Celebrity appearances are a staple of nightclubs these days, elevating the price of entry for clubs and making money for the celebrities that appear. It wasn’t always that way though. Back in the day, record execs like Puff Daddy would have to pay off club owners or DJs to spin an artist’s new tracks. In today’s celebrity-driven culture, the script has been flipped.
Exactly how much are these celebs making though? GQ dug into the industry of celebrity appearances, and found that artists can make quite a bit without having to put it more effort than maybe a couple songs performances. The most profitable people are the ones with a party-oriented persona – Lil Jon is Sujit Kundu Artist Management (which goes by SKAM Artist)’s highest grossing client. The Atlanta rapper and DJ makes six figures at each appearance. One deal had Paris Hilton, 50 Cent and Lenny Kravitz splitting $4 million. Even the celebs have trouble rationalizing it. “I guess people think Lil Jon is the perfect person to party with," Lil Jon explained.
Future probably makes plenty off his album sales, but appearing on New Year’s Eve for a rumored $250,000 doesn’t hurt either. Nicki Minaj was recently sued for bailing on an appearance after only 34 minutes. Her fee that night? $236,000.
Even talent that isn’t necessarily a household name can get in on the action. Puff Daddy’s son Quincy Combs gets at least $10,000 at each appearance. Rich Homie Quan is in the five figure territory as well, and Ray J recently made $150,000 appearing at clubs in Dubai. Even Scott Disick, who doesn’t have any actual skills, made upwards of $70,000 per appearance during his height of popularity. Sounds like easy money.
[via GQ]