2016 was a superb year for house music and indeed for all its varied musical offspring – this year’s releases from the Afro, Soulful, Tech-House, Nu-Disco, Techno and Deep scenes all developed in their own interesting and unexpected ways and continued to delight and amaze us. Evaluating so much quality music inevitably involves some kind of compromise and disagreement, obviously not everyone can make it to the #1 spot, but we think our list is a good reflection of where the scene is at now: vibrant, global, inclusive and exciting, with fresh new takes on the original Chicago and Detroit templates dropping every week, keeping dance floors moving the world over.

It’s been fashionable to tag the moniker ‘deep house’ onto the end of anything with a four by four beat these days, from commercial Garage tracks to anything featuring a slowed down R&B vocal. Here at Traxsource, we believe there’s a lot more to it than that. We’ve seen our fair share of Deep House in our quarter of a century operating in the industry and feel we truly understand what the deeper sound of house music FEELS like. So check out our Top Deep House Artists of 2016 and see if you agree.

From its beginnings in the mid-90s, Tech House has slowly developed into perhaps the most ubiquitous genre around, heard in clubs, raves and festivals the world over. Taking the swing and funk of house and marrying it with the raw intensity of Techno, and producing something that is greater than the sum of its parts: Tech House is the bass-heavy, club-friendly genre that conquered the globe

House music is as big a sound today on the world stage as it’s ever been in it’s long history. With the scene diversifying into ever increasing genres and formats, certain DJs and producer’s sound can only be described as HOUSE; strictly four to the floor bump and hustle. Not everyone understands house music, but these are the players and purveyors that we believe brought the ruckus to the scene in 2016.

We at Traxsource are very proud of our Afro House music section. In fact, we’re the only download website in the world that has this specific category for you to find all the latest Afro beats from around the globe in one easy place. 2016 has seen some truly amazing music come from the scene, so here is our guide to our Top Afro Artists of the year.

Techno, the unstoppable global-dominating genre, continues to rule dance floors around the world, with its incessant 4/4 pulse being the bedrock to countless unforgettable club nights. Whether austere and sophisticated, or face-meltingly banging, the music that began in Detroit 30 odd years ago is still at the forefront of musical progression and 2016 has seen some sublime developments in the genre.

From its roots in the Chicago house sound, Jackin has now spread worldwide, with new producers bringing in different elements and influences, mutating and progressing the sound. Always based on skippy, heavily swung beats and a huge helping of funk, the Jackin scene contains some of house music’s most consummate professionals, players who run labels, put on nights, and release the tunes that keep the scene alive.

We were absolutely inundated with delicious disco influenced delights in 2016, making it one of the strongest years on record for the genre. As nights like Glitterbox tore up Ibiza, opening the ears of many clubbers to the updated sounds derived from yesteryear, Nu Disco’s popularity reached stratospheric new heights this year.

2016 was a great year for the sweet, soulful side of the House music spectrum. With DJs and audiences across the globe looking for that little bit more from their favorite artists, the past 12 months has seen a slew of soulful releases that have not only shaken up the world’s dance floors, but even saw a Grammy nomination for one artist!

Our Best Selling Tracks of 2016 are always particularly interesting as it’s an honest reflection of what working DJs are playing. It also showcases the breadth of talent currently working in dance music, and contains a healthy mix of established names and new faces. Ranging from the darkest, heads-down Tech House to the sexiest Disco, taking in the very best in Afro, Deep, Jackin, Soulful House and more, here are Traxsource’s Best Selling Tracks of 2016: