By Ki

E“Elektronische Dansmuziek,” translated from Dutch it means Electronic Dance Music. Every EDM fan ought to know that given how dominant the Netherlands have become in the EDM world.

EDM’s global meet-up took place late in March during Miami Music Week, when Winter Music Conference and Ultra Music Festival converge.  This Super Bowl of all things house, trance and dubstep attracts people from the furthest reaching continents.

One of the major attractions of EDM culture is diversity.  It brings together a wide array of nationalities, races, genders, sexual orientations and ages.  The same cannot be said for the actual DJs themselves.

The DJ Mag Top 100 DJ list reveals the shockingly skewed demographics of the DJs who provide the soundtrack for much of the partying taking place from the Maldives to Memphis.  ADANAI conveniently broke the stats down for you in graph format based on nationality, gender, race, genre and age:

Nationality

The Netherlands dominate the DJ Mag Top 100 list – either the Dutch are really good stuffing the ballot box or there is something special going on in relatively small European country

Breakdown

• The Netherlands dominates, with a whopping 31 of the Top 100 DJs coming from a country with a population totaling less than that of the state of New York (17 million vs. 20 million)
• The next closest countries are Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom claiming nine, eight and seven members of the list, respectively
• 27 different countries are represented on the list with at least one DJ coming from each continent
• Europe dominates, accounting for 79% of the list

Analysis

• Why does Italy contribute  a stark three DJs to the Old World total?  Italian dance music has been a mainstay genre since the days of Giorgio Moroder and Black Box
• One explanation for the overpowering presence of the Netherlands is the strength of its mentorship culture.  Two influential elder statesmen of the EDM world – Tiesto and Armin Van Buuren – actively promote other Dutchmen.  It makes a huge impact that they can leverage their globally popular podcasts Club Life (Tiesto) and A State of Trance (Van Buuren)
  

  Having a mentor like Tiesto has opened a lot of doors for Dutchman Martin Garrix

• Interestingly, the apprenticeship mentality doesn’t seem to be the case in the UK.  Evidenced by the fact that while EDM has strong roots in the UK, there are only seven UK DJs on the list.  Brits Carl Cox and Paul Oakenfeld rival Tiesto and Van Buuren in reach but haven’t done nearly as good a job of nurturing and promoting their up-and-coming brethren

Gender

A book could be written about the dominance of men in the DJ Mag Top 100

Breakdown

• Males dominate.  97% possess a Y chromosome
• The only females to make the list are Nervo (twins counting as one), Krewella (a 2/3 male group) and Tenashar

Analysis

Avicii doing what he does best. Question to ponder: does an attractive 24 year old female have too many distractions (e.g., invites to events, parties) to spend hours grinding on their laptop?

• Excellent female DJs do exist but they don’t get the same promotional push and job opportunities as their male competitors
• That said, here’s a theory regarding the disproportionate number of male DJs:
  • Production chops is key to gaining respect in EDM
  • EDM production is very computer oriented
  • Many top young DJs are known to sit in front of their computer for hours on end
  • If you are an 18-year-old woman who’s into music, unfortunately the world has different expectations for you.  Primarily, that you’re attractive and, if you’re attractive, that you flaunt your attractiveness on stage and are not spending hours and hours in front of a laptop

Race

Unfortunately the diverse roots of House music have been lost in this new EDM crazed era according to the DJ Mag Top 100 list

Breakdown

• As with gender, the racial make-up of the list skews toward one dominant demographic.  Here, Caucasian
• Only six DJs on the list aren’t Caucasian: Steve Aoki, Tenashar, Aly & Fila, Carl Cox, R3hab and Bl3nd

Analysis

• EDM is generally seen as diverse because the supporting vocal talent is, comparatively, racially diverse
• The lack of African Americans and Hispanics on the list is startling considering the heritage of house music in the US as a Black/Hispanic art form.  ‘80s and ‘90s house was dominated by the likes of Marshall Jefferson, Frankie Knuckles, Jesse Saunders, Todd Terry, David Morales and Roger Sanchez
• One explanation for the limited number of young minority EDM DJs in the States is the accessibility of other music genres.  Imagine if Kanye West grew up in the Netherlands – he would have been a world class EDM producer.  Will.I.Am too – he started off making hip-hop beats but has successfully transitioned to EDM

Genre

Skrillex has a large following of DJ/Producers who focus on Dubstep but few have gained the popularity that he has

Breakdown

• Categorizing DJs by EDM genre is somewhat subjective, so it helps when they self-report
• Various forms of house music (progressive, electro, big room, etc.) dominate, which makes sense, it’s the broadest genre of the EDM group.  Both Steve Aoki and Calvin Harris are considered house DJs and there’s no question their sounds are quite different
• Only 2 of the 100 DJs list dubstep as their main genre
• Beyond trance and house, the Netherlands has this hardstyle thing going (10 of the 14 hardstyle DJs are Dutch) and there’s clearly a very strong support system behind it

Analysis

• Skrillex dominates at the Grammys and on the pop charts, which might lead you to believe that dubstep rules the EDM world.  However, only two hardcore dubstep artists present themselves on the list; Skrillex and Knife Party

Age

Age is where the real diversity shows up in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJ list

Breakdown

• This is the most diverse category. Ages range from 17 to 51 and average 33
• The young guns such as like Avicii (24) and Martin Garrix (17) get a ton of press but around 50% are in their 30s
• The two 50+ DJs on the list, Carl Cox and Paul Oakenfeld, are both from the UK.  43% of UK DJs are over 40.  On the other end of the age spectrum, 63% of US DJs are in their 20s

Analysis

• The age data supports the mentorship discussion.  The Netherlands have a wide range of ages; a teenager, two DJs in their 40s and a whole bunch in their 20s and 30s – evidence of a robust nurturing environment
• As mentioned, the US is chock full of older DJ legends, all still less prominently active.  Frankie Knuckles (may the legend Rest In Peace) was a regular at Ibiza’s Ushuaia last summer (though not on the main stage).  Jesse Saunders, David Morales and Todd Terry all spun at Winter Music Conference but generally in small, lesser-known venues.  Older Americans don’t make the list because their soulful style, while ear candy to many, doesn’t fit the festival scene that drives EDM popularity these days

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