‘DJ Mag’ Launches In India, Blue Frog Rejoices (Maybe)

It may not be such a great time for the city’s nightlife scene but at least the country’s magazine publishing industry seems to be going strong. This month has seen the launch of Indian editions of two international titles, National Geographic Traveller and DJ Mag (in the same fortnight that brought the announcement of a popular UK music mag shutting down). DJ Mag, as you may well know, is the electronic dance music bible best known for its annual ranking of the world’s Top 100 DJs, as voted by its readers around the globe. The cover story of the inaugural issue of the Indian edition is, unsurprisingly, a reprint of the 2011 edition of the list, with the added bonus of a feature on the Top 10 Indian DJs, based on a poll conducted among EDM acts and a handful of journalists (Jalebee Cartel’s Arjun Vagale is No.1 if you’re curious). All this means that Blue Frog, which so loves to quote the rankings, now has a ready reckoner with which to prepare both its international and Indian DJ gig listings. Then again, the timing of the magazine’s launch perhaps couldn’t have been worse at least for readers for Mumbai, with clubs across the city still being wary of hosting gigs by DJs. DJ Mag India is a quarterly so hopefully by the time the second issue is out in October, our nightlife will have been rejuvenated somewhat. By then however, the 2012 list of the world’s Top 100 DJs—the polls for which opened on Wednesday, June 27 and close on Wednesday, August 29—will be out.