#A State Of Trance
Essays about ASOT: the show, the Top 1000, the label, and how it kept classic trance alive for 25 years.
A State Of Trance is the closest thing classic trance has to an institution: a weekly radio show that started in 2001, a record label, an annual Top 1000 vote, and a world-tour brand. It is the main reason the classic era was extended rather than closed, and the main channel through which a generation discovered the back catalogue.
The writing here covers the show, the label, the Who's Afraid Of 138?! reaction against slowing tempos, and how a weekly two-hour broadcast became the genre's operating system.
Apr 11, 2026 · 3 min
ASOT And The Invention Of A Genre Brand
How a weekly radio show became the operating system that classic trance still runs on twenty-five years later.
Read →Jul 6, 2026 · 3 min
Is Trance Still Popular? Yes, And Here Is What The Scene Actually Looks Like Now
Classic trance stopped being commercially dominant around 2005. It never stopped being a live genre. Here is what the touring circuit, the labels and the audience look like in the mid-2020s.
Read →Jul 1, 2026 · 4 min
A State Of Trance — The Complete Guide To Armin's Radio Empire
The weekly radio show, the record label, the world-tour brand and the Top 1000 vote — a full guide to the twenty-five-year institution keeping classic trance alive.
Read →Aug 22, 2026 · 4 min
Anjunabeats at the Turn of the Millennium
From an Above & Beyond outlet to 2004's No One On Earth: a careful account of the early Anjunabeats record, including a first-party date discrepancy.
Read →Aug 22, 2026 · 5 min
A State of Trance, 2001–2004: What the Early Archive Documents
The early A State of Trance record documents a radio show, listener-voted year-end editions, a label and compilation products—before the later event narrative took shape.
Read →Aug 22, 2026 · 5 min
2000s Trance Music, 2000–2004: Labels, Radio and Listening Paths
A selective guide to 2000–2004 built from documented label, radio, album and mix-compilation records—not a claim that one sound represented the whole decade.
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