When it comes to DJ polls, there are two very different opposite rankings for the top DJs in the world. The most controversial one, the DJ Mag Top 100, relies on fan voting to rank the top DJs in the world, which predictably has main stage heavyweights like Hardwell, Tiesto, Avicii, Armin van Buuren, Martin Garrix and others top the list. In a very different twist of events, Resident Advisor, a standard for underground dance music, has its own opinion on which the top DJs in the world are. German Steffan Berkhahn, label owner of Berlin-based Innervisions Recordings and professionally known as Dixon, topped the poll for a second straight year, while others like Seth Troxler, Richie Hawtin, Tale Of Us and others trailed not far behind.
Another fan-voted poll, it was restricted to those who were members of the site before the voting opened. After all the votes were tallied, Dixon came out on top with Tale Of Us, Âme, Seth Troxler and Maceo Plex rounding out the top 5.
The poll opens with a similar written asterisk that the DJ Mag poll does, stating, "Countless DJs smashed it this year whose names you will not find below-up-and-comers, influential scene-leaders, even a few so-called legends. What you've got here are not necessarily the 100 best DJs in the world, so much as the 100 DJs who made the biggest splash in 2014. More than anything else, it's a look at where dance music is at right now."
As with any fan-voted poll there will always be questions and controversies about where certain DJs are ranked. Should Maya Jane Coles and Carl Cox be ranked at 48 and 49, respectively? Even after a critically acclaimed album release, should Joris Voorn be only 43? As with any fan voted poll, it always comes down to the opinion of fans. RA has a community that is totally different from that of DJ Mag and that is immediately apparent from the first artist on the list. One cannot look at one list as better over another; they are different pools of votes from different dance music fans.
