DJ Mag Top 100 DJs 2024: record-breaking numbers vote in our annual poll of the world’s best DJs

The results are in for another year from the most important poll in electronic dance music, and once again they make for fascinating reading. Top 100 DJs provides a snapshot of the popularity of DJs worldwide. Votes come from all around the world, and once they have been verified and counted they create the all-important Top 100 DJs ranking. Although we no longer make voting numbers public, to avoid presenting opportunities for the poll to be manipulated, we can reveal that you have, once again, voted in record numbers.

A marked change this year was a large increase in votes from North America. This was already a principal electorate, but the continent saw a vote share increase of 18% in this year’s poll. Asia, South America and Europe make up the next three regions attracting the most votes.

Overall we received votes from 231 global territories including Samoa, the Falkland Islands, San Marino, Rwanda, Eritrea, Tonga, Svalbard & Jan Mayen, Djibouti, Northern Mariana Islands, and Vatican City. From its humble beginnings as an editorial choice in the magazine in 1993, Top 100 DJs is now truly a global poll that engages millions of electronic dance music fans every year.

The headline news for 2024 is the return of Martin Garrix to the top spot. The Dutchman’s fifth No.1 placing means that he equals the record for the most number of Top 100 DJs poll wins — matching fellow Dutchman Armin van Buuren. Since 2016, Garrix has won five out of the last nine years, and during this time he has never placed outside of the top five — a truly momentous achievement for a DJ/producer still in his twenties. 

Garrix leapfrogs David Guetta, who won in three out of the previous four years, and also Belgian brothers Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, who have consistently been in the top five of the poll for over a decade. Brazilian DJ/producer and philanthropist Alok is again immovable in the No. 4 slot, while jumping up to No. 5 is Australian party starter Timmy Trumpet, who relegates Armin van Buuren down to No. 6. This is the first time that Armin has placed outside of the top five in 20 years, although he does still remain The World’s No. 1 Trance DJ.

Another Dutchman, Afrojack is also a non-mover at No. 7, while the second Australian in the top 10, FISHER, is up a respectable 12 places to claim the No. 8 slot, also making him the World’s No. 1 House DJ. Last year’s highest house DJ, Peggy Gou, is down one spot to No. 10, with Vintage Culture — also from Brazil — at No. 9.

Immediately outside of the top 10 and knocking on the door, a rejuvenated Hardwell — the World’s No. 1 DJ in 2013 and 2014 — is back from his four-year hiatus with a new sound and renewed energy. The Dutchman is up 26 places to No. 11, as befitting his return to festival main stages. Immediately following Hardwell are Steve Aoki, Alan Walker, KSHMR and Don Diablo, with Charlotte de Witte — The World’s No. 1 Techno DJ — at No. 16, up two places. Charlotte is immediately followed by the Highest New Entry — Anyma, AKA Matteo Milleri from Tale Of Us and Afterlife, who has been playing many solo shows this year.

There’s not a huge amount of movement in the rest of the top 40, most DJs consolidating their positions by moving just a few places up or down. Fred again.. and Jamie Jones are both up six places, while there’s a new entry at No. 35 in Keinemusik, the Berlin-based collective who’ve taken the international scene by storm this year. British DJ Joel Corry and German trance legend Paul van Dyk are both up quite a few places to 36 and 37 respectively, while the Swedish House Mafia behemoth are up 24 places to No. 39 after another year of renewed, if sporadic, activity. New-school psytrance pioneer Indira Paganotto is the Highest Climber, though, up a whopping 48 places to No. 49 after a huge year, including a popular residency at Amnesia in Ibiza throughout the summer.

Other significant ascensions in the second half of the chart include Our House stalwart James Hype (up 26 places to No. 57), Dutch sensations Maddix (up 26 to No. 69) and Lucas & Steve (up 10 to No. 71), Danish techno artist Kölsch (up 13 to No. 78), Chinese-Brazilian DJ Liu (up 19 to No. 79) and Dutch trance maestro Ferry Corsten (up nine to No. 80).

The other new entries in the second half of the Top 100 are Korolova from Ukraine, Brazilian tech-house don Mochakk, Australian export Dom Dolla, Miami-based Chicagoan John Summit, hard techno sensation Sara Landry, Dutch brothers DubVision, Londoner Jax Jones, Singaporean spinner WUKONG, Italian duo Marnik, Dutch tech-houser Mau P, Spanish EDMer B Jones, Italian trance stalwart Giuseppe Ottaviani, Danish techno lifer Faustix, and — last but by no means least — Italian triumvirate MEDUZA.

The aforementioned Sara Landry takes home the World’s No. 1 Hard DJ trophy by virtue of her entrancing hard techno sound. Historically, this award, a catch-all for all hard sounds, was won by either a hard house or latterly a hardstyle DJ. But the incredible growth of the hard techno sound this year has seen Sara Landry jump above those artists in the poll.

Top 100 DJs mainstays such as Angerfist or Headhunterz have dropped out of the 100 altogether this year, marking the first time since the ’00s that there is no pure hardstyle representation in the poll. Hardstyle fans needn’t worry, though, as the scene is still flourishing in its various international pockets, and high-ranking DJs such as Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Timmy Trumpet and even (occasionally) Hardwell or Armin van Buuren still integrate the sound into their sets from time to time.

So, where have your favourites placed? As part of the Top 100 DJs commemorative edition we check in with the DJs in the chart to see where they’re at. Amongst other things, this year we asked everyone whether they think phones should be banned on dancefloors, and what they think about the growing use of artificial intelligence in the music game. Their answers, as well as the chart as a whole, are illuminating.

DJ Mag returned to the famous stage at Amsterdam’s Johan Cruyff Arena to crowd this year’s The World’s No. 1 DJ. The awards show and full sets are available to watch now on DJ Mag’s YouTube channel. Chinese viewers can also enjoy the show on NetEase Cloud Music, the exclusive Top 100 DJs results partner for the China market.