Psychedelic trance, psytrance, or psy is a subgenre of trance music characterized by arrangements of rhythms and layered melodies created by high tempo riffs. The genre offers variety in terms of mood, tempo, and style. Some examples include full on, darkpsy, forest, minimal (Zenonesque), hitech psy, progressive, suomi, psy-chill, psycore, psybient, psybreaks, or "adapted" tracks from other music genres. Goa trance preceded psytrance; when digital media became more commonly used psytrance evolved. Goa continues to develop alongside the other genres.
Toni-Ville Henrik Virtanen, better known by his stage name Darude, is a Finnish DJ and record producer from Eura, Satakunta. His music is characterised by its progressive/uplifting style. He started making music in 1995 and released the platinum-selling hit single "Sandstorm" in late 1999. His debut studio album, Before the Storm, was released on 18 September 2000, and sold 800,000 copies worldwide, earning Darude three Finnish Grammy Awards. It peaked at number one on Finland's Official List and number 6 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart in the United States. Darude's second studio album, Rush, reached number 11 on the Billboard dance chart in 2003 and number 4 on weekly album chart in Finland.
Infected Mushroom is an Israeli musical duo formed in Haifa in 1996 by producers Erez Eisen and Amit Duvdevani. They produce and perform psytrance, electronica, dream trance and psychedelic music. They are one of the best-selling groups in Israeli music history in terms of both domestic and international sales.
Tijs Michiel Verwest, known professionally as Tiësto, is a Dutch DJ and music producer. He was voted "The Greatest DJ of All Time" by Mix magazine in a 2010/2011 poll amongst fans. In 2013, he was voted by DJ Mag readers as the "best DJ of the last 20 years". He is also regarded as the "Godfather of EDM" by many sources.
Simon Paul Berry, known by his alias Art of Trance, is an English trance music DJ. Berry is also known as Poltergeist or Vicious Circles, and has been a member of the trance groups Clanger, Conscious and Union Jack. He has been producing and remixing music since 1993. In addition to his work as an artist, Berry was the founder and head of Platipus Records, based in London. Initially his label only released his own tracks. His work was first distributed on vinyl and compact disc and then digital only from 2011.
Ferry Corsten is a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer. He is well known for producing many pioneering trance tracks during the 1990s–2000s under his numerous aliases, including System F, Moonman, Pulp Victim and Gouryella. In recent years, he has shifted to a broader electronic music style, playing everything from progressive house to uplifting trance; and hosts his own weekly radio show, Resonation Radio. Corsten routinely plays at events and festivals all over the world including Electric Daisy Carnival, Tomorrowland, and many others, and has been consistently ranked among DJ Mag's Top 100 DJs poll, having placed at rank 5 in 2004 and 2005, 6 in 2006 and 2008; and most recently at 89 for 2023.
Gareth Thomas Rhys Emery is a British trance music producer and DJ. Best known for his first three studio albums Northern Lights, Drive and 100 Reasons to Live, He is considered as one of the most influential trance artists in the first 20 years of 21st century, and has won A State of Trance Tune of the Year award three times.
Signum is the name for two Dutch producers, Pascal Minnaard and Ronald Hagen, who create and remix mainly trance music. Since 2007, Signum has been Hagen's solo project.
Shag Times is a UK compilation and remix double album released in 1989 by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu. The album also introduced Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty's new incarnation – and one which would become considerably more famous – The KLF.
First State is a trance act fronted by the Dutch record producer Sander van der Waal, also known as Sander van Dien, who has released three studio albums. Signed to Black Hole Recordings, they have performed internationally and work with vocalists such as Anita Kelsey, Neev Kennedy and Sarah Howells.
Masoud is an Iranian record producer, artist, and DJ living in Bandar-e Anzali, Iran. He is known for leading the electronic dance music artist community in Iran.
Ofer Dikovsky, better known by his stage name Oforia, is a music producer and DJ from Israel. Besides having a solo career as Oforia or Noor, he has been involved with various musical groups/formations such as Indoor, Tandu and OB1, and has worked on several musical projects such as Pigs in Space and Phreaky.
Astral Projection is an Israeli electronic musical group, producing psychedelic trance and Goa trance music. Its current members are Avi Nissim and Lior Perlmutter. Although the majority of their releases have been done through their own record company, Trust in Trance Records, they have also released records with other labels including Transient. In addition to an extensive discography, the group has an extensive worldwide touring schedule.
W&W is a Dutch DJ and record production duo composed of Willem van Hanegem Jr. and Wardt van der Harst. They began their careers by producing trance music, before venturing into big room house and other forms of EDM.
Jeff Montalvo, known professionally as Seven Lions, is an American DJ, record producer, instrumentalist and remixer from Santa Barbara, California. Active musically since 2010, his music combines styles as diverse as trance, melodic dubstep, drum and bass, glitch hop, and electro house. He has released eight EPs, multiple singles, and official remixes for record labels such as Casablanca Records, Owsla, Viper Recordings, Anjunabeats, Republic Records and Monstercat.
Perfect Stranger is the stage name of Yuli Fershtat, an Israeli musician, producer and DJ, born in 1970 in Moscow, Russia, moving to Israel at the age of 11.
Vini Vici is an Israeli psytrance DJ duo from Afula. The group was originally formed in 2001 under the name of Sesto Sento by the producers Matan Kadosh, Aviram Saharai, and Itai Spector; Spector left in 2011. In 2013, Kadosh and Saharai continued their musical activities under the name 'Vini Vici'.
Protonica is a German progressive psytrance band, formed in 2003. Band members include Piet Kaempfer and Ralf Dietze from Berlin, Germany. Billboard ranked Protonica 8th in 2013, on their Next Big Sound chart.
Eitan Reiter is an Israeli musician and producer. Eitan has released seven studio albums, one in his solo project under his own name, one album with Sebastian Mullaert, four studio albums as LOUD with Kobi Toledano, and one album as Unoccupied with Nadav Katz.
Kobi Yakob Arad is an Israeli-born American jazz pianist, composer, and music producer. He is known for being the pianist, vocalist, and bandleader of the Kobi Arad Band. He has won a Hollywood Music in Media (HMMA) Award and an Independent Music Award, both for his work as a solo artist and as part of the Kobi Arad Band. In 2024, he was nominated for a Hollywood Independent Music Award.
Haifa, Israel 