Martin Garrix is a teenage producer who saw nearly overnight success after producing a track with which the world of electronic music has a notoriously love-hate relationship. Eric Prydz is a decorated progressive house veteran whose name has become all but synonymous with the genre’s more obscure side. Just about the only thing these two artists have in common is that they each took three entries on Beatport’s Top Selling Tracks of 2015.
The electronic music download giant has once again revealed its annual Best Of Beatport lists, and 2015’s Top Selling Tracks features a somewhat unlikely cross section of talent. While the Beatport charts don’t typically make for an adequate representation of the tastes of the electronic music community as a whole (instead favoring the download habits of the DJs and producers which make up its primary user base), the top contenders on this year’s list paint a telling picture of emerging trends.
The only two artists to place three times in the top ten are Martin Garrix and Eric Prydz – both of whom beat out the highest-paid DJ in the world, Calvin Harris, by a margin of two entries. Garrix has certainly made 2015 count, but the presence of Prydz on this year’s Top Selling Tracks list is the real anomaly; while we’ve spared no means in singing his praises over the past several months, it’s surprising to see an arguably less accessible artist achieve the degree of success that he has in the months leading up to his highly anticipated debut album.
Perhaps in hindsight, 2015 will be seen as a major turning point for electronic music – but either way, 2015’s Best of Beatport indicates a bright future for both Martin Garrix and Eric Prydz.
