Posts

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

/in /by

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.

Read more

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

/in /by

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.

Read more

Watch Gareth Emery & Ashley Wallbridge Expose DJ Mag Top 100 Poll Corruption

/in /by

cvnt5

It is no secret that DJ polls aren’t regarded with much authenticity in this day and age. With the explosion of EDM and the advent of the digital age, the once respected DJ Mag Top 100 poll began to be considered as more of a popularity contest, before rumors corruption, paid advertisement and underhanded voting tactics on behalf of some of the biggest EDM artists in the scene began to surface.

DJs and their teams have been spending tens of thousands of dollars to activate marketing campaigns encouraging fans to vote in the poll. Other artists have gotten, and possibly paid, non-music celebrities (such as Bollywood acts and actresses) to ask their fans to vote for a specific DJ. Then various witnesses revealed how Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike were having “good looking girls” walk around Tomorrowland in their home country of Belgium asking attendees to vote for the duo on iPads.

Trance and progressive house producers Ashley Wallbridge and Gareth Emery recently teamed up to launch parody DJ duo CVNT5 in an attempt to shed light on the tactics used by some artists to gain popularity and votes in the DJ Mag Top 100 poll. They just released a video that sees CVNT5 attempt to win the title of the poll, announcing  $50k investment on advertising space to boost votes. The rest of the hilarious video depicts other tactics used to score high on the contest, including paying black market companies to generate votes, bribing key figures, and using gimmicks to gain popularity, such as wearing costumes while performing. Watch the video in full below.