ChoonTrance is live. With the launch of the network, trance-artists and fans of the genre have an opportunity to connect and interact again. At first glance the launch seems to be going against the flow, with many online meeting spots closing indefinitely in recent years as they couldn’t compete against the big social networks such as Facebook and Reddit. Is this the time for a turnaround?
Nowadays it is somewhat expected to connect through big social media platforms. But the big boys, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter are very individually focussed, while Reddit is a mess when it comes to organising and finding previously discussed topics. Trance.nu was one of the best-known forums to discuss and connect for tranceminded people, but the platform closed down in 2007. One of the co-founders, Jezper Söderlund a.k.a. Airbase, tried to bring some of the Trance.nu magic back with BPMpire, but that platform closed soon after launch, due to lack of interest. TranceAddict seems the only forum-based platform that survived the test of time, but for a dedicated Trance.nu-user like me, it never appealed and always felt a bit like treason.
So the question is, why a new trance platform? Even the A State Of Trance forum, which belongs to the most popular trance radio show in the world, has been unreachable for months now and despite regaining some popularity over the last few years, the influence of the genre on the global dance scene is waning. Big DJ’s and acts like Tiësto, Dash Berlin and even Armin van Buuren moved away from trance with their sound in recent years. Others, like Ummet Ozcan and Leon Bolier, saw their popularity rise massively after leaving trance behind. Dance Valley, one of the biggest festivals in The Netherlands, doesn’t host a dedicated trance stage anymore, when it used to be the biggest one after the main stage. But despite all these bad signs, we are convinced that we are making the right move.
Electronic dance music, in general, has gained popularity worldwide in recent years. With the spreading of the internet it’s easier to reach people on the other side of the globe than ever before, electronic music has spread its addictive virus everywhere. North-America, South-America and Asia have proven to be growth-markets, and trance is no exception. It could very well be, that despite trance seeming to be bigger 15 years ago, more people than ever before enjoy and love the sound today. Dedicated trance events, at least the big ones, still sell their tickets quite easily, but the crowd became more international over the years. Trance fans travel the world to see their DJ heroes in action. The aim for ChoonTrance is not to become a new mammoth social gathering but to be the connection between all these artists and fans scattered over all continents.
The birth of ChoonTrance can be linked directly with the birth of the Choon-platform. For those who haven’t heard of Choon, it’s a new streaming service, aiming to provide (independent) artists a fair revenue. One of the founders is Trance DJ and producer Gareth Emery. Choon kicked off in early 2018 and is a relatively small player in the music streaming market but one of the strengths of Choon is that it gathered a very active social community around it extremely quickly. Artists and users who connect, help out and discuss, while coming from different genres and different places. A very refreshing phenomenon. One I hadn’t experienced since my Trance.nu days and one that assured me it is still possible to bring people together.
The intention is to grow ChoonTrance into a global gathering of trance fans and artists. That may seem odd considering the connection with a small startup streaming service. I can see why someone would say that. Yes, ChoonTrance will offer discussions, news and reviews not focused on Choon. The platform is open for every trance minded person to join. However, ChoonTrance has the intention to offer services tailored for Choon-artists and users in the future. To be promoted on the platform as an artist, you need to create trance music and you need to release (some) music on Choon. To offer your services as a remixer, vocalist or songwriter, it could be useful to sign up to Choon as well. Why? Because we think Choon is the future. Because we think that if Choon can deliver, grows, and offers artists the fair payment they envision, artists will flock in eventually. And if Choon doesn’t? We are a trance community, and we still will be if that happens. Trance has always united people, and eventually the future of this platform depends on that the most.
So, where do we go from here? What can you expect when joining our network? First of all, we like to make everything easy. ChoonTrance will offer the latest news, relevant to the trance scene. We offer a place to discuss and debate these topics. Furthermore, we try to provide you with regular updates on music, with reviews and interviews. The platform can be used to promote your own music too and to seek help when producing, looking for new DJ-gear or finding a track that even Shazam doesn’t seem to recognise. Soon you can offer services to trance artists as well. Let’s say you are a vocalist, and like to offer your vocals to a producer, for free or paid, ChoonTrance will offer a marketplace to make yourself findable for producers. On the other hand, producers who need vocals, lyrics or a remixer, can ask for those on ChoonTrance as well. On the Choon-side of things, we will also make it easy to find and connect to trance artists on Choon, we promote your music via messages, socials and playlists, and we’ll host contests, competitions and giveaways in the future too.
Why should you be interested in following ChoonTrance? Because every other social media platform is used by people for self-promotion. How does Facebook, YouTube or Reddit help you out with promoting your music? If they offer anything, they ask money for it. You still need to do the promo yourself. That’s where ChoonTrance will be different. We like to promote good music. Trance music. And we hope to build a community around the best music genre in the world because we like to connect again. Because most of your friends and family don’t like trance, and it can be nice to talk to likeminded people.
ChoonTrance is live, become part of our network!
©2018 Marco Svarda / Arkroom
