known projects: the xx vocalist Romy’s *Mid Air* embraced her queerness through euphoric dance-pop, while Aluna (of electronic duo AlunaGeorge) blossomed as a solo artist and activist on her second album, *MYCELiUM*. 

While dance music’s ranks remained largely white and male in 2023, undeniable albums from the likes of Jayda G, PinkPanthress and Róisín Murphy were a welcome counterbalance. 

UK Bass Got Bombastic

Following the runaway success of Eliza Rose and Interplanetary Criminal’s 2022 UK garage-tinged house anthem "B.O.T.A. (Baddest of Them All)" the previous year, British bass music continued to shine in 2023. 

While still relatively niche in the U.S., the UK garage (UKG) and bassline subgenres that thrived in the Y2K era found a new generation of British converts, thanks to releases like Interplanetary Criminal’s *All Thru The Night* and Conducta’s *In Transit* EP. Elsewhere, acclaimed British singer/songwriter Jorja Smith tapped her UKG roots on the irresistible single "Little Things." 

Welsh duo Overmono weaved garage textures into their accomplished debut album, *Good Lies*, and rounded out the year with a powerful Boiler Room live set from Manchester’s Warehouse Project. The set and album cemented their bona fides as the UK’s next dance festival headliner. 

The many mutations of UK bass music shone bright all year in DJ sets from the likes of Anz, Nia Archives, Jyoty and Joy Anonymous. (The latter’s near-three-hour set with Austrian producer salute and New Jersey-born garage godfather Todd Edwards at Amsterdam Dance Event captured the jubilant mix of house and UKG that was dominant this year.) 

Bringing it full circle, Eliza Rose parlayed the success of "B.O.T.A." into a collaboration with Calvin Harris on this year’s housey "Body Moving," which started with the pair exchanging Instagram DMs. 

Technology Upped The Ante

In a year where artificial intelligence and rapid technological advancement were burning topics, a wave of dance music artists found new ways to embrace the future. 

The possibilities of technology to enhance live performance were on full display in two raved-about Coachella sets. Swedish veteran [Eric Prydz](https://www.grammy.com/artists/eric-prydz/5679) brought his HOLO show to the California festival, deploying cutting-edge tech to create giant holographic images that extend over the crowd. Meanwhile, inside the festival's Sahara Tent, melodic techno duo Tale Of Us completed their transition to EDM crowd-pleasers with a full-scale audiovisual spectacle that explored themes of robot-human connection. (One half of the duo, Matteo Milleri, is also all-in on NFTs.) 

Meanwhile, techno favorite Nicole Moudaber debuted an AV show in which her own movements control a towering digital avatar. The year also saw big-name DJs embracing the metaverse — from Carl Cox playing a set in the Sensorium Galaxy to Swedish House Mafia joining the Roblox platform — in a trend that’s sure to carry into 2024. 

Techno & Techno-House Go Center Stage

Continuing a trend from 2022, big room techno and tech-house muscled onto U.S. festival stages usually reserved for EDM anthems. In particular, tech-house — which in 2023 sounds a world away from the raw UK club records that birthed the subgenre — cemented its place in the mainstream with Fisher and Chris Lake’s back-to-back set at Coachella’s Outdoor Theatre. (Later in the year, the pair shut down Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles for an epic street party.) 

Both coming off a star-making 2022, tech-house mischief-makers John Summit and Dom Dolla leveled up with bigger shows and feverish fan followings. Meanwhile, Belgian sensation Charlotte de Witte became the techno artist booked on the Ultra Miami main stage, scheduled incongruously alongside the likes of Zedd and Afrojack, while in Europe, techno specialists Amelie Lens and Nina Kraviz were given the same honor (and challenge) for a sprawling crowd at Tomorrowland. 

Whether mining the past or accelerating into the future, the dance/electronic genre never stood still this year, setting the stage for a thrilling 2024.  

[2023 In Review: 5 Trends That Defined Pop Music](https://www.grammy.com/news/pop-music-trends-2023-year-in-review-taylor-swift-sza)

One of three new categories debuting at the 2024 GRAMMYs, Best Pop Dance Recording will be hotly contested in its first year.

The inaugural round of Best Pop Dance Recording nominees features not one, but two [David Guetta](https://www.grammy.com/artists/david-guetta/12848) collaborations ("Baby Don’t Hurt Me" with Anne-Marie and Coi Leray, and "One In A Million" with Bebe Rexha), and the long-awaited reunion of [Calvin Harris](https://www.grammy.com/artists/calvin-harris/3679) and [Ellie Goulding](https://www.grammy.com/artists/ellie-goulding/19043) on "Miracle." The new category also features two earworms from Australian pop dance exports: [Kylie Minogue](https://www.grammy.com/artists/kylie-minogue/14940)’s "Padam Padam" and [Troye Sivan](https://www.grammy.com/news/troye-sivan-something-to-give-each-other-new-album-rush-road-to)’s "Rush." 

Ahead of the 2024 GRAMMYs on Feb. 4, 2024, get to know the five nominees in this newly minted category.

David Guetta, Anne-Marie & Coi Leray -"Baby Don't Hurt Me"

In a year defined by dance producers putting a modern spin on dance music’s past, David Guetta reached back to 1993 to interpolate Haddaway’s dance-pop hit, "What Is Love," for "Baby Don’t Hurt Me." The song is a fitting follow-up to Guetta and Bebe Rexha’s 2022 hit, "I’m Good (Blue)", which winkingly rekindled Eiffel 65’s Eurodance anthem, "Blue (Da Ba Dee)".

"Baby Don’t Hurt Me" brings Haddaway’s irresistible hook into 2023 with distinctive verses from British vocalist Anne-Marie (who memorably joined Marshmello on 2018’s smash  "Friends") and fast-rising Boston rapper Coi Leray. 

Paired with a video that references ‘90s clubbing and cult movie A Night at the Roxbury, "Baby Don’t Hurt Me" is a familiar sugar rush that plays to the individual strengths of its perhaps unlikely trio. 

**Calvin Harris featuring Ellie Goulding - "Miracle"**

Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding are a dance music dream team, having previously released "I Need Your Love" (2012) and "Outside" (2014). After waiting almost a full decade to reunite, the pair returned in 2023 with their third collaboration, "Miracle."

An out-and-out trance-meets-Eurodance throwback (think inspirations like Robert Miles' "Children"), "Miracle" aims straight for the nostalgic pleasure centers. Harris told Apple Music that he needed Goulding's "angelic" vocal talents, and the British singer skillfully plays off the song's maximal production. Working alongside his longtime studio partner Burns, Harris packs the rave euphoria into a crisp three minutes, right through to the unexpected breakbeat outro. 

The non-album single signaled a new phase for Harris, and follows 2022's Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2 as well as his ravier experiments as Love Regenerator. In July, Harris returned to the trance sounds of his teen years with "Desire" featuring Sam Smith, proving these faster tempos are not just a passing phase. 

**Kylie Minogue - "Padam Padam"** 

Now 16 albums into a glittering career, Kylie Minogue is a true icon of international pop. However, not even the most ardent Kylie fans could've predicted her 2023 glow-up, courtesy of viral sensation "Padam Padam." 

The song first came to Minogue in a demo version by Norwegian singer/songwriter Ina Wroldsen and UK producer Lostboy, which immediately caught her ear. "Straightaway, I was in," she recalled to GRAMMY.com, noting that she knew it was "perfect for me."

The first single from the Australian singer's latest album, Tension, the instantly danceable beat and one-word hook of "Padam Padam" inspired countless TikTok videos and memes. "I finally get TikTok. Yes, I've been slow but I finally am there," Minogue admitted upon Tension's release.

Minogue also celebrated the queer community and Gen Z's embrace of her runaway hit. "I hope to continue having fun with that," she added. "It was really organic. I don't think you can force that. It happened and I loved every second of it."

**Bebe Rexha & David Guetta - "One In A Million"**

Ever since co-writing Eminem and Rihanna's "The Monster" in 2013, Brooklyn-born Bebe Rexha has mastered the art of collaboration. Over a prolific decade, including three albums of her own, the pop singer/songwriter has teamed up with a diverse range of artists, including Nicki Minaj, Doja Cat, Florida Georgia Line and Dolly Parton, to feature on her songs.

In the pop dance world, French hitmaker David Guetta is Rexha's most reliable collaborator. After striking gold on 2022's "I'm Good (Blue)" — which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 at the top of 2023 — the pair returned with a new standalone single, "One In A Million."

With a piano line that evokes Guetta's own "When Love Takes Over," "One In A Million" channels the giddy feeling of new love over a racing beat. The song arrived in a typically whirlwind year of collaborations for Guetta, who also mined the past alongside Jason Derulo, Oliver Tree and Zara Larsson. 

**Troye Sivan - "Rush"**

After a long wait between solo releases, Australian pop chameleon Troye Sivan boldly announced a new era with "Rush." Released at the height of summer as the lead single from Sivan's third album, Something To Give Each Other, "Rush" instantly hit its mark as a celebration of queer pleasure-seeking. In a statement, Sivan described the single as an accumulation of "all of my experiences from a chapter where I feel confident, free and liberated."

The song's lusty bassline, exultant piano-house keys and chanted chorus perfectly play off Sivan's falsetto, creating a heady mood of dance floor abandon. (Fittingly, the Berlin-shot music video is a parade of sweaty bodies in motion.) A ready-made anthem, "Rush" set the stage perfectly for the assured and life-affirming *Something To Give Each Other*, leaving no doubt that Sivan is thriving in 2023. 

The 2024 GRAMMYs, officially known as the 66th GRAMMY Awards, returns to Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, and will broadcast live on the CBS Television Network and stream live and on-demand on Paramount+ at 8-11:30 p.m. ET/5-8:30 p.m. PT.

The Recording Academy and GRAMMY.com do not endorse any particular artist, submission or nominee over another. The results of the GRAMMY Awards, including winners and nominees, are solely dependent on the Recording Academy's Voting Membership.

2024 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Winners & Nominees List