The 100 Greatest Electronic/Dance Artists

Edited By: Zach D.
Last Updated: 01-25-12
Link: http://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_ ... elect.html

Criteria:

• For the purposes of this list, "Electronic/Dance" is considered to be a genre of popular music, spanning an array of styles including but not limited to the following: Early Electronic, Ambient, Italo Disco, Hi-NRG, Synthpop, Industrial, Electro, House, Techno, Freestyle, Miami Bass, Trip-Hop, Trance, Hardcore, Jungle/Drum & Bass, Big Beat, UK Garage, Grime, and Dubstep. Some would refer to this genre as "Electronica," though others dismiss this term.

• Artist rankings are based on equal parts musical impact, acclaim, innovation, influence and popularity.

• Electronic composers of Post-Classical/Avant-Garde music are not eligible, unless they have contributed significantly to the popular electronic music genre (e.g. Wendy Carlos, Tomita).

• This list is reserved specifically for recording artists, therefore DJs, remixers, and producers who have little to no artistic output were not considered.


1. Kraftwerk
2. Depeche Mode
3. New Order
4. Brian Eno
5. The Human League
6. Jean Michel Jarre
7. Pet Shop Boys
8. Giorgio Moroder
9. The Prodigy
10. Afrika Bambaataa
11. Moby
12. Gary Numan
13. Daft Punk
14. Tangerine Dream
15. The Chemical Brothers
16. Kevin Saunderson / Inner City
17. Underworld
18. Yellow Magic Orchestra
19. Massive Attack
20. Orbital
21. Derrick May
22. Wendy Carlos
23. Fatboy Slim
24. The KLF
25. Ultravox
26. Leftfield
27. Mantronix
28. Frankie Knuckles
29. Aphex Twin
30. Vangelis
31. Basement Jaxx
32. The Art of Noise
33. Shannon
34. The Orb
35. Throbbing Gristle
36. Juan Atkins / Cybotron
37. Portishead
38. Klaus Schulze
39. Yello
40. Soul II Soul
41. Goldie
42. Larry Heard / Fingers Inc.
43. Man Parrish
44. 808 State
45. Cabaret Voltaire
46. The Shamen
47. Marshall Jefferson
48. Soft Cell
49. Paul van Dyk
50. Faithless
51. Manuel Göttsching
52. Richie Hawtin
53. Tricky
54. Patrick Cowley
55. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
56. Dizzee Rascal
57. Cluster
58. Todd Terry
59. Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam
60. Suicide
61. Roni Size / Reprazent
62. Björk
63. Yazoo
64. Autechre
65. LCD Soundsystem
66. A Guy Called Gerald
67. Sven Väth
68. Front 242
69. Isao Tomita
70. Heaven 17
71. Carl Craig
72. DJ Pierre / Phuture
73. 2 Live Crew
74. Bobby Orlando
75. The Future Sound of London
76. Armand Van Helden
77. Justice
78. Silver Apples
79. Bronski Beat
80. Joey Beltram
81. DJ Shadow / UNKLE
82. Sasha
83. Masters at Work
84. The Crystal Method
85. Erasure
86. Jeff Mills
87. Coil
88. LTJ Bukem
89. The Black Dog / Plaid
90. Popol Vuh
91. Burial
92. Telex
93. Lil' Louis
94. Didier Marouani / Space
95. Exposé
96. Tiësto
97. Coldcut
98. Deadmau5
99. Underground Resistance
100. Skinny Puppy

Am I the only one who thinks Wendy Carlos should be at least Top 15? Also, is Isao Tomita good enough for this list?

That's a possibility. Maybe Top 20.

Yes, Isao Tomita is an important enough synthesist to include in the Top 100.

Actually, this list has been one of my pet projects for a few years, and I'm always trying to improve it. In fact, there are quite a few things I'd like to change. Feel free to make critiques, too.

Time is something I seem to have less and less of these days, so it's hard for me to dedicate much attention to my lists -- life getting in the way and all that. Hopefully, there will be another revision of this list within the next several months. Again, I'm open to opinions and feedback.

I'd probably also add (relatively high) deadmau5, Venetian Snares, and Flying Lotus. Also, why doesn't Justice crack the Top 100?

I'm in the same boat as you, but there's no doubt that the list keeps getting better. I'd also expand the list to 300. Anyways, good job.

Thanks, J.B. I credit you for supplying the most helpful feedback for this list out of anyone on DDD. It's almost like... it's OUR baby, ya know?

Justice could potentially crack the Top 100 for the next update. The other names may see entry into the Top 300.

Nice, can't wait to see which artists make the bottom 50.

Flying Lotus below Janet Jackson?

This list needs a serious makeover. As in it needs to be split into separate general electronic and dance lists, as the two are generally enjoyed by completely different groups of fans.

As for the current list, Skream needs a definite Top 50 placement, considering he practically invented dubstep, a genre with literally no representation on this list right now. For the Top 100, I'd recommend Crystal Castles, Salem, and possibly ////\/\/\\\\ (the board won't let me type triangles) for their development of Witch House. Detektivbyrån should be in the Top 200.

James Blake may be able to score pretty well, considering he's currently at the forefront of the newest unnamed electronic genre.

I was actually considering taking out the dance-pop artists and maybe reserving them for a sidebar list, for that very reason you gave. I mean, Madonna's easily one of the most important figures in dance music -- but her inclusion, admittedly, looks a bit funny next to artists like Larry Heard and the Prodigy. Prince, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, and Kylie Minogue are even more odd-looking in this context. Again, there's no doubt these artists made concessions to electronic/dance music and even influenced some of the "pure" electronic artists, but I'd say dance-pop might be a little too left of field for this list.

I'd compare this to my 100 Greatest R&B Artists list, in the respect that I excluded "blue-eyed soul" artists, because people like Dusty Springfield and the Righteous Brothers (as significant as they were to R&B-based music) didn't seem to quite fit in with Stevie Wonder, D'Angelo, or Whitney Houston. However, because they were significant in R&B's history, they deserve to be acknowledged in at least a sidebar list, or even an honorable mentions section. So, that's probably what I'll end up doing with Madonna, MJ, Prince, Kylie, and similar artists concerning this list -- because they certainly are significant in electronic/dance music's history.

Top 50 seems a bit high, honestly. I'd say he does well in influence for helping pioneer that style, and he does okay in impact, but that's probably not enough to get Skream quite up there. Maybe Top 100. Dubstep is still a fairly new breed, so it's okay that this list not have many of its respective artists represented just yet; although, the top three or four dubstep artists could find their way onto the list for the next revision, albeit not very high.



Crystal Castles is a good suggestion, though I think having them in the Top 200 is more feasible. And, it's a little too early to consider those "witch house" artists just yet.



Another notable artist, but again, he hasn't been around long enough for me to really consider him for this list.

Thanks for making suggestions.

No problem.

But dubstep is one of the biggest breakthroughs in the past decade of electronic music. There are clubs entirely devoted to it and it just keeps getting more and more popular. Top 100 seems to be perfect for at least a few dubstep artists.

Okay, guys. I've had a couple days to give this list some thought, so a revision will be underway. You can look forward to a few new additions in the Top 100 -- and yes, at least a couple dubstep artists will be included. ;)

Scooter?