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''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to
electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...
and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Latin America, China, South Korea, Brunei, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Canada, Russia, Belarus, and the Netherlands.


History

An earlier version of the magazine appeared towards the end of the 1980s when it was then known as ''Disc Jockey Magazine.'' The name was then changed to ''Jocks Magazine'', but the publication underwent re-branding shortly afterwards. After this process the first issue of ''DJ Magazine'' was launched in the middle of 1991; it was initially produced as weekly publication with Chris Mellor as its first editor. The magazine at this point was already the UK's top-selling disc jockey magazine and was widely regarded as one of the magazines of choice in the burgeoning house and rave music scenes. The first edition featured artists such as
Frankie Knuckles Francis Warren Nicholls Jr. (January 18, 1955 – March 31, 2014), known professionally as Frankie Knuckles, was an American DJ, record producer, and remixer. He played an important role in developing and popularizing house music, a genre of mus ...
and the Ragga Twins. In 1992, the magazine decided to switch to bi-weekly publishing due to increasing workload which would remain in place till 2008. During its first two years the editorial staff of the magazine voted for their DJ of the Year: initially this was a short list, however this was later expanded to become a Top 100 list that first appeared in the magazine's 100th edition on 21 October 1993. In 1994, the band
Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...
featured on the cover due in part to their breakthrough album. Other artists featured that year included established names such as Armand van Helden, Erick Morillo, but also breakthrough DJs such as
DJ Rap Charissa Saverio (born 7 December 1968), and better known as DJ Rap, is a British drum and bass, house and progressive electronic music producer and DJ. While the majority of her work is in the jungle style, her more successful work is in ...
. By the summer of 1995, the magazine began to regularly feature
Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...
due its increasing popularity as a clubbing destination; the magazine also set-up stall at the
Winter Music Conference The Winter Music Conference (WMC) is a week-long electronic music conference, held every March in Miami Beach, Florida, United States since 1985. It is also known as the premiere platform for electronic dance music. The conference brings togethe ...
held in Miami, United States. In 1997, the magazine featured new British house duo
Basement Jaxx Basement Jaxx are an English electronic music duo consisting of Felix Buxton (born 30 April 1970) and Simon Ratcliffe (born 28 November 1969). The pair got their name from the regular club night they held in Brixton, London, UK. They first ros ...
on its front page. Artists appearing on the cover of the magazine towards the end of the 1990s included
Jeff Mills Jeff Mills (born June 18, 1963, in Detroit, Michigan), also known as "the Wizard", is an American DJ, record producer, and composer. In the late 1980s Mills founded the techno collective Underground Resistance with fellow Detroit techno pro ...
, Deep Dish, Orbital,
Laurent Garnier Laurent Garnier (born 1 February 1966), also known as Choice, is a French electronic music producer and DJ. Garnier began DJing in Manchester during the late 1980s. He became a producer in the early 1990s and recorded several albums. Early influe ...
, and Danny Tenaglia. In 1999, the magazine would feature DJs on its front page exploring the rise of
Trance Music Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from Electronic body music, EBM in Frankfurt, Germany, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and quickly spread throughout Europe. Trance music is typically characterized by a tempo between ...
. The publication wrote extensively about the use of drugs and their prevalence within the dance music scene. Beginning in late 2000, the magazine launched its first pilot website. By November 2000, Highbury House Communications had bought Nexus, the magazine's publisher, and the magazine moved its editorial offices to
Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town, close to Hampstead Heath. Kentish Town likely derives its name from Ken-ditch or Caen-ditch, meaning the "bed of a waterw ...
,
North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...
. In 2001
dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...
journalist Lesley Wright, who was then editor of Scottish dance publication M8 magazine was hired to replace Chris Mellor as editor-in-chief after 10 years running the editorial staff. In 2002,
Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known as Fatboy Slim, is an English musician and DJ who helped popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. His music makes extensive use of Sampling (music), samples from eclectic ...
was featured in the July issue after his free event held in
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
, England attracted approximately 250,000 clubbers. In 2003 the parent company of the publication merged with the magazine publisher WVIP. From 2005 the magazine started to expand its publication overseas to include places like Central and South America, Germany, France and Spain. In 2006 the magazine was sold to
Future plc Future plc is a British publishing company. It was started in 1985 by Chris Anderson (entrepreneur), Chris Anderson. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History 1985–2012 The company was ...
, one of the largest UK media companies. Since 2008 the title has been owned and operated by independent publishing company Thrust Publishing Ltd. In 2011, the magazine was launched in the USA. After 10 years at the helm of the magazine, editor Lesley Wright left and was replaced by Carl Loben. In 2012 the publication switched production to a monthly format. Currently the owners of the publication are looking to expand into new markets through licensing deals in the Middle East, Australia, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan and China. The current format for the magazine includes sections on dance music industry news, regular features, reviews covering clubs, EDM/dance music, technical equipment; it also includes current Top 100 lists as well as coverage of up and coming EDM events. DJ Mag runs a number of awards including its Top 100 DJ Poll, Top 100 Club Poll, Top 100 Festivals Poll, Best of British Awards and its Tech Awards.


Current components

DJ Magazine currently includes: * DJ Mag – a quarterly print magazine featuring three cover stars per quarter, originally launched in 1991. It is currently published under licence by Thrust Publishing Ltd. * djmag.com – the publications website launched in 2000. * DJ Mag Ibiza – specialist printed magazine published in Ibiza Spain which has printed over 100,000 copies. * Top 100 DJs Poll – the world's leading DJ poll, attracting a large number of voters per year and an estimated 10 million people viewing the result of the poll when published. * Top 100 Clubs Poll – a poll to determine the best clubs in the world. The poll was originally only open only for DJs to vote on it, but it became free for the public to vote on in 2010. * Best of British Awards – an annual poll recognising the magazine and its readers' favourite British artists, venues and platforms each year.


''Top 100 DJs''

The magazine's biggest property is a public poll of the world's 100 most popular DJs. The poll attracted over one million votes in 2015, making it the world's biggest music poll. Danny Rampling was the first to be named as the number one DJ in the world by the magazine's journalists in 1991. In 1992 Smokin Jo was named the number one DJ by the magazine editors and is the only female DJ to have ever earned the top ranking. In 1993 to celebrate the 100th edition of DJ Magazine, the magazine introduced a Top 100 list that was still compiled by its staff until 1996. For the previous five years, the system for nominee selection and voting to determine the winners was similar to that of current
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
s and the Brit Awards in that dance music industry specialists (in this case music journalists) decided on who was nominated and who won the award. However, in 1997 the decision was taken by the publication to let the readers of the magazine decide who they thought was the world's top DJ, and in 1997 British DJ
Carl Cox Carl Andrew Cox (born 29 July 1962) is a British house and techno club DJ, radio DJ, motorsport team owner and record producer. He is based in Frankston, Victoria, Australia. Cox has won and been nominated for numerous awards. He has perfor ...
was the first winner of the Top 100 DJs Award by public vote. As of 2017, Fergie holds the record for the highest new entry in the poll's history, achieved when he placed 8th in 2000. Dutch DJs Armin van Buuren &
Martin Garrix Martijn Gerard Garritsen (; born 14 May 1996), known professionally as Martin Garrix (or Ytram and GRX), is a Dutch Republic, Dutch DJ and record producer who was ranked number one on ''DJ Mag''s Top 100 DJs list for three consecutive years—20 ...
currently tie the record of most overall wins with five each. The awards party for the poll was traditionally hosted at the
Ministry of Sound Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publisher (popular music), music publishing busin ...
nightclub in London. For the 2011 poll, the event was hosted outside of the UK for the first time in its history, being staged at the 2011's edition of the Amsterdam dance event. The 2012 and 2013 award shows were both held on 19 October at the same event. Up until 2002, the top three had consisted of at least one British DJ, since the next year (2003) at least two Dutch DJ's have featured in the top three. In 2015 the Top 100 DJs Awards Party took place as the headline moment of the Amsterdam Music Festival. Over 40,000 guests witnessed the crowning of 2015's winners
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike (previously Dnm) are a Belgian–Greek DJ duo composed of brothers Dimitri Thivaios and Michael Thivaios. They were ranked No. 1 on ''DJ Magazine, DJ Mag''s Top 100 DJs list in 2015 and 2019, and No. 2 in 2014, 2016 thr ...
. Following the Amsterdam event, the winning DJs were flown to London, where they performed to a sold out
Brixton Academy Brixton Academy (originally known as the Astoria Variety Cinema, previously known as Carling Academy Brixton, currently named O2 Academy Brixton as part of a sponsorship deal with the O2 brand) is a mid-sized concert venue located in South Lon ...
for the Top 100 DJs London show. Top 100 DJs is considered to be hugely important to DJs as an influencer of booking fees and their current level of popularity. DJs regularly campaign for votes, a process which is allowed by the magazine. Dutch DJ
Hardwell Robbert van de Corput (; born 7 January 1988), known professionally as Hardwell, is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted the world's number one DJ by ''DJ Mag'' in 2013 and again in 2014. In 2022, he was ranked at number 43 in ...
once did a skydive as part of his campaign video;
David Guetta Pierre David Guetta (; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag ...
regularly creates animated videos as part of his voting campaign;
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike (previously Dnm) are a Belgian–Greek DJ duo composed of brothers Dimitri Thivaios and Michael Thivaios. They were ranked No. 1 on ''DJ Magazine, DJ Mag''s Top 100 DJs list in 2015 and 2019, and No. 2 in 2014, 2016 thr ...
released an exclusive mix to their fans as part of their 2015 campaign.


Criticisms

Top 100 DJs has been criticised as being heavily influenced by the marketing power of DJs, rather than their skill or ability. An article that appeared on the US section of the ''
Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...
'' in July 2013, entitled "DJMag Top 100 (Marketable) DJs", explores this claim. Its author, Kevin Yu, stated that "Over the past few years, DJ Mag has been criticized that the list is not a true representation of their skills, but instead the amount of money they can put towards marketing". Yu asked, "Has the DJMag list transformed into a popularity contest or is it still a resemblance of the DJs talent?". The list has also been criticised for not including a more balanced reflection of artists from other
electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...
styles and showing rankings based on less commercial mainstream DJs. A feature in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' in 2010 by the journalist Ben Child entitled "What does DJ Mag's top 100 poll tell us about UK dance music? Not much" explores this further, noting that:
What's surprising, at least to those of us who don't enjoy the more mainstream genres, is the paucity of artists from outside the house and trance scenes in the top 100. This has pretty much always been the case, with the odd
Drum 'N' Bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre ...
or
Breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that uses drum breaks, often sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as Florida breaks, hip-hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat ...
acts occasionally making it into the lower reaches in years gone by, but this year's situation is particularly extreme. There is just one artist Andy C whose music is not based on the standard four-to-the-floor beat pattern adopted by mainstream dance music in the top 100 – and he has been around for more than a decade and a half.
In 2021, fans expressed their displeasure with the ranking by promoting a fake DJ in the DJ Mag Top 100 list. The ranking perceived biases have also left fans in other cities asking why their clubs were no longer amongst the top ranked clubs.


Results

''DJ Magazine's Top 100 DJs'' is an annual poll run by DJ Magazine to decide the worlds number one DJ. The poll started in 1991 and for first two years the magazine's journalists selected their top 100 DJs of the year. 1993 saw the poll expand to a top 100 poll where the journalists would decide their top 100 DJs in the world. In 1997, the magazine opened the top 100 list to a public vote which has remained the used format to this day.


1991–1996


1997–present


Statistics


''Top 100 Clubs''

DJ Magazine also runs an annual poll called ''Top 100 Clubs'' used to decide the worlds number one club, which began in 2006. The 2021 poll was postponed from its usual dates in March to August due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. The 2022 vote was also delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however only to May in this instance. DJ Mag announced that the poll would return to normal rules as in 2021 club scenes outside of the previous 12 months could be considered aimed many closures due to the pandemic.


Results


Statistics


''Top 100 Festivals''

Since 2015, the voters of the DJ Magazine's top 100 clubs have also voted on the world's number one festival. No poll was held in 2018. In 2019, the DJs themselves voted on their favourite festival in a top 50 format similar to the DJ and club poll run by the magazine. In 2020, the format was changed to a 20% DJ vote and 80% public vote, and was increased to a top 100 format, however results were never published. 2021 had no poll with the poll returning in 2022 but in October as opposed to February which it had been in previous years. The 2022 results were chosen entirely by DJ Mag readers. It was also confirmed ahead of the 2022 poll that 2020 and 2021 did not occur due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, despite the 2020 results being collected before the pandemic started.


Results


2015–2017


2019–Present


Statistics


''Best of British'' Awards

The Best of British Awards was launched by DJ Mag in 2007 to celebrate dance music talent and platforms within Great Britain.


Best DJ


Best Breakthrough DJ


Awards for ''DJ Mag''


DJ Awards

The
DJ Awards DJ Awards is a celebration of electronic music, and aims to recognise and honour Disc jockey, DJs and individuals who have influenced electronic dance music worldwide. Held annually in Ibiza at the end of the summer season, DJ Awards has retaine ...
organises the annual
electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
DJ awards event. It is the only international ceremony for DJs and also the oldest, held once a year at Pacha club in
Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...
, Spain. It is one of the most important accolades.


International Dance Music Awards

The IDMAs is a major event which is part of the
Winter Music Conference The Winter Music Conference (WMC) is a week-long electronic music conference, held every March in Miami Beach, Florida, United States since 1985. It is also known as the premiere platform for electronic dance music. The conference brings togethe ...
, a weeklong electronic music conference, held every March since 1985 in
Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...
, Florida, United States. DJ Magazine has won the award for Best Music Publication 14 times, winning every year this category has been awarded.


See also

*
DJ Awards DJ Awards is a celebration of electronic music, and aims to recognise and honour Disc jockey, DJs and individuals who have influenced electronic dance music worldwide. Held annually in Ibiza at the end of the summer season, DJ Awards has retaine ...
* IDMAs *
Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...


References


External links


DJ Mag Website

DJ Mag Website
Old web site with Top-100 rankings from 1999 to 2008.
DJ Blackbook

Votes and standings from 1997 to 2013

EDM Source and Resident Advisor Webzine's Alternative Top 100 DJs list 2014
{{DJ Award-Special Award for Outstanding Dedication , state=collapsed 1991 establishments in the United Kingdom Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Online music magazines published in the United Kingdom Dance music magazines published in England Dance music magazines Magazines established in 1991