I've had this topic on the back of my mind for a couple of weeks already, but I wasn't sure how to approach it (and I still am unsure how to approach it). Hopefully this comes off coherently instead of a long-winded rant.
We've previously discussed qualities that make new trance tracks 'good'.
Go to any modern releases section - the one we have on trancefix, beatport, r/trance, and so on. What do you hear? Mostly the same kind of stuff that trended on Youtube 10 years ago, or that was played in festivals half a decade ago. If you're lucky, you will run into a neat sub-130 BPM anjunadeep style track that's just like the housey trance from 10 years ago. You will inevitably see cheap rehashes of classic trance, like Carte Blanche and Children.
Those things can be fine. I did not make this thread to just say that modern trance sounds all the same or whatever. Instead, I would argue that trance fundamentally lacks something deeper, an innovation that takes the genre beyond what it is right now. Why is trance like this? Even Armin's latest album feels like it was made a long time ago, including the poppy tracks. They feel like they were made for a different generation.
...
I don't claim to be an expert in 2010s music. I did listen to a good amount of 2011-2014 pop during my first break from trance (ex. Somebody I Used to Know, Riptide) and was exposed to mid-2010s American hip-hop/rap (ex. Hotline Bling, Black Beatles). I went right through the 2017 boom of reggaeton, which includes the Despacito that probably everyone on this forum knows and also more interesting, underground-sounding tracks like Karol G, Ozuna - Hello. I enjoyed hearing future house when it became popular in 2015. I was still in college when kpop broke into the mainstream in 2019, with tracks like Boy With Luv. Months just before the pandemic, there was a sudden demand for funky music, as evidenced by Don't Start Now and Say So. Around the same time, The Weeknd's Blinding Lights gave everyone the '80s sound that we all had been craving.
The general worldwide public of the 2010s saw many music genres come and go. Yet, trance remained largely the same way it started the decade {ex. Stresstest (John Askew remix) & even before that, like Inertia - The System}. It's failed to adapt, and that's pretty evident in the popularity of the genre. Just look at the worldwide Google trend of 'trance music'. I think this inability to evolve is harming the genre. The weird thing is, it's not like trance has zero sources of possible inspiration. It's right there, in popular music! Yet when Armin tries to make commercial "pop," it falls flat.
I do not know why trance producers saw all that was going on around them and just... ignored it and continued the same thing they've always done.
With modern trance, it's just really difficult to accept it as 2021 music. New releases don't feel like they belong with the rest of modern music.
tl;dr Trance failed to capitalize on worldwide music trends (early 2010s indie pop; reggaeton; kpop; American hip-hop; recent retro revivals like Blinding Lights) and has been paying it for a while. By remaining insular and sticking to the good old formulas developed by JOC, Askew, et al. from the 2000s, the genre is unable to reach broader audiences and progress meaningfully.
We've previously discussed qualities that make new trance tracks 'good'.
Go to any modern releases section - the one we have on trancefix, beatport, r/trance, and so on. What do you hear? Mostly the same kind of stuff that trended on Youtube 10 years ago, or that was played in festivals half a decade ago. If you're lucky, you will run into a neat sub-130 BPM anjunadeep style track that's just like the housey trance from 10 years ago. You will inevitably see cheap rehashes of classic trance, like Carte Blanche and Children.
Those things can be fine. I did not make this thread to just say that modern trance sounds all the same or whatever. Instead, I would argue that trance fundamentally lacks something deeper, an innovation that takes the genre beyond what it is right now. Why is trance like this? Even Armin's latest album feels like it was made a long time ago, including the poppy tracks. They feel like they were made for a different generation.
...
I don't claim to be an expert in 2010s music. I did listen to a good amount of 2011-2014 pop during my first break from trance (ex. Somebody I Used to Know, Riptide) and was exposed to mid-2010s American hip-hop/rap (ex. Hotline Bling, Black Beatles). I went right through the 2017 boom of reggaeton, which includes the Despacito that probably everyone on this forum knows and also more interesting, underground-sounding tracks like Karol G, Ozuna - Hello. I enjoyed hearing future house when it became popular in 2015. I was still in college when kpop broke into the mainstream in 2019, with tracks like Boy With Luv. Months just before the pandemic, there was a sudden demand for funky music, as evidenced by Don't Start Now and Say So. Around the same time, The Weeknd's Blinding Lights gave everyone the '80s sound that we all had been craving.
The general worldwide public of the 2010s saw many music genres come and go. Yet, trance remained largely the same way it started the decade {ex. Stresstest (John Askew remix) & even before that, like Inertia - The System}. It's failed to adapt, and that's pretty evident in the popularity of the genre. Just look at the worldwide Google trend of 'trance music'. I think this inability to evolve is harming the genre. The weird thing is, it's not like trance has zero sources of possible inspiration. It's right there, in popular music! Yet when Armin tries to make commercial "pop," it falls flat.
I do not know why trance producers saw all that was going on around them and just... ignored it and continued the same thing they've always done.
With modern trance, it's just really difficult to accept it as 2021 music. New releases don't feel like they belong with the rest of modern music.
tl;dr Trance failed to capitalize on worldwide music trends (early 2010s indie pop; reggaeton; kpop; American hip-hop; recent retro revivals like Blinding Lights) and has been paying it for a while. By remaining insular and sticking to the good old formulas developed by JOC, Askew, et al. from the 2000s, the genre is unable to reach broader audiences and progress meaningfully.
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