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

[JohnnyBarefoot1992]

well, the question was more " why do" but fair enough.

One issue I have (and i'm saying this as a leaning libertarian) with it is that the quality of the music, as you aptly pointed out, is completely financially/market driven. And i'm actually of the opinion that this, especially in the long run, doesn't create " new great music" but leads to precisely the shitty mediocrity problem we've seen with trance over the last couple of years namely:

- attempts at being " cool" by sailing along every trend (kids like hard? -> hardstlye, kids like electro? -> fartbasses, kids like house? -> trouse etc.)

- dogmatic formulaic templates driven by whatever is the then most popular vengeance sample.

- copy catting galore, see for further details the: shocking stuff that once destroyed our scene, thread,

financially its beneficial i grant you, but artistically? there's a very good reason why near everbody on this forum complaints the likes of Tijs and Armin " sold out" and that those financial incentives it didn't particularly elevate the quality of their music.

Well, I keep saying it was a huge mistake to let the fate of Trance in the hands of literally just two guys, Armin and Tiësto. In fact, I would say Trance declined considerably after that.

 

[JohnnyBarefoot1992]

Assume it’s neutral for a sec,

because assigning “good” to it pre-hoc sort of defeats the purpose of the question.

what is, quality aside, the benefit of something you hold dear being
“Mainstream” as opposed to say “underground” or better yet “exclusive”

Well, this is a complicated question.

Back in 2008-2011 I was such a die-hard Trance fan that I wanted everyone to fall in love with it no matter what. Nowadays I probably wouldn't want that as I see that not everyone is going to understand it and it's probably best to keep it to us, real lovers, instead of making it too big.

 

[SaltAcidFatHeatAcid]

I knew this was gonna be a good one when I saw it pop up a few days ago. Not disappointed.

I see trance all over the place, but it's not sold as trance, as many have mentioned. In a way, it's showing up in a more open format right? Like, before the trancexplosion in 98-99', most shows were more open format in general, coalescing around a regional sound, a club reputation, a resident DJ's preferences. I hope trance returns to being a part of this more reputational rave experience, alongside all the other complimentary genres we used to see back in the day. Bring on the breaks, acid house, drop some thick bass. If it works it works. Make it unpredictable. Get DJ's up there that understand how to move a floor.

Also, when they are mixing it up like that, uplifting becomes the icing on the cake, a euphoric treat when your legs need a break. Timed as chemicals are becoming more prevelent in the bloodstream. You wouldn't eat an entire tub of icing right? Yet an all-uplifting show is just that for most people who aren't obsessed with that subgenre that's taken over the mainstream, much tot he genre's demise. I think that's a huge part of why trance is so dead. No offense to the uplifting scene, but why there is even a scene for those seeking a homogenous set of breakdowns and dancefloor stoppage is beyond me. Once or twice a set? There's the power.

 

[Jetflag]

Well, I keep saying it was a huge mistake to let the fate of Trance in the hands of literally just two guys, Armin and Tiësto. In fact, I would say Trance declined considerably after that.

Err..Mistake by whom and what would you suggest “we” should have done to prevent it ?

Murder them in their sleep before or straight after they became popular?

secretly replace them with John dig weed & Sasha and hope people don’t notice?

 

[Jetflag]

Well, this is a complicated question.

Back in 2008-2011 I was such a die-hard Trance fan that I wanted everyone to fall in love with it no matter what. Nowadays I probably wouldn't want that as I see that not everyone is going to understand it and it's probably best to keep it to us, real lovers, instead of making it too big.

Agreed

 

[Recharge]

all late 90's and early 00's popular 'Trance' tracks were released by 'Universal Music', 'Sony Music' or 'EMI Publishing'! you are all old enough, so don't be so naive!) normal independent labels had no power to pay any rotations in radio or TV. its always PAID

If those monstrous major labels were still interested in 'Trance', believe me, there would be 'Trance' everywhere in the mainstream

Well Armada was and I guess still is the biggest independent electronic music label and that became the problem, because Armada made the rules and trends of the whole genre. Add ASOT to the mix and Armin has complete monopoly which is never good. So that leaves barely any labels to compete with Armada. Anjuna and Enhanced at least managed to carve large part the of the progressive side and you see progressive house and trance are at a much better state these days with more quality releases.

 

[Bobby Summa]

Does any good music make it to the mainstream anymore, bar some very rare instances?

In the past the mainstream included a culmination of many different listener cohorts, ranging from very casual pop-lovers to more serious underground heads. It had a diverse make-up. This is why Top of The Pops in the UK was so good, because it reflected a range of needs, and had the mechanisms in place for quality to rise to top. Tracks had to be catchy, but also sometimes serious too. Prodigy is such a good example. Known names and unknown newcomers shared the same platform.

It's completely different today. Globalization allows only one listener cohort to be targeted - the casual, throw-away, brand-name focused one. It has such overwhelming volume that the other cohorts are not needed, giving us the situation we are in today, where mainstream separates itself further and further from all other scenes.

Great point. One word. ‘Streaming’. And everyone does it. I don’t think ‘now’ anyone would stop doing it. It seams responsible for so much drop in music related areas. Ie- producer incomes, I believe greatly reduced once streaming became popular.

Cause and effect.

The issue though has become : Greater Imbalance.

 

[TheTranceHistorian]

"Trance is dead"

From a music production standpoint, this statement is true, as practically no actual trance records have been created since around the mid 2000s. This means that even the newest/latest trance productions are nearly 20 years old by now (which basically makes all trance tunes retro by definition).

Sure, there are many productions from the late 2000s, from the 2010s, and 2020s that are keep being referred to as trance. But these have little to nothing in common with the genre in reality. For the most part, these tracks are just directionless, incoherent mishmashes of different EDM subgenres that are trying to masquarade as trance records and rely on the support of the remaining members of the #trancefamily in an attempt to reach some mild success.

Trance is dead for about 20 years by now, and it's not some nostalgic rambling of someone who went into parties in the '90s. I'm 31 and the days of trance was already over by the time I hit 18. But...

But trance is very much alive when we are speaking about the genre's timelessness (at least when it comes to good productions) and when we are talking about people who are still listening to these amazing gems from the past and keep finding enjoyment in them. This community/website is one of the best demonstrations of this.

So trance is dead as fuck, but it's also very much alive.

 

[Recharge]

LOL, this couldn't have come at a better time

 

[Magdelayna]

"Trance is dead"

From a music production standpoint, this statement is true, as practically no actual trance records have been created since around the mid 2000s. This means that even the newest/latest trance productions are nearly 20 years old by now (which basically makes all trance tunes retro by definition).

Sure, there are many productions from the late 2000s, from the 2010s, and 2020s that are keep being referred to as trance. But these have little to nothing in common with the genre in reality. For the most part, these tracks are just directionless, incoherent mishmashes of different EDM subgenres that are trying to masquarade as trance records and rely on the support of the remaining members of the #trancefamily in an attempt to reach some mild success.

Trance is dead for about 20 years by now, and it's not some nostalgic rambling of someone who went into parties in the '90s. I'm 31 and the days of trance was already over by the time I hit 18. But...

But trance is very much alive when we are speaking about the genre's timelessness (at least when it comes to good productions) and when we are talking about people who are still listening to these amazing gems from the past and keep finding enjoyment in them. This community/website is one of the best demonstrations of this.

So trance is dead as fuck, but it's also very much alive.

No Trance has been made for 20 years? Are you feeling ok mate?

 

[TheTranceHistorian]

No Trance has been made for 20 years? Are you feeling ok mate?

Yes. Aside from a few outliers, no actual trance tunes have been produced in (nearly) the past two decades. Just tunes that have been labeled as trance for various (and wrong) reasons.

 

[Magdelayna]

Yes. Aside from a few outliers, no actual trance tunes have been produced in (nearly) the past two decades. Just tunes that have been labeled as trance for various (and wrong) reasons.

Well,i think thats an insult to all Trance producers including me.

What was the last Trance track ever made oh holy historian??

 

[Julian Del Agranda]

Age of love. The first and last trance track!

 

[Jetflag]

reasons to love this topic:

me and @Magdelayna getting into a spat over what "true" mainstream is.
@Magdelayna and @TheTranceHistorian then getting into a spat over what "true" trance is.
@Julian Del Agranda posting one sentence troll comments.

 

[Magdelayna]

reasons to love this topic:

me and @Magdelayna getting into a spat over what "true" mainstream is.
@Magdelayna and @TheTranceHistorian then getting into a spat over what "true" trance is.
@Julian Del Agranda posting one sentence troll comments.

Theres been some ridiculous things said in this thread

 

[TheTranceHistorian]

Well,i think thats an insult to all Trance producers including me.

What was the last Trance track ever made oh holy historian??

I don't really care. As a producer who decided to share his work publicly, you should be prepared and should be open to any and all potential criticism/opinion and take it with humility and dignity, regardless of whether if it's positive or negative.

Instead of taking this personally, maybe you could have explained why you think I'm wrong and could have used some of your productions to prove your point.

But all you could do is call me... holy historian? Dude, you need to grow up.

P.S.: I'm sure as fuck a historian compared to you, with around 25 thousand trance tunes I've already listened to. You know jackshit about the genre you claim you are producing tracks in for more than 20 years. Basically all your favourites are super commercial trance anthems from the most commercial year of the genre (1999). Your knowledge (and thus your understanding of the genre) is surface level at best and you seem to have close to zero knowledge about the era when most of the development took place and many of the most interesting tracks have been produced (1993-1995).

 

[Julian Del Agranda]

we could organize a quiz to see who of you two knows trance better?

 

[Julian Del Agranda]

the most interesting tracks

Not subjective at all.

 

[Jetflag]

we could organize a quiz to see who of you two knows trance better?

@Julian Del Agranda volunteers to be the head-judge.

Loser has to preform a dance-act in front of him on a piece of cheese of my choosing,






in a tutu.

 

[Magdelayna]

What did i just read... 🫣🫣