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A lot of people have made points that I agree with. (A division in directions between minimal and complex, trends repeating in a circular fashion, etc.)
One thing I think is important to acknowledge, and in all probability unfortunate: the fact of the matter is that the club scene in general is becoming bigger and bigger business. With more and more people going to clubs, buying CD's and records, more and more DJ's and producers emerging, I forsee much more commercialization of the genre.
Look at how far into the mainstream trance has already come. Where I live in Japan, there is often trance as the background music to commercials, and even news clips. The club Velfarre in Tokyo hosts their weekly saturday 'Cyber Trance' event, that has spawned a whole record line, a magazine including fashion, and even high-tech battery operated strobing 'Cyber sticks' to replace glow-sticks!! Now Japan is all about slick marketing, and the Japanese love to buy the newest, hottest what-ever-it-is, whereas in North America, we're more inclined to sit back, and wait to see if the new stuff catches on before we pick one up. (Just look at Mini Discs. People have been using them like crazy in Japan for years, but only a handful of my friends in Toronto even own one.)
I think that in a few years, trance may find itself in a similar state to hip-hop right now: the most talented creative artists are rarely able to get widespread recognition, while the most formulaic, marketable artists get played and played and played. This is a sad state of affairs, and we have to maintain our creative vigilance, as DJ's, producers, and especially as consumers. Let's be careful what kind of message we send to the labels... we don't want to encourage the proliferation of mediocrity.
No Trancey Spears, or Back Trance Boys!!!
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