The question of just who is the best DJ in the world right now is a subjective one so we’ve asked for a little help from the 3 most reputable sources of electronic music expertise.
According to Festicket.com, the best DJ in the world at the moment is Martin Garrix. If you ask Ranker.com they will tell you Tiesto, and if you peruse the DJ Rankings website, you will find that David Guetta is their choice for the best DJ on the planet right now.
As for which of these answers is correct depends on your musical tastes, so we suggest you take a look at the three DJ rankings lists and make up your own mind.
For a little bit of fun, we have also given our own list of the top 10 DJs in the world. You will also find samples of their music so you can see if you agree with our choices!
FESTICKET.COM
#1 Martin Garrix
#2 David Guetta
#3 Marshmello
#4 Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike
#5 Hardwell
#6 Tiësto
#7 Steve Aoki
#8 Afrojack
#9 The Chainsmokers
#10 Zedd
Festicket is an awesome site that allows you to buy festival tickets, travel, and accommodation in one package.
They work as official partners for many of the world’s leading EDM festivals and provide general admission and VIP tickets to some of the planet’s best parties.
They only book rooms with the best-handpicked hotels for festival-goers and even provide safe transfers from the airport straight to the door of your accommodation.
Their website is a great resource to find the hottest upcoming parties and they also feature a magazine/blog section with tons of interesting articles for house music aficionados.
RANKER.COM
#1 Tiësto
#2 Armin Van Buuren
#3 Avicii
#4 Skrillex
#5 David Guetta
#6 Swedish House Mafia
#7 Deadmau5
#8 Daft Punk
#9 Calvin Harris
#10 Afrojack
Ranker.com is an incredible website that encourages users to answer questions on a variety of topics including pop culture, sports, politics, brands, and lifestyle. The information they receive is then used to make ranking lists based on the “wisdom of the crowd.”
These lists and opinions are regularly cited by the world’s top media and this including The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today to name but a few.
Ranker.com is based in Los Angeles and receives over 80 million monthly visits from fans around the world. Their unique technology platform now has built one of the world’s largest opinion databases, with over 350 million votes on over 100,000 subjects.
DJRANKINGS.ORG
#1 David Guetta
#2 Armin Van Buuren
#3 Tiësto
#4 Martin Garrix
#5 Carl Cox
#6 Calvin Harris
#7 Hardwell
#8 Skrillex
#9 Afrojack
#10 Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike
DJ Rankings ranks the world’s top 10,000 DJs. Back in 2012, they conducted a huge study to find out just how many professional DJs there are in the world. Their study was then fed into an advanced mathematical algorithm to compile a list of the world’s top professional Disc Jockeys.
Their definition of a pro DJ is someone that can sustain a living solely based on their earnings from music. This incredible study found that there were approx 1¼ million professional DJs in the world at that time.
To make the TOP 10K list on The Official Global DJ Rankings website means that the DJ is a recognized DJ, with commercial music releases, an established fan base, and a history of playing at internationally acclaimed clubs.
Their site is free to use as it’s financed by a non-profit organization. The DJ rankings can be considered very accurate since they are 100% independent of any commercial interests.
EVERYDAYAPE.COM (Editor choice)
#1 Carl Cox
#2 Sasha & Digweed
#3 Tiesto
#4 Pete Tong
#5 Kaskade
#6 Above & Beyond
#7 Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike
#8 The Chemical Brothers
#9 Steve Aoki
#10 Daft Punk
So now you have the results from three of the top DJ websites, how about hearing what we have to say? – While we are not a music website, we do have some strong opinions on the subject.
Who is the best DJ in the world right now? – Here’s our list!
We hope you enjoy the list which includes interesting info about each DJ and a sample of their music.
Carl Cox
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Carl Cox is 56 years old (a Leo), and has been a musical institution since he was in his teens.
One of the pioneers of acid house and techno, he has certainly “been there and done that” in the world of dance music. Yet he has never lost his passion for playing music, making new tunes, spreading love, and enjoying life!
Carl was given his first set of turntables by his mother at the age of 15. Shortly after, he began working as a DJ, and by the late 90s he was slap-bang in the middle of the exploding British rave scene and a major draw-card for lovers of EDM music.
Among his many accomplishments are playing the opening night of Danny Rampling’s legendary “Shoom”, co-promoting “The Project” with Paul Oakenfold, having a residency at the infamous “Zap Club” in Brighton, and being one of the first DJs to mix with three decks at the legendary “Sunrise” rave (U.K) in 1988.
Carl hosts his ‘Global’ radio show with 10s of millions which now has listeners from all over the world. Thankfully he shows no signs of slowing down and can regularly be seen at the largest festivals the planet has to offer.
Sasha & Digweed
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Huge by the end of the 1990s, Sasha and John Digweed are surely two of the most easily recognized DJs on the planet.
The pair has a fierce reputation for playing up-tempo music full of synth melodies and pounding beats (often called Trance or Progressive Trance).
While their early CDs defined the sound of Trance in the 90s, they have since taken the position as two of the best DJs in electronic music and continue to evolve their sounds while still staying loyal to their musical roots.
John Digweed had been DJing for about ten years before being invited to a club called Renaissance UK). This is where he met Sasha, who had previously been DJing in many acid house music clubs and illegal raves.
The iconic duo was featured on the front cover of DJ Mag’s first Ibiza issue for the 2017 season 2017 to celebrate their residency at the incredible Privilege in Ibiza. (Privilege in San Rafael, Ibiza is the “world’s largest nightclub” according to the Guinness Book of Records).
Together, Sasha & Digweed have mastered the art of DJing and continue to delight fans with their excellent track selection and masterful mixing abilities.
Tiesto
Tiësto is 49 years old, a Capricorn, and one of the few DJs in the world to truly become a household name. He continues to transcend musical genres and is the owner and creator of the global “Tiësto” brand.
His notable achievements are his many Grammy nominations, his numerous MTV awards, and performance at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Olympic Games. He even has his own wax statue at the wax museum “Madame Tussauds” in London.
With tens of millions of social media fans and 300 million hits in a day for some of his YouTube videos, Tiësto has brought electronic music to the masses. He was voted ‘The Greatest DJ Of All his Time’ by Mixmag magazine in 2011 and has worked with such stars as Coldplay, Kanye West, Katy Perry, Nelly Furtado, and Goldfrapp.
One of his greatest achievements was completing his 2010 “Kaleidoscope World Tour”. This took him an astonishing 15 months to play 175 venues to over one million fans!
Tiësto has owned his own record label since 2010 called Musical Freedom. In addition to his own releases, he also releases music from other artists. His label holds a number of gold and platinum records with each track being carefully selected by the man himself.
Pete Tong
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Peter Michael Tong MBE was born on 30 July 1960. He is an English DJ who works for BBC Radio 1 hosting his “Essential Mix” and “Essential Selection” shows.
Pete Tong also works as a music producer, and is regarded by many EDM fans as the “global ambassador for electronic music”. In addition, he also has his own record label FFRR Records, and is one of the world’s busiest DJs.
Tong’s accolades are many but two of his proudest achievements were organizing the “International Music Summit” in Ibiza and winning “Radio Show of the Year” in 2017 at the Electronic Music Awards.
In Pete’s 25 years as a DJ, radio host, and label owner, he has helped the careers of heaps of budding DJs as both a voice and in his capacity as an electronic music producer.
What makes Pete really stand out in this list is the fact that he was awarded the “MBE” (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in 2014 for services to Broadcasting and Music, and that’s why he has the letters MBE proudly displayed after his name.
Kaskade
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Kaskade was born in Evanston, Illinois, is 47 years old and his star sign is Pisces. Kaskade was awarded “America’s Best DJ 2011” in September 2011 by a “DJ Times” poll.
Real name Ryan Raddon is better known by his stage name Kaskade. He is an American DJ and record producer. His music style is mostly bass-line minimal house, although he has a reputation for dropping plenty of sudden abrasive leads and breaks.
Grammy-nominated producer Kaskade is widely considered the pioneer of the concept of Las Vegas residencies and for quickly selling-out arenas across the United States. He was the first-ever solo EDM artist to sell out both the Barclays Center in New York and the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Ryan started out as not only a DJ but also as a record store proprietor and an A&R director. In the late ’90s, he started his DJ career in the cities of New York and Salt Lake City. It was here that he would first produce music to be released on his first label “Mechanized Records”.
With nine full-length albums and an amazing 50 million streams on Spotify in under a year, in the words of “Rolling Stone” “Kaskade represents an intensely positive side of dance music culture”, another cornerstone in the foundation that sets Kaskade apart.”
Above & Beyond
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Above & Beyond was formed in 2000 by its members Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness, and Paavo Siljamäki.
Above & Beyond started their DJing careers back in 2002 and made their debut playing in Tokyo, Japan for some 8,000 clubbers alongside the awesome Ferry Corsten and the infamous Tiësto.
They are the owners and brains behind the extremely successful music labels “Anjunabeats” and “Anjunadeep”. They also host a weekly radio show called “Group Therapy Radio”.
Each week, one member of the trio hosts the weekly radio show which lasts for two hours, with the final 30 minutes given over to a guest DJ. If you want to tune into their show, it’s broadcast every Friday evening at 7 pm UTC +1. It’s broadcast on YouTube, Twitch and at the time of writing, also Facebook.
Over the following years, their fan base has ballooned and the trio can now be seen at some of the largest electronic music events, festivals, and clubs. The mammoth list of places they’ve played includes Glastonbury and Creamfields in Great Britain and Amnesia in Ibiza, Spain.
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike
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Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike (Dimitri Thivaios and Michael Thivaios) are Greek-born brothers that were raised in Belgium. The pair have found staggering success over recent years by standing side-by-side behind mixing decks all over the world and playing banging dance tunes!
At an early age, Dimitri toured Europe before living in Mallorca, Halkidiki and then he moved to Ibiza in 2003. While in Ibiza, he was given residency in the most famous clubs on the island Privilege and Space.
After a stint in Mallorca and Zante, Dimitri came back to Belgium to work with his brother Mike. The pair has their first release in 2007 with the hilariously titled “La Cocaina”.
The duo has also generated some of the wildest antics ever seen at their live shows by getting their crowds to jump left and right to their beats – the idea behind the chaos is to cause an earthquake! This unique crowd-uniting tactic has gone viral, with many other DJs attempting to make similar crowd-made earthquakes in their shows.
The pair has lovingly been called the “Kings of Tomorrowland” after stunning EDM fans with high-octane and over-the-top shows in Belgium, so if you get the chance to see these nutters – take it!
The Chemical Brothers
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The Chemical Brothers are Manchester (U.K) born Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons. The pair met at Manchester University while taking the same History course.
Along with other acts including “The Prodigy”, “Fatboy Slim”, and “The Crystal Method”, they are seen by many as the pioneers of the “Big Beat” genre.
During their youth, both Rowlands and Simons both had very eclectic musical tastes, ranging from “The Smiths” to “Kraftwerk”. Fast-forward to 2018, and the duo has now enjoyed six number-one albums and 13 top-20 singles
It is fair to say that The Chemicals made a new sound with a mix of rap, grunge, rock, and hardcore house. Featuring wicked samples from familiar guitar riffs and incredible vocal performances, it’s no overstatement to say that their act was the first arena-sized sound in electronic music as we know it.
Their wide appeal is just one of the factors they’re in our list of the world’s best DJs. Another reason is that they are one of the few dance acts to enjoy huge success in both the British and American markets.
Steve Aoki
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American Steve Hiroyuki Aoki (born in 1977) is an electro-house musician, record producer, and music executive.
Steve was born in Miami and raised in Newport Beach, California. He’s the third child of Rocky Aoki and Chizuru Kobayashi. Steve’s dad was a Japanese wrestler and the founder of the restaurant chain “Benihana”.
In college, he made his first records and organized underground parties and concerts. By his early 20s, Steve had opened his own record label, called “Dim Mak” after his favorite childhood hero, the legend – Bruce Lee.
Since 2012, Aoki has been one of the highest-grossing dance-music artists in the United States. He has earned a large part of his wealth by collaborating with a prestigious list of artists including LMFAO, BTS, Louis Tomlinson, will.i.am, Afrojack, Linkin Park, Iggy Azalea, Lil Jon, Laidback Luke, Rise Against, and Fall Out Boy.
Steve Aoki is often seen on TV making cameo appearances and his studio albums regularly top the charts. Furthermore, his album “Wonderland” was nominated for a Grammy Award in “Best Dance / Electronica Album” in 2013.
He is also a very generous man and founded the “Steve Aoki Charitable Fund”, which provides money for humanitarian aid organizations all over the world.
Daft Punk
Guy-Manuel de Homem Christo met Thomas Bangalter when they were both schoolchildren in their native country of France.
They recorded their first track back in 1992 only to be called “daft punks” by an English journalist after he listened to their first single. Little did he know of the duo’s impending success on the world’s global music stage!
Just a few years on and Daft Punk can be partly attributed to taking the techno out of the clubs and giving it to the masses. Their brilliant album “Homework” sold over 2 million copies, with over 400K copies being sold in their native France alone.
In early 2017, Daft Punk opened a pop-up shop in Hollywood, California. Their store featured memorabilia, artwork, and an exhibition of the many incredible costumes that they have worn over the years.
You may know this duo as the DJ pair that never shows their faces on TV. They opt to wear ornate helmets and gloves to assume robot personas. Their philosophy is to become known for their music and not their good looks!
Do you agree with our answer to who is the best DJ in the world right now? If not, drop us a line at matt@everydayape.com.
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A big thanks for our featured image by Zierros [CC BY-SA 4.0 ] from Wikimedia Commons.
