45-year-old Tijs Michiel Verwest, better known as Tiësto, stands at the precipice of a complete cultural takeover by the EDM world, one of the most prominent names in the unstoppable dance music revival of the 21st century. A two-decade scene veteran, Tiësto straddles the bridge between dance music’s underground history and a new era of EDM superstars like Avicii, Calvin Harris, Martin Garrix and beyond. He was a major influence in the rise of the latter, mentoring the young spinner and others like him, including Hardwell, as he offered them opening slots on tours and aided their navigation through the industry’s notoriously treacherous waters.
On his latest album, A Town Called Paradise, Tiësto hybridized trance euphoria with infectious pop structures to massive success. For a deep lather of icing on the year, he won his first ever Grammy last month for a remix of John Legend’s “All of Me,” further cementing his status as an industry mainstay and top figure in the genre. As for social media? He’s killing it there too, with over 3.4 million Twitter followers and 20 million Facebook fans.
The social accolades don’t pay bills, however, but low production costs and a staggering quarter-million average set fee keep Verwest in luxury. With lucrative brand partnerships, sponsor deals and over 100 shows in the past year, he tied with Avicii for #3 on Forbes’ World’s Highest Paid DJs list at $28 million. And this year, thanks to the expansion of his own AudioFly/ClubLife products and a $30 million deal with soft-drink giant 7UP, he may very well reach #1.
A Billboard interview revealing Tiësto’s perspective on his fame and the future of music was a telling testament to the man’s dedication to raising the status of the entire scene. In discussing his landmark sponsorship deal with 7UP, Tiësto explained the pivotal role 7UP’s support played in the exposure of new artists he’s been working with.
“Last year, for example, I signed seven new DJs — seven guys who, in one year, became a lot bigger because of [7UP’s] support,” he explained. “I think that’s where brands have a real potential to build something lasting. When I think about the Club Life brand, that’s how I think about it. It’s more than a label, it represents a lifestyle, my lifestyle on the club circuit.”
As for the future of dance music? Tiësto isn’t studying tea leaves, but he’d like the rest of us to stop the hand-wringing over terminology.
“It’s hard to predict, and I try not to bother. What can you do?” he asks. “What do those genres even mean? EDM used to be a term for all of electronic dance music, but now it just means all the music that you’re not supposed to play. It became the new trance. It got popular, so now we’re all into deep house. And soon we’ll be over that. You can’t win. I wish we could have just stuck with EDM, honestly, because we finally had a term that captured everything in one big family, like jazz. But, no. We had to be hip.”
Genre-labeling issues notwithstanding, Tiësto is an undeniable force in the music world. Catch his set this month at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami.
