UF is highly ranked for its sports, academics, research and now for its electronic dance music scene.
UF is currently ranked as the No. 3 best college EDM scene in the country, according to an ongoing, online Ranker contest, which began Feb. 3.
Ranker, one of the world’s largest databases for online surveys and polls, and Magnetic Magazine, an EDM magazine, are working together to uncover the college with the best EDM scene.
Yves Bergquist, Ranker senior director of business development, said the idea stemmed from a similar poll searching for the “Best EDM DJ,” which generated about 10,000 votes.
“(The college EDM scene) was an angle that really hasn’t been covered before,” Bergquist said. “We thought college and university students would get really excited about it, there’s definitely a lot of passion, and we just wanted to put it out there and have fun with it.”
Voters can click the blue thumbs up or red thumbs down for any school, as well as add another to the list.
Voting for round 1 will close March 2 at 9 p.m., eliminating all but 30 schools. The second and final stage of voting will open March 3, and the winner will be revealed the last week in March during Miami Music Week. Results will be published in both Ranker and Magnetic Magazine.
As of press time, Bergquist said there have been about 1,000 votes since the poll launched.
Out of more than 100 schools, UF is currently third on the list behind Florida State University and the University of Southern California.
Amanda Guillen, a 22-year-old UF journalism senior, said she attends about six EDM shows a year.
After experiencing FSU’s EDM scene as a student freshman year, Guillen said she’s not positive UF can push ahead in the polls. But UF is a good hub for music. Third about sums it up, she said.
“There’s a loyal following here,” Guillen said.
[A version of this story ran on page 3 on 2/11/2015 under the headline “Ongoing college EDM culture ranking includes UF at third"]
Florida State University
University of Southern California
University of Florida
University of California,
Santa Cruz
University of North Texas
Canadian electronic music duo Zeds Dead performs Sept. 1 at Forum. The electronic dance music industry is under fire after the multi-day Electric Zoo Festival was shut down following two suspected drug overdoses that same day.
