In a world full of mainstream pop, you may have come from a place where all dance music was simply called ‘techno’, -; no one seemed to understand the art form, and no one seemed to care. Perhaps in a previous time, you weren’t even a lover of music, because what you were hearing on the radio simply didn’t do anything for you…

For many of us, we can distinctly recall a moment where our ears were opened — where we first discovered that music could be so much more than what it had been. For millions of people, artists like Armin van Buuren, BT, Paul van Dyk, Above & Beyond, and Chicane opened the door to a world of sound that had never existed. Great songs will always remain great songs, but what about that first time you put on headphones and learned that sound design and synthesizers could make an experience far more visceral and poignant than any acoustic instrument?

The songs on this album were chosen by ASOT listeners from around the world. Armin van Buuren asked his 20 million strong listener base, coming from over 74 countries, to send suggestions for their favorite classics of all time. From this list, this album was born!

The ‘A State of Trance’ Classics series is a chance to remember just how life-changing the art form has been and will continue to be. Volume 9 contains four discs worth of groundbreaking content, spanning the most influential years of trance music. Remember that trance isn’t a genre, it’s a way of looking at music and life!

Download on iTunes.
Download on Beatport.
Listen on Spotify.

To celebrate the fact that I reached 1 million followers on Spotify, I set up a special competition with a very cool prize package, the M1X-DJ Sound System, the DJay App and a premium spotify account.

The lucky winner that will receive all of this is Fabio Bellio from Belgium! Congratulations!

If you want to follow me and my playlists in Spotify as well, simply surf to arminradio.com!

-Armin

We will be contacting all the other prize winners of the DJay app and Spotify premium accounts via email, so look out for a special email from our team this week!

The 6th installment of Armin’s summer quiz series is open now! Do you have what it takes to win tickets to see Armin perform at Ushuaïa in Ibiza?

To enter this week’s quiz, click here!

This week, Kaja Cierkowska is the lucky recipient of not one, but two free tickets to the inimitable Ushuaïa beach club. Congratulations Kaja!! She’ll be seeing MaRLo, Omnia, Cosmic Gate, and Armin van Buuren himself thanks to her knowledge of Armin Trivia.

If you think you have what it takes, join the quiz every Friday for your chance to win big!

To get you in the mood for ‘A State of Trance Classics Volume 9’, and to get you back to the spirit of some of the most amazing trance classics the world has ever known, we’d like to draw your attention to a defining early Armin tune, which he performed live (on vinyl!) at Armin Only in 2005. Watch the video below, listen to the tune, and get ready for more all time classics coming your way soon!

Pre-order A State of Trance Classics Vol. 9 here.

Armin finds himself nominated for yet another prestigious award, this time through French radio broadcaster NRJ’s 2014 DJ Awards. It’s certainly been a wild awards season for the man, who’s been nominated for and/or won the category in virtually every major awards show this year.

To cast your vote for Armin, enter here!

The children of dance music have long been ‘Tomorrow People’. Never content with the tools available at the time, they’ve always sought the next thing on the horizon, and embraced artists who bring the future, like Omnia. This tune feels prophetic, and the drop is nothing short of pure madness.

Download on iTunes.
Download on Beatport.
Listen on Spotify.

World-famous Dutch DJ and producer Armin van Buuren just broke the one million mark for Spotify followers. Armin van Buuren is the first and only Dutch artist to reach this milestone, and this accomplishment makes Armin one of the top 50 most-followed Spotify artists in the entire world, in any genre. There are only a small handful of EDM artists in the one-million-plus league, and Armin is one of the top 5 most followed DJs globally.

Armin: ”Wow! 1,000,000 followers on Spotify. I would like to thank all my fans for following my personal Spotify playlists and the ASOT playlist. My label Armada Music and I believe streaming is the future and are committed to a long-lasting partnership with the platform.”< i>