TRANCE TIMELINE
From Frankfurt clubs to the Las Vegas Sphere — thirty moments that defined the genre.
Genesis
Frankfurt clubs to dream-trance crossover
Trance is born from acid house, German techno, and the Goa scene. The first proto-trance records appear, "trance" enters the DJ vocabulary, and Robert Miles takes the dream-trance sound mainstream.
Golden Age
Anthems, Anjuna, and the founding myth
The defining records of the genre arrive in a five-year burst: For an Angel, Out of the Blue, 9PM, 1998. Anjunabeats is founded. Goa peaks and bifurcates into psytrance.
Mainstream
ASOT, Olympics, stadium trance
A State of Trance launches and grows into a global community of 40 million weekly listeners. Tiësto plays the Athens Olympics. Trance reaches commercial heights it had never seen and never will again.
Diversification
EDM disruption, Anjunadeep, underground revival
EDM swallows the mainstage, Anjunadeep deepens the progressive end, FSOE keeps uplifting alive, and Above & Beyond write the songs that prove trance can survive without the festival economy.
Modern Era
Sphere shows, the underground rises again
Anyma resets the visual ceiling at Las Vegas Sphere. Underground uplifting revives across Eastern Europe. ASOT crosses 1000 episodes. The genre enters its fifth decade with the audience it always deserved.
The timeline is continuously updated as new articles, artists, and labels are added.
READ THE BLOG →