Ferry Corsten

Corsten made and released his first official record in 1989, when he was 16 years old. One year later he turned professional and began making a living out of it, and by 1995 he’d won his home country’s prestigious De Grote Prijs van Nederland.

He began his career making underground Gabber tracks and diversified into club-house and trance soon afterwards. His first charting single was also one of his first self-penned tracks, called “Don’t Be Afraid”, with the success of that single he set up a label called Tsunami with producing partner Robert Smit and released his first album as System F “Out Of The Blue”, two years later.

This release made him a big name in dance scenes all over the world, and properly broke him in the United Kingdom, as well as. Two of the singles, the title track and its follow up “Cry” went into the top 20 singles chart and he was given the award for Producer of the Year at the Ericsson Muzik Award in London.

The man had successfully popularised Trance music, solidified by a compilation album that Ministry Of Sound released of the genre going platinum with ease. He hasn’t quite established himself with the commercial clout that some of his peers today have, but names like Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk and Corsten’s old apprentice Tiësto play his tracks to clubs the world over.

However, his newer group New World Punx sold out Madison Square Garden in one hour for their VERY FIRST SHOW. So clearly Corsten’s name is as respected and revered as it ever was. This is an artist at the top of his game, and if you can get a ticket, he should be seen as soon as possible.

It almost seems a little quaint, in this day and age, to think that a figure in the music industry might be best known for their work in radio, but that’s the case for Markus Schulz, even if it is an internet-based show - Global DJ Broadcast goes out once a week through various online stations. He uses his show as a platform through which to display his lengthy trance mixes, which have marked him out as one of the genre’s finest and most exciting talents. He’s also released six mixes in standalone form, and carved out a reputation as one of the world’s top trance producers, too.

In terms of mainstream crossover, Schulz can offer up a mightily impressive list of artists for whom he’s remixed tracks in the past; Depeche Mode, Madonna, Fatboy Slim, Everything But the Girl and Jewel would all be counted amongst them. In recent years, he’s veered towards live performance in a bigger way than before, playing at some of the world’s top clubs - he’s graced the stage at the likes of Ministry of Sound, Avalon, Club Space and Green Valley - he’s also a regular at a slew of the top dance festivals in Europe, including Love Parade in his native Germany.