The DJ Mag Top 100 poll is a by and large considered a popularity contest, because it is. Fans vote for their favorite DJs and the bigger the artist is, the more the votes they will get. Also the more money an artist pumps into advertising about the poll, the more fans are likely to be aware about voting for them. Now according to a new study by Las Vegas travel agency Galavantier, the results of that poll, which has put Dutch DJ/producer Hardwell at the number one for a second straight year, show that Las Vegas clubs align their bookings pretty close to the what the results of the DJ Mag Top 100 results are.
Such a consensus is not surprising at all. Many of the Las Vegas clubs cater to a more mainstream bottle service crowd that is looking for popular, mainstream DJs. These Djs cost a lot of money, but the clubs are willing to pay and their customers are willing to fork over the cash as well.
There is one caveat that you have to take away from this study. Many of the bookings, notably the residencies, are done on a yearly basis, before the poll was released. Since the poll results were just released during Amsterdam Dance Event and the bookings in the study involved in the study happened before it is hard to look at the exact numbers. Even with that fault in the study, 59 of the top 63 DJs have performed in Las Vegas, either as residents or during special weekends like Memorial Day or during EDC Week.
The general theme of the study should be appreciated though. Some clubs in Las Vegas show some invention in their booking, but with the new EDM explosion hitting the club scene, dance music is what people want to go hear in bottle service clubs. This has aligned Vegas bookings with popular opinion that is willing to hear the same tracks night after night. We will see if some clubs decide to try and break from the mold of top 100 DJs, but don't hold your breath.
Graphic courtesy of Galavantier
