The DJ Magazine Top 100 DJ's list is a go-to reference point for us at Music Times, but we understand that many fans and performers in the EDM genre don't think that list is worth jack. The problem on our end is that there's no comparable list to resort to. Until now.
Topple Track, an anti music-piracy group, and JustGo Music, a social media monitoring company, combined to create a new list. The difference between them and the controversial DJ Mag list is that this one's based on a formula: The rankings are compiled by aggregating a performer's social media following, his/her social media growth since the previous year, the DJ's popularity on Google, and how many times their music is illegally downloaded. We might suggest next year's chart incorporate corporate activity and work in outside media, but this is a great start.
Needless to say, if things were exactly the same as DJ Mag's list, this wouldn't be a story. A few performers saw huge gains, and a few saw huge losses from list-to-list.
The losers include Armin van Buuren (no. 2 to no. 18), W&W (no. 14 to no. 44) and Markus Schulz and Headhunterz, who both toppled out of the Top 25 on DJ Mag's list. The winners include Calvin Harris (no. 15 to no. 2), Zedd (no. 24 to no. 7) and Knife Party (no. 25 to no. 9). Krewella, Swedish House Mafia, Steve Argello and the Bingo Players also arrived in the Top 25 on the new list.
More confusing is the short list of performers who managed to make one Top 25 but didn't make the other list's Top 100. These include Daft Punk and Aly & Fila (from DJ Mag), and Disclosure and Rudimental (from JustGo). Our only guess, based on the pop appeal of Daft Punk's singles or the instrumental-hybridization of Rudimental, is that there's conflict on whether these acts qualify as "electronic." Daft Punk and Disclosure certainly made an impact on music during 2013, enough to justify a place on any EDM Top 100 list, granted the organizers consider them truly EDM.
Not everything is in turmoil however: Both sides concluded that Hardwell was truly the no. 1 DJ of 2013. He can sleep easy now.
