In the past we’ve seen DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs Poll as an easily manipulatable popularity contest – but the team over at the magazine this year are getting ruthless. After a listing on eBay Italy was passed around the internet purporting to sell votes in the DJ contest, DJ Mag has issued a statement saying they know who’s cheating – and that they plan to expose the cheaters this week. Read on for the full statement!
[via DJ Mag]Last week, on Wednesday 26th July, it was brought to DJ Mag’s attention that a posting on eBay Italy was claiming to be selling votes in the annual Top 100 DJs poll. This was posted in Italy by somebody trying to discredit the poll, and is no longer active as a live auction bid.
DJ Mag believes that this fake eBay posting was probably done by the same group of people responsible for the video last year that claimed to expose how people could cheat in the poll.
“I view this simply as an attempt to discredit the poll,” said Martin Carvell, Managing Director of DJ Mag. “DJ Mag takes the issue of cheating in the Top 100 DJs poll very seriously. As the guardians of the biggest poll in dance music, we do all we can to eliminate cheating in the poll so as to make this the most authoritative snapshot of a DJ’s popularity and visibility at any one time.”
“Although there were no bids made, there was also nothing to suggest that the person behind the scheme would be able to provide the service he or she was advertising.”
By looking at the back end of the voting system, it’s easy to spot who has been cheating. We are currently investigating a number of DJs with a succession of fraudulent votes, and will be making an announcement on this in due course.
There are a number of DJs that have been caught cheating, and DJ Mag will be naming and shaming them by the end of this week.
We’ve written about the flaws of the DJ Mag Poll previously, and while it is fundamentally a popularity contest and not connected to quality of performance or skill, it continues to be used as an industry marker of who the most successful DJs are worldwide. It’s impressive that DJ Mag is stepping up to the plate and taking ownership of the authenticity of their poll – but we’d love to see them adopt a system closer to that of Resident Advisor’s top DJ list.
Additionally, here’s a screen capture of the original eBay Italy auction, purporting that they can sell the ability to “BECOME A SUPERSTAR DJ”, and promising “No disqualification!” and that “Your image will be clean!”
We’re interested to see who DJ Mag has caught red-handed – do you think it will be any big names vying for a higher spot on the list, or just no-name DJs trying to buy their way on? Discuss in the comments below.
