Joel Zimmerman, better known under the light-up ears as Deadmau5, recently sat down to talk shop at a Q&A session at Billboard's FutureSound Conference. Turns out even mainstream EDM's rodent-headed patron saint is staying skeptical on the future of his genre, asserting that the acronym might more accurately refer to "event-driven marketing" these days.
Comparing the current stadium DJ craze to the disco of the 1970s, Zimmerman expressed some doubt about mainstream electronica's staying power. And although he was quick to note the sheer branding power of his infamous mouse mask, he did point out that he's not quite raking in the dough that everyone thinks he is. Forbes listed him at number 6 on their "World's Highest-Paid DJs" list with $11.5 million in earnings, but Zimmerman claims that figure is several million off the mark. "No one is making that kind of money," he said.
Head over to Billboard's website to watch the video interview.