By the mid-1990s, trance had emerged commercially as one of the dominant genres of EDM. Immensely popular, trance found itself filling a niche as edgier than house, more soothing than drum-n-bass, and more accessible than techno. By this time, trance had become synonymous with progressive house and both genres essentially subsumed each other under the commercial banner of "[[progressive]]." Artists like Brian Transeau ([[BT]]), [[Paul Van Dyk]], [[Ferry Corsten]] ([[Art of Trance]]), and [[Underworld]] came to the forefront as premier producers and remixers, bringing with them the emotional, "epic" feel of the style. Meanwhile, DJs[[DJ]]s like [[Paul Oakenfold]], [[Sasha]], and [[John Digweed]] were championing the sound in the clubs and through the sale of pre-recorded mixes. By the end of the 1990s, trance remained commercially huge but had fractured into an extremely diverse genre. Some of the artists that had helped create the trance sound in the early and mid-1990s were, by the end of the decade, branching out with more experimental work (artists of particular note here are BT and Underworld, the latter of which was defunct by 1998). Perhaps as a consequence, similar things were happening with the DJs as well; for example, Sasha and Digweed, who together had helped bring the progressive sound to the forefront, all but abandoned it by 2000, instead spinning a darker mix of the rising "deep trance" style (as marked by the duo's 2000 release, "Communicate").
