Trance really is dead. (At least in the mainstream)

[Altair]

How can the DJ Mag Top 100 have any bearing on the popularity of a genre? Ever since they let anyone vote, people with money can buy all the votes they want.

Trance doesn't have to be mainstream, and the one moment that it was could only have been a one time thing. Tiësto was the first superstar DJ of any genre; no one had played to an entire stadium's worth of people before. He pioneered that business model and did it with the genre that was the most popular at the time he began to blow up, but once you get to that level you have to follow trends to stay relevant, so everyone moves on. He jumped ship, and while Armin tried to push the evolution of trance to keep its sound relevant he eventually became another pop EDM DJ. But the overall ethos of trance - melodic, anthemic, emotional, progressive - keeps evolving and showing up in new places and genres, and that's enough for me. And that aside, can we discount the fact that Calvin Harris' Miracle stayed atop the UK charts for weeks? The classic trance (or at least eurodance) sound still has enough purchase to be relevant now and again.

 

[Magdelayna]

you hipster you

What are you all on about haha...Trance was only mainstream in 1999 and maybe pushing 2000 aswell...im not talking about dutch charts or stuff like that. True mainstreams is judged by the UK/US charts.

 

[Magdelayna]

Well, let's see:

Toca's Miracle went to number one in 2000.
Airwave reached number 10 in 2000.
Sandstorm reached number 3, I think, in 2000.
And if you want to include Alice Deejay, Sash!, Lasgo & Ian van Dahl we have lots of top 10's there from 1998 to 2003, so, I'll have to disagree with you here.

So thats about 2 years...which was my point. It was 24 years ago.

 

[Jetflag]

What are you all on about haha...Trance was only mainstream in 1999 and maybe pushing 2000 aswell...im not talking about dutch charts or stuff like that. True mainstreams is judged by the UK/US charts.

dude, if we're going to count the "true" mainstream e.a. US charts then trance was never popular.

and no, not " maybe" definitely the 2000's, pushing till i would say 2003 in terms of top 10 chart reaching songs in the dancemusic architypes, cheese included. so thats 4 years and not quote: " one year - 1999." Where on earth did you get this exclusive 1999 doctrine from?

sure, the UK might be in the second largest pop-music influence as a country but its neither the leader, nor the entire (western) world and in particular the European continent.

 

[Julian Del Agranda]

rofl, UK chart is valid, other countries charts invalid. Nice going.

 

[Magdelayna]

Lets just say we have different interpretations of 'Mainstream' haha. And im not counting stuff like Lasgo...thats euro dance like N-Trance and JX.

Saltwater was a big mainstream Trance success...25 years ago.

 

[Magdelayna]

rofl, UK chart is valid, other countries charts invalid. Nice going.

Whenever you see foreign producers interviewed,they always talk about a high UK charting or being on Top of the Pops as a major success. Thats true mainstream.

 

[Julian Del Agranda]

The UK, the mini-America of Europe.

 

[SleepyBuddah]

Sure why not? I mean they charge money for going to the toilet in Europe so why not bringing in Mobile phones?

I know, in fact there are certain venues and artists who prohibit phones from taken inside and you have to put yours in a locker.
So charging for it to bring them in at festivals is a great idea.

 

[Recharge]

Paul van Dyk at number 37.
ATB at number 47.
Above & Beyond at number 53.
Ferry Corsten at number 80.
And Giuseppe Ottaviani at number 98, apparently being the first time ever on the list.

To add salt to injury Tiesto is always around.

Armin - rarely plays proper trance

Paul van Dyk at number 37.
ATB at number 47. - watched him this year, he played 90% EDM stuff
Above & Beyond at number 53. - lets face they don't even play trance anymore, even if I love progressive
Ferry Corsten at number 80.
And Giuseppe Ottaviani at number 98, apparently being the first time ever on the list.

So that leaves - PVD, Ferry and GO as the only proper trance djs

Nothing new trance had been slowly fading away from the mainstream for 20+ years. Hoping once its done we can hit a reset button like DnB did...

 

[LostLegend]

Trance is indeed a little more dead now, than a few years ago. It’s simply because techno borrows the trance name, but doesn’t really embrace the genre musically.

I think this is the crux of it really.
Various elements of trance have been co-opted by other genres, making trance as a singular genre more redundant in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Progrez]

To add salt to injury Tiesto is always around.

Armin - rarely plays proper trance

Paul van Dyk at number 37.
ATB at number 47. - watched him this year, he played 90% EDM stuff
Above & Beyond at number 53. - lets face they don't even play trance anymore, even if I love progressive
Ferry Corsten at number 80.
And Giuseppe Ottaviani at number 98, apparently being the first time ever on the list.

So that leaves - PVD, Ferry and GO as the only proper trance djs

Nothing new trance had been slowly fading away from the mainstream for 20+ years. Hoping once its done we can hit a reset button like DnB did...

Are you sure about GO? He has remixed David Guetta and has a made and plays a lot of edm shit. Paul van Dyk has always mentioned he is a electronic music performer more along the lines of Schiller.

 

[No Return]

rofl, UK chart is valid, other countries charts invalid. Nice going.

It was the case for us in Argentina. Only British chart and US MTV was the source of electronic music influence for around 15 years. Eventually the Dutch had compilations that would appear in the stores, but much later and only UK on pirate radios. Rock music was the same story.

 

[erickUO]

On Soundcloud, it's the fastest growing genre since 2023

The fastest-growing EDM scenes are paving the way for broader trends, with House, Hardcore, and Trance subgenres currently fueling the SoundCloud ecosystem.

Trance: Second in number of listeners and third in plays and listening time. Notably, Trance is the fastest-growing genre with a 24% increase in listening time and an 11% rise in listeners since 2023.

SoundCloud Reveals Electronic Music Fans are the Most Engaged Worldwide

 

[Bobby Summa]

Anjuna do much more stuff where I live (Brighton UK) than they used to. Brighton was dead of trance 7-10 years ago . Now days there’s quite a few big nights happening at clubs and on the beach (in the summer) . This indicates a rise in popularity surely.

- Plus .Somebody I know heard quite a bit of trance on Kiss fm. Kiss in the 90s used to be a totally different set up to now. ( back in the 1990’s Kiss had the best trance/detroit techno / ambient experimental dance possible) Probably been a totally different firm behind it for a long time. Anyway… point is Kiss these days, generally play very popular r&b hip hop stuff or pop right? So if they are introducing trance. Surely this means it’s on the rise.

- Plus… think back a yr or so and what genre was that Calvin Harris track that stayed at no1 in the charts. The Ellie Goulding one. ‘Miracle’.
: Euro dance - (which despite argument does have trance elements to it) . I’ve also heard a Binary finary remix of Miracle.

..Along with the other facts I’ve mentioned…-This all does however indicate along the broad spectrum of dance music & audience association… that Trance is on the rise. - Trust me, I’m a trance producer …(famous last words )

 

[Jetflag]

Lets just say we have different interpretations of 'Mainstream' haha. And im not counting stuff like Lasgo...thats euro dance like N-Trance and JX.

Saltwater was a big mainstream Trance success...25 years ago.

well yah apparently we do, heh. but even if I where to grant you that "The one true mainstream" scene solely depends on the UK, which it doesn't.

you're still categorically wrong when you state that 1999 was 'the only mainstream year for trance' , Hell, Motorcycle topped the US Hot Danceplay charts in 2004 as well as reaching no 11 in the UK. and that was 2004.

now....unless you are of the opinion that As the Rush comes isn't trance in which case i'll never speak to you again!

 

[Magdelayna]

well yah apparently we do, heh. but even if I where to grant you that "The one true mainstream" scene solely depends on the UK, which it doesn't.

you're still categorically wrong when you state that 1999 was 'the only mainstream year for trance' , Hell, Motorcycle topped the US Hot Danceplay charts in 2004 as well as reaching no 11 in the UK. and that was 2004.

now....unless you are of the opinion that As the Rush comes isn't trance in which case i'll never speak to you again!

But we are really clutching at straws here...we are still talking about 20 years ago. My point is about the thread title...Trance has been nowhere near mainstream for a long time.

Probably the most played and famous trance track of all time in this modern era is the Big Brother theme by Element 4. It is still played on mainstream TV as the show made a comeback in the UK.

 

[Bobby Summa]

dude, if we're going to count the "true" mainstream e.a. US charts then trance was never popular.

and no, not " maybe" definitely the 2000's, pushing till i would say 2003 in terms of top 10 chart reaching songs in the dancemusic architypes, cheese included. so thats 4 years and not quote: " one year - 1999." Where on earth did you get this exclusive 1999 doctrine from?

sure, the UK might be in the second largest pop-music influence as a country but its neither the leader, nor the entire (western) world and in particular the European continent.

Not very fun fact:: Trance & the US - I ‘heard’… they (don’t know who this they are?) made the genre EDM (the most misleading abreviation in the world) for the US market … ‘they’ (music industry money grabbers?) thought a less emotive / more instantly loud style would be popular to the masses of the US, Back in 2013/14 EDM wasn’t associated with Trance I believe. It was just associated with noisey loud stuff, Certainly not any EDM back at the 2000’s to my knowledge anyway. I don’t remember my trance compilation cd’s back then ever mentioning it in the 2000’s. I’d probably chuck em if they did

 

[SleepyBuddah]

So seeing the mentions of @Bobby Summa and @erickUO , we can cautiously say it's on the rise.

 

[Bobby Summa]

On Soundcloud, it's the fastest growing genre since 2023

SoundCloud Reveals Electronic Music Fans are the Most Engaged Worldwide

This is very relavant I feel. Soundcloud I see as the undercurrent to the future. What people both somewhat known & unknown will push. … remember guys the saying ‘Speculation is Accumilation’ doesn’t just apply to business and finance but everything. See the substance, Create the word, then … Spread the word. - the product arrives on our door.