The Top 100 DJs Of 2013

Hardwell

DJ Mag has announced its take on the Top 100 DJs of 2013, and Dutch progressive & electro house DJ Robbert van de Corput, aka Hardwell has come out on top.

Hardwell is trailed by Top 100 regulars in the top 5:

  • Hardwell
  • Armin Van Buuren
  • Avicii
  • Tiesto
  • David Guetta

About the ranking, Hardwell says “I have so many people I’d like to thank, but none more so than the fans. They have been incredible; their support at my shows and with my music has been out of this world. You really are the best fans in the world.”

Meanwhile, this is what deadmau5 had to say about the ranking:

deadmau5

See the full DJ list below and let us know what you think of it!

The Top 100 DJs of 2013

01. Hardwell
02. Armin van Buuren
03. Avicii
04. Tiesto
05. David Guetta
06. Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike
07. Nicky Romero
08. Steve Aoki
09. Afrojack
10. Dash Berlin
11. Skrillex
12. Deadmau5
13. Alesso
14. W&W
15.Calvin Harris
16.Nervo
17.Above & Beyond
18.Sebastian Ingrosso
19.Axwell
20. Aly & Fila
21. Markus Schulz
22. Daft Punk
23. Headhunterz
24. Zedd
25. Knife Party
26. Swedish House Mafia
27. Showtek
28. Andrew Rayel
29. Fedde Le Grand
30. Dyro
31. Laidback Luke
32. Paul Van Dyk
33. ATB
34. Angerfist
35. Dada Life
36. Kaskade
37. Frontliner
38. Steve Angello
39. Sander Van Doorn
40. Martin Garrix
41. Porter Robinson
42. Ferry Corsten
43. Chuckie
44. Krewella
45. Coone
46. Carl Cox
47. Bobina
48. Omnia
49. Orjan Nielsen
50. Zatox
51. Gareth Emery
52. Bingo Players
53. Infected Mushroom
54. Eric Prydz
55. Tommy Trash
56. Wildstylez
57. Arty
58. R3hab
59. Madeon
60. Vicetone
61. Brennan Heart
62. DJ Feel
63. Gunz For Hire
64. Diplo
65. Tenishia
66. Noisecontrollers
67. Mike Candys
68. DJ Antoine
69. Quentin Mosimann
70. Project 46
71. Blasterjaxx
72. D Block and S Te Fan
73. Dillon Francis
74. Dannic
75. Adaro
76. Richie Hawtin
77. Martin Solveig
78. Felguk
79. Myon and Shane 54
80. Cosmic Gate
81. Heatbeat
82. John O’Callaghan
83. Wasted Penguinz
84. Tiddey
85. Skazi
86. Da Tweekaz
87. Tenashar
88. Bob Sinclar
89. Benny Benassi
90. Stafford Brothers
91. Bl3nd
92. Paul Oakenfold
93. Mat Zo
94. Diego Miranda
95. DJs From Mars
96. Matt Darey
97. Umek
98. Solar Stone
99. Ummet Ozcan
100. Ran D

via djmag

24 thoughts on “The Top 100 DJs Of 2013

  1. No one takes this seriously anymore its basically the top 100 Trance/house commercial awards, there should be top 100 underground dj

  2. The once great art of electronic music has been subverted to (of all things) DISCO.

    I bet my formulaic, cookie-cutter, 120 BPM, syncopated backbeat drum machine disco “beats” are just as boring, shallow, soulless, pointless and childishly self-indulgent as any others.

    Seriously man. The once great art of electronic music has been subverted to (of all things) …DISCO. This stuff is music for robots. How can anyone be “good” at it, let alone “better” than anyone else? Just call up the preset, hit the “go” button and pretend to be a real musician. So what.

    The really sad thing is, many people today cannot even tell the difference.

    I think I am gonna puke.

    1. I agree with BH. It really IS disco, sometimes blatantly so. There’s nothing WRONG with it; there just isn’t enough RIGHT about it to get this much attention. I do like some of it, but when so many embrace that and leave everything else flapping behind it, its no wonder that synthesizers are often seen as plastic and disposable. Sometimes that seems to include the manufacturers. TONALLY speaking, its the broadest instrument on the planet, but that doesn’t come across much in a world of beep-boop nostaligia or trouser-shredding sub-bass. I want to hear some real emotion and compositional meat. “Let’s dance” is fine for the purpose, but its not an emotion. Its a triumph of marketing over everything else. If that were not the case, people would have broader tastes and this too-simple style would not be King. “Everyone” always wanted to be a “rock star” and now, thanks to electronics, “Anyone” can be. The mix has gone muddy in the Me-Too melee. (Sorry) A few like Banco de Gaia add some real class to the field, but the rest feels like a chicken pot pie that’s burned on the edges and still raw & cold in the middle. Ooo, yuck. Okay, throw rocks here.

  3. BH, go ahead and puke then. Thers is nothing wrong with some dark and funky Disco, so leave it alone. Sounds like you forgot how to have fun, or maybe you never figured it out. Face it, people will always love to dance, and Disco is one way of getting there. People don’t go to a club or party to stand there and listen to some slow “experimental” knoodling. Nor do they want to scramble all night to some sped up breaks, 113- 124bpm is the sweet spot. I don’t make the rules, but human nature obeys them.

    1. >> “I don’t make the rules, but human nature obeys them.”

      “Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we were put here to rise above.”
      ~ Katherine Hepburn, “The African Queen”

      “If its gonna be that kind of party,
      I’m gonna to stick my dick in the mashed potatoes.”
      ~ The Beastie Boys

  4. I have an idea. How about all the artists (that make the music that these DJs play) stop sending them their music. We keep it to ourselves for a while and make music for the love and fun of it. What will these DJs play that is new and cutting edge etc? How will the DJs make a living if there is no new music to play? 🙂

    I wonder too about a shake up of the royalty system where the fees the DJ gets for playing the records of other artists on the night is shared equally between the DJ and the artists whose tracks are played. Crazy I know. But I had to type it here in this box to see what fellow synthtopias think! 🙂

    1. Yes! It really bothers me that the people who actually make the music usually end up getting paid far less than the people who press play on their CD players and DAWs in a club.

      Modern dance DJ culture is a blight upon the art of music.

  5. look @the kids today, they don’t want to play guitar, they don’t want to play synths – they just want to play other ppls music, great &_&

  6. Daft Punk doesn’t deserve a place on this list. Or if they do, they should be at the top. I’m not familiar with many of these DJs, but Daft Punk is a band. Or at least composers. They actually record instruments which they then manipulate using DJ techniques.

    Not sure how they ranked this, but come on.

  7. Interesting how these articles get the Synthtopia community so riled up! I don’t think many here understand how DJing (at least club-syle) works – it’s not about minute-to-minute flair or technique, like playing an instrument (or scratch-DJing for that matter), it’s about crafting a 1-2 hour experience through track selection, building excitement, releasing, building again… Good DJs know how to do this extremely well. What you also don’t take into account is that most of these DJs are producers in their own right – many of the songs in their sets were likely produced or remixed by them. So although you may not see the “musicianship” in somebody standing up there and mixing pre-produced tracks, that’s still as valid a way as any for them to showcase their music and for us to enjoy it. Do you not enjoy a Picasso simply because it was painted beforehand?

    See, I’m both an instrumentalist and a DJ/producer. I can really appreciate a virtuoso guitar player just as much as I can appreciate dancing my ass off for 2 hours to a good DJ! I think it’s shallow to draw boxes around different forms of music and make judgements, especially about aspects which may be foreign or unfamiliar to you. I won’t lie, I’m not really into most of the DJs on the list (except for Knife Party and a couple of other names), but I get why they’re there – it’s the pop-crust of electronic/DJ music (you’re not seeing names like Andy C, Qbert, Kid Koala on there).

    So you can rant and rail against DJs all you want, or you can accept the fact that there is a reason they exist, why people enjoy seeing them, and why some of them make so much money. Even if it may not be your cup of tea!

  8. Hey, I’ve heard one of these bands!

    Dada Life albums are actually quite ok.
    I use’m for background when working, or playing DotA 2.

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