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Editorial: Polls in Our Industry Are A Futile Exercise That No Longer Serve An Ethical Purpose

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Full disclosure: I wrote this article yesterday, on November 21st 2017, and woke up this morning to the news that Resident Advisor was no longer continuing its Poll

First of all, I have to say that DJ Mag’s poll is only good as scrap paper, or at best as the source of pre-game laughter with your crew. That is if you ever even took a look at a printed version of it. The chart is a joke (artistically), it serves no real purpose (business-speaking),  and is useless (as far as understanding the quality of DJs, its actual intended purpose). It’s talked about for months leading up to and following its results, a peculiar media that does not give a damn about the actual music but is all to do with money and pompousness. Sadly, it’s been like this for years now.

What is new though is the thin wind of dissatisfaction that is now affecting the Resident Advisor. On top of a ranking that has seen Dixon crowned unceremoniously as #1 DJ in the world for 5 years now, in recent years we have also seen the increase of election campaigns by DJs (and their management0 to win votes. What was once an organic poll from real dedicated fans once again lost its intended purpose.  Indeed, the problem was not the ranking itself: it can be challenged. It may not be in agreement with your views as far as placements or exclusions, but that is another story, or controversy for that matter. The problem, we are beginning to understand, is what it takes to end up in that ranking. Artists and their management understand it very well. It is an excuse to raise the stakes, in some cases to double or triple them, and to convince the artists to get involved with the tactics necessary to end up on the poll, and rank higher than years before.

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An Example of How You Can Buy DJ Mag Top 100 Poll Votes

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It’s only May but the DJ Mag Top 100 poll is already being discussed, and as always the discussion eventually leads to the subject of vote buying and the true veracity of a poll that once used to be regarded world over as a standard metric for the industry.

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Techno Legend Juan Atkins Claims That “The DJ List” Is Racist

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Every few months a new DJ ranking or list comes out and naturally, opinions abound. The arguments vary depending on the list in question, ranging form the usual “EDM vs underground” to the underrepresentation of female acts.

This week, Detroit techno pioneer Juan Atkins took to his personal Facebook page to express anger at what he perceives is a calculated underrepresentation of black artists on “The DJ List“. The producer and DJ called it “a slap in the face of the entire black race” and went on to announce that he “will lead the crusade for “The DJ List” to be Destroyed, Dismantled, Deleted, and Replaced.” Atkins is quick to point out that only two black artists have made the Top 100 EDM-heavy list.

Understandably, the post got people talking. While many of the commenters pointed out the seeming irrelevance of such lists, Atkins was quick to specify that while they appear to bear little significance, his own DJ fees and those of other black artists would be considerably different if they were represented better on such lists.

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Although a review of the DJ Mag Top 100 list showed a similar tendency with just a couple of black artists represented, Resident Advisor‘s poll told a slightly better story: illustrious names such as Carl Craig, Kerri Chandler, Robert Hood, Carl Cox, Black Coffee, Jeff Mills and Jamie Jones were all in the Top 100. While only RA members can vote for the site’s annual poll and voting takes place over a brief period of a few days, DJ Mag’s Top 100 list has been the subject of controversy for several years due to allegations of corruption and vote rigging.

It is definitely interesting to see that “The DJ List” brought into question by Atkins has an unclear “voting” system. Their website claims that, “leading industry members claim and manage profiles for; djs, labels, clubs, agents, publicists and more. Members participate in our DJ ranking and are presented customized dance music content based around their interests.”

Regardless, Atkins’ words have brought up once again an interesting discussion on the subject of DJ polls and lists. The role of black artists in dance music is of course undisputed, and it stands to reason that artists should be recognized for their craft regardless of genre, gender and race.