Well to be fair DJ Dan and Christopher Lawrence weren’t caught cheating themselves but they were among several DJs that are now ineligible for the DJ Mag Top 100 List this year due to irregularities in votes cast for them. Also removed are Israel’s Flash Brother and several Chinese DJs who either paid for votes or used a script to log multiple votes.
When publisher James Robertson went through the votes manually he noticed that the same IP Address was used to log 50 or more votes both for DJ Dan and Christopher Lawrence who are represented by the same marketing company. Both DJs deny any wrongdoing on their part.
Chinese DJ Tiesmi admitted paying cash for votes. Tiesmi explained that it cost 4000 Yuan (£260) for 100,000 votes and that he had paid a software engineer to create a script to by-pass the security code. It was noticed that he quickly raced to the No.1 spot within hours of the voting starting.
Tiesmi’s friend Yutise, was also investigated. He explained that it was not him cheating, but his crazed fans who he had no control over.
Christopher Lawrence has since fired his marketing company.
Monster Media
October 30, 2007 (13:11)
Christopher Lawrence cleared by DJ Magazine in Top 100 poll.
Christopher Lawrence and his team are pleased to announce that
Christopher has been cleared of any wrongdoing in relation to the Top
100 poll.
Following the discovery of voting anomalies in this years poll, DJ Mag
conducted an in depth investigation, which ultimately cleared
Christopher of any involvement.
Publisher James Robertson says “DJ Mag has been in lengthy discussions
with Christopher Lawrence following our discovery of voting
irregularities” he stated. “We fully accept his explanation that he,
personally, had no involvement in any cheating”.
In an interview with Skrufff, Christopher Lawrence explained
“Apparently there were multiple votes from single IP addresses. DJ Mag
felt it was suspicious and contacted my team to see if we knew anything
about it,” he continued, “We didn’t, so we arranged for the marketing
manager who was handling my Top 100 campaign to speak to them. He
explained that he promotes the vote to street teams of 100,000- 150,000
people, mainly students”.
“My team hired him because he had done campaigns like People’s Choice
Awards in the US as well as work for major record labels and movie
studios. He said he had never had problems before, but clearly DJ Mag
had a problem with his methods and the multiple votes were irregular,
so we had to ask him to step aside,” he continued.
“My wife was worried and considered signing me up with a wedding DJ
agency, but fortunately there has been no impact whatsoever. No
cancelled bookings. Nothing. So I guess I can put my Kool & the Gang
records away. No weddings any time soon,” Christopher joked.
Members of the dance industry spoke out in support. BBC Radio 1’s Judge
Jules said “Christopher has long been one of the biggest DJ’s in the
US, who in more recent years found just how well his sound worked over
in Europe. I’ve played with him loads and he’s never failed to generate
a brilliant reaction”.
Dave Lee, Gatecrasher Brand Director says “Chris has been a great
artist for many years, and performed well for Gatecrasher in 2007. His
‘Live in Moscow’ album was at the top of MOS non TV album seller list
in 2007”.
“The fans have also been great” said Christopher. “I was on tour in
China over the weekend and the shows were the best I have ever done in
that market. I think most people are able to put it into perspective.”
And as for other DJ’s reactions, “I think most DJs are probably
relieved that it wasn’t them,” he laughed.
DJ Mag publisher James Robertson says “DJmag has always believed,
regardless of 2007’s anomalies, that Christopher is an excellent DJ who
stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the world’s best. We look forward to
him resuming his rightful place amongst the leading performers in the
Top 100 DJs 2008 poll.”
In conclusion, Christopher said “Any DJ can be #1 on any given night.
The Top 100 is only a poll and what really matters is what happens on
the dance floor. At the end of the night when the lights come on and
the music fades, you know who your favorite DJ is, and that’s all that
really matters”.
Download Christopher Lawrence press photo:
http://www.christopherlawrence.com/mailer/temp/christopherlawrence.zip
For more info: http://www.christopherlawrence.com
Tyra Bierbaum
October 19, 2010 (12:20)
howdy i read your web logs every the time, you have some special things to sound out. My subscribers would like your style, do you believe you could be a guest blogger for me?