November 26, 2012 21:49

Deadmau5 denies earning $11 million a year

Joel Zimmerman has said that 'nobody is making that kind of money'

Photo: PA

DJ and producer Deadmau5 has denied that he earns $11 million a year.

The electronic artist has refuted his place in Forbes' recent list of the Top 10 biggest earners in dance music – called the Electronic Cash Kings list.

Deadmau5 – real name Joel Zimmerman was ranked sixth in the list – which was topped by Tiësto - with estimated yearly earnings of $11.5m (£7.4m).

However, Zimmerman has now said that he earns nowhere near that figure.

Speaking at Billboard's FutureSound Conference, he said:

After I saw the article, I called my manager and said, 'Yo, what the fuck? I'm $9 million short, dude. We gotta talk. Nobody is making that kind of money.

During the Q&A session, Zimmerman also spoke about other artist's branding gimmicks, with reference to his oversized mouse mask. He said:

"I'm not gonna condemn them for doing that, because 'oh, I was the first guy to put something on my head.' I can't have any hatred for anyone doing that, but I can understand how hard it must be to have a unifying brand identity with your art."

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