150,000 classic trance tracks from 1988 to 2009 collected in new database
Creator Koncz Dávid is confident that the database has been compiled with at least 90% accuracy
A new database collecting 150,000 classic trance tracks has gone online.
The comprehensive spreadsheet, which uses vinyl releases as a reference, was created with the “goal to compile all trance (and proto-trance) tracks made between 1988 and 2009.” It features the track and artist names, track lengths and genre breakdowns of over 150,000 entries, as well as links to their YouTube uploads.
EDM Tunes reports that Koncz Dávid – aka TheTranceHistorian – started compiling the list back in 2022 to aid with research for his new book on the history of the genre. He quickly realised that the project could be a “useful and valuable source of information for all trance lovers out there”, so upon finishing, decided to make the database public.
He delivered the news on the Trancefix forum, writing: “The database is considered mostly finished, and it has almost every classic trance track ever made listed in it. I say ‘mostly’ because I had to make some minor compromises to save a significant amount of work time.”
The database features renowned classics such as Tiësto’s ‘Traffic’, Paul van Dyk's 'For An Angel', ‘Take Me Away’ by 4 Strings, and Robert Miles’ ‘Children’, as well as formative works such as The KLF's 'What Time Is Love', and thousands of forgotten and undiscovered gems from the first – and arguably most important – two decades of trance music. Dávid is confident that the database has been compiled with at least 90% accuracy.
In order to streamline the data processing, the document does not feature any track below four minutes, duplicates have been filtered to the minimum possible, radio and other shortened versions have been excluded, and acapellas are not a part of the list. Various Artist releases are also not featured in the database – “at least for now,” Dávid said – as these tend to contain tracks from a wide variety of genres.
The master database is available but has a “hard time loading in fully even on high-end PCs”, so the creator suggests looking at the second document (a Google Sheets file), which dedicates one sheet for each year.
Check out the complete database here or dive in via the Trancefix forum.
Armin van Buuren was voted the No.1 trance DJ in the world by DJ Mag readers in 2023’s Top 100 DJs poll. A new DJ Mag documentary celebrating 30 years of the poll was recently released, with a section dedicated to exploring the trance boom of the ’90s, and how the sound came to dominate the world of dance music.
Revisit DJ Mag’s feature exploring the science of why trance works here.
