It was probably only a matter of time, but China now has its own meaningless top DJs list. The Top 100 DJs countdown may have been dismissed as largely irrelevant by many for years now, but it still garners plenty of attention in certain quarters and is still a powerful marketing tool in China. Inevitably, someone has had the idea to do a China version.
Well, not just someone. Remember DJ Spenny? He declared himself 'Shanghai's Number One DJ' some time around 2010-2012, plastering the title on posters for his sets at the likes of M1NT and putting out promo photos like this:
He might no longer be performing under that name, but Spencer Tarring still knows how much value this country sees in such arbitrary rankings and so his China EDM-focused streaming company PYRO have been working on compiling a list of China's Top 100 DJs over the last few weeks.
To be fair, they openly acknowledge the 'stigma' associated with such lists. Their counter-argument is as follows:
Part of being a DJ is of course about popularity, but it is not the be all and end all. Having a ranking however, does add value to a DJs earning power and bookings. We want to achieve a few goals with PYRO百大; the first to create a ranking that didn’t just focus on popularity, secondly to showcase our talent to the rest of the world, finally to give the competing DJs a promotional tool they can use to further their careers here in China.
The rundown was open to a public vote from early August and once nominees got above a certain vote threshold the top 20 was decided upon by a panel of 40 industry bods from companies such as Beatport, Revealed and Spinnin'. Today, Tarring unveiled the inaugural list at EDM industry event International Music Summit, put on by the same company behind Storm Festival and featuring corporate bigwigs and mainstream artists discussing how 'sponsor culture is failing to be integrated cohesively into the cultural landscape', among other things.
So who's on it? Well here's the top 10:
1. Carta
2. Chace
3. Unity
4. Warz
5. DJ Junior
6. Jin DJs
7. Monster DJ
8. RayRay
9. Matt Lucker
10. DJ Max
So Carta is the champ. Perhaps not surprising given he's the first Chinese artist to be signed to Dutch EDM powerhouse Spinnin' Records, a label that also houses A-Trak, Fedde Le Grand and Tiesto among others and recently inked a deal with A2LiVE, the company behind – you guessed it – Storm Festival. And the same label who had a judge on the industry panel. Here's the video for Carta's track 'Shanghai':
Chace has been picked up by Barong Family – another Dutch label, this time founded by the Yellow Claw gang – and Unity is signed to Laidback Luke's Mixmash imprint. Laidback Luke and Unity are also both at the IMS event and will be at M2 on Friday night; Barong Family's Moksi and Mike Cervello are at Arkham on Saturday. Warz is on the bill for a certain EDM festival taking place this weekend.
PYRO also presented a club rundown with Shanghai's Fusion taking the number one spot. Other Shanghai venues to make the top 10 included M2 in fourth and Arkham in eighth.
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