That kind of reach has only raised the lavish fees that the world’s top D.J.s can command from festivals and nightclubs in Las Vegas and Ibiza, where they often have long-term residencies. Forbes only began tracking D.J. pay in 2012 and, since then, the total earnings of the Top 10 have grown by about 120 percent, from $125 million in 2012 to $274 million last year. Meanwhile, the D.J.s themselves — an entirely male group whose youngest member, Martin Garrix, is 19 — have become celebrity personalities, garnering recording and even endorsement deals. David Guetta, the French D.J. and producer, is a model for the luxury watch brand Tag Heuer, while Mr. Harris is the new face — or, rather, body — of Emporio Armani’s spring underwear campaign. This is the third year in a row that Mr. Harris, who can earn more than $300,000 a night for a club appearance, has topped Forbes’s list. “The rise of dance music has been astronomical in the last three years,” he told the magazine. “I happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

Still, one should be careful not to overstate the mass appeal of electronic music — at least as a source of cinematic adaptation. The film “We Are Your Friends,” with Zac Efron, about the life of a D.J., bombed at the American box office after opening in August. It earned $1.8 million in 2,333 theaters — the worst debut for a major studio release on record, according to the Hollywood Reporter.