Am I wrong, or wasn't Trance music also very quickly digitalized? I don't really remember if I have seen any Trance vinyl releases after 2008 in vinyl shops, maybe 'Trancemaster - Neptune's Orb' was the very first one after long time and that was in 2017. But that's maybe more the fault of the Trance dj's and collector's, because Techno or House never stopped with the 12" releases. Even last friday there was 40+ new Techno releases on vinyl. Releasing anything as mp3 is so easy, no needs for high quality.
Also the Trance producer's are somehow not into analog gear, like nobody wants a rare synth or a drum machine in the studio anymore, most of the releases are digital productions. I don't really understand it. Electronic music is more sexy with analog stuff.)
I think these 2 things are also very important in the story.
I remember reading on Wikipedia that the Internet was in fact a huge reason trance as a genre stayed alive. Di.fm, tranceaddict, trance.nu, and the other platforms/forums all kept the genre relevant well after the golden commercial era ended. So yeah, it makes sense that trance quickly went digital. The trance audience resided online, and it just wasn't worth releasing anything on vinyl anymore.
I can't give an actual source, though. Those are just my thoughts based on what I read 10 years ago and what I learned about the 2000s Internet trance scene.
But that's because the music started to suck! If Trance still killed it with tracks we used to get then I have no doubt the next generation would get on board easily.
It feels like there are less people who would appreciate Trance now but its not the case, I think genres around it just increased in popularity, like Techno and House, when electronic music became more normalized and accessible. Techno and House def have more commercial variants and casual listening appeal. They outpaced Trances numbers with the new wave but it doesn't mean the pool Trance lovers shrunk, just feels like it in comparison.
I'm not sure what it would take to make trance appealing to gen Z other than a sudden interest in late '90s/early 2000s pop culture.
Tracks made in the same late '90s style will be identified as
old, even if they are new 2022 releases.
Trance in general doesn't integrate well with the Latin, Korean (see: top Spotify artists streamed worldwide), vibey hip-hop interests of today's general population (just pull up any "Tiktok 2022" or "Pop 2022" playlist). But maybe trance just hasn't had its turn when it comes to retro trend revivals.
What
would be interesting is if Armin or someone of similar stature collaborated with kpop artists. Western electronic producers like Benny Benassi have already done that. Then again, the outcome wouldn't be trance; it would be vaguely '90s-inspired house with kpop vocals on top, or straight-up EDM.
(if you're rolling your eyes right now, you're not the target audience. End of the story.)
