Between 2004 and 2005, commercial and vocal trance became less common on European music channels, which coincided with Viacom UK (MTV/VH1) taking control of both TMF Nederland/Belgium and VIVA Germany. The music channels changed their playlists to place more emphasis on other musical styles, such as US hip hop and contemporary R&B, as well as British electro, and local rap and hip hop music.

Additionally, ecstasy became increasingly harder to get hold of and ketamine began to re-enter clubland in its place. This drug is the polar opposite to euphoric ecstasy and much more suited to the wonky dubstep basslines that eventually gripped the UK.

In March 2012, BBC Radio 1’s Judge Jules—a long-standing bastion of trance music—was replaced by two dubstep producers, Skream and Benga, for the highly coveted Friday night slot. This was essentially the death knell for trance in Britain. With the genre having seen a general decline for several years, and with dubstep on the rise, this programme cancellation was the last nail in the coffin for trance as a mainstream dance style.

This can be seen as a natural progression, since Radio 1’s Friday night dance music programming has always aimed to provide an accurate reflection of the current dance music climate, and those who had grown up on trance were by that point the older demographic, with the younger crowds being more interested in dubstep and electro.

In addition to this, the big room boom and the sudden rise of commercial EDM—especially in the United States—subsumed trance under the same umbrella, a problem which was exacerbated by veterans of the genre, like Tiësto, leaving the genre that made them famous behind entirely.