DJing is a fantastic career, but getting a stable income isn’t always easy. For that reason, many DJs look to alternate sources of money to supplement what they make from gigs. Luckily, there are more opportunities than ever for resourceful DJs to find extra work. Having multiple sources of income can make the difference between DJing being a full-time job and a hobby.
We’ve broken down our top five ways to make money as a DJ, with explanations on how to get started with each.
1. Offer DJ Services on Fiverr
As a DJ, performing live in venues is likely only one of the many skills you’ve got. There are loads of other jobs that you might not immediately expect DJs to do that can be good earners. For example, companies often want custom mixes or drops made for them or curate playlists for specific events.
Plenty of people out there are looking for skilled DJs to perform all these tasks, but finding and connecting with them can be difficult. Fiverr is a great site to connect with anyone looking for this sort of casual work, and get started looking for new work opportunities.
These are just some of the top DJ services on Fiverr, with many having hundreds of confirmed purchases and reviews.
To get started, just make a Fiverr account and set up a professional profile showcasing your skills and advertising your services. Remember that this is your storefront to the world, so spend some time making your profile really stand out – focus on what unique services you can offer.
From here, you’ve got to promote this Fiverr page to your audience to get some gigs. Make sure you post about it on your social media pages and mention it at in-person events and gigs.
Earnings Potential:
- Beginner: $100–$300/month
- Established: $1,000+/month
2. Monetize Your DJ Skills with Twitch Streaming
Twitch is a live-streaming platform that’s become the place to be for DJs looking to showcase their talent. Thanks to a recent deal with music labels, it’s now legal for DJs to play copyrighted music on their streams, meaning you’ll no longer get blocked and taken down if you play proper tracks. However, using licensed tracks or mixes specifically cleared for live streaming is still important.
You can earn money from viewers paying to subscribe to your channel, which means that they no longer see ads and get special perks. Viewers can also give ‘tips’ to streamers they like as a way of showing support or for interaction with things like song requests.
Popular Twitch DJs make a good amount of their money through interacting with their viewers, including things like taking song requests.
Lastly, you can receive direct donations via third-party services like PayPal. Many DJs also set up Patreon or similar services alongside Twitch for extra income.
To start out on Twitch, you’ll need to invest in a camera, mic and streaming software like OBS studio. Then, you’ll need to set up a Twitch account and create a channel before building up a regular streaming schedule so your audience knows when to expect you. Consistency is key when starting out and you’ll likely not see too much movement at first, but stick with it in the beginning. From here, you can start to monetise things with Twitch subscriptions, donations, and interaction with your viewers.
Earnings Potential:
- Beginner: $200–$500/month through subs and tips.
- High-end: $5,000–$10,000+/month with a strong following and regular streaming schedule.
3. Grow Your Income with Mixcloud Subscriptions
Mixcloud is a massive platform that should already be a familiar name to most DJs. But what might not be as well known is that you can actually make money from it as well. The two main ways DJs earn money through Mixcloud are from subscriptions and tips. If you’re a fan of DJ on Mixcloud, you can subscribe to their channel to get exclusive mixes, early access or even live sessions. The more subscribers you have, the more you’ll earn and this can quickly add up to a decent amount of money if you’ve got a good following.
Bigger creators on Mixcloud, such as DJ Blighty, can make very good money just off people subscribing for extra perks.
There are also tips on Mixcloud, which essentially works like a virtual tip jar. If someone enjoys your mix, they can send you a tip to show how much they love it and say thanks.
Mixcloud works on a fair distribution model, where any money you earn is split between you and the artists you play. The breakdown goes as follows:
65% – The artists you play
18% – You
17% – Application fees (going towards Mixcloud)
To get started on Mixcloud, set up a Mixcloud account and build out your profile. Then you’ve got to make sure you’re uploading DJ sets regularly. Like most things, you can’t expect things to happen overnight, so make sure you’re sticking to a good release schedule and promoting your mixes across your socials. This is an important part of making a name for yourself as a DJ anyway, and it should be something you’re doing anyway, so making money off it won’t require much more effort.
From here, you can enable the subscription feature, which allows fans to subscribe and pay for your exclusive content.
Earnings Potential:
- Beginner: $200–$500/month through subs and tips.
- High-end: $5,000–$10,000+/month with a strong following and regular streaming schedule.
If you’re interested in uploading some mixes but want to level up your DJing skills first, we’ve got you covered. We’ve put together a free lesson that covers 3 creative mix techniques that will take your skills to the next level.
Want more? Our library of courses covers everything from advanced mix tricks to gear-specific techniques and industry know-how. And if you’re ready to commit to DJing, our complete package will give you everything you need to kickstart your career at a bargain price.
4. Secure Brand Deals and UGC Projects
Once you’ve got a bit of a following behind you, brands may be keen to collaborate. If you’ve built up a good presence and a loyal fan base on social media, brands will likely come to you to promote their products. DJs like Annabel and Zoe London, who have been featured on our podcast, have successfully leveraged their personal brands to secure deals with well-known companies in the DJ and lifestyle space. Their journeys highlight how building a personal brand can attract partnerships that pay off in more ways than one.
A large part of this revolves around something called UGC – User Generated Content. This is content that you create to promote a brand’s products in an authentic way.
Music and audio companies, in particular, rely heavily on UGC because it offers a real-world glimpse into how DJs and fans use their products. If you have a following, you can reach out to these companies and ask if they need any UGC content, like demo videos, tutorials, or reviews, that you can provide. Then, let them know your rates.
When pitching UGC services, focus on how you can naturally highlight their product in your DJ sets, reviews, or tutorials. Adjust your rate based on your audience size and engagement—brands often pay more if they see you have an engaged following.
Example of UGC Rates by Follower Brackets:
- 1,000 Followers: $50–$100 per post
- 5,000 Followers: $100–$250 per post
- 10,000 Followers: $250–$500 per post
- 50,000+ Followers: $500+ per post, with more potential for long-term collaborations
To get started with UGC, you’ll of course need to first build up a strong following on social media. Pick one platform to really focus your efforts on. Then, you’ve got to keep on posting engaging content regularly, including DJ mixes, behind-the-scenes footage, and DJ tips. Once your audience grows to a decent size, and, again, this won’t happen overnight, you can start to reach out to brands to see if they’ll be interested in working together.
5. Selling Bootlegs on Patreon or Bandcamp
If you love making music like mashups, bootlegs and edits to drop in your sets, you could be making money off them on platforms like Patreon or Bandcamp.
On Patreon, your fans pay you a monthly subscription, and in return, they get access to your exclusive bootlegs and remixes – a lot like a VIP club for your biggest fans. It’s sort of similar to Mixcloud, but you have more control over what you offer, and you can include other rewards like behind-the-scenes content or even tutorials.
On Bandcamp, you can release your music for download and set whatever price you think people will be happy to pay.
Bandcamp, on the other hand, lets you sell individual tracks or full albums directly. So, if you make a killer bootleg, you can put it up for sale, and fans can pay to download it. The great thing about Bandcamp is that you can set your own prices or even let fans pay what they want, meaning some might pay more than the listed price if they really love your work.
Earnings Potential:
- Conservative estimate: $50–$200/month for a small number of subscribers or track sales.
- High end: $1,000–$2,000+/month if you build a larger fanbase and produce high-quality bootlegs.
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