Armin van Buuren pursued his career as a professional musician despite the promise of a career in law in his native country, the Netherlands, where he completed his law degree in 2004.
Armin started working as a DJ in a local night club called Nexus, finished high school in 1995 and went on to university to study law. Meanwhile, he moved his studio equipment from his bedroom to a 'real' studio.
The first tracks he produced in his new studio were, among others, tracks like "Touch Me" and "Communication".
Van Buuren has been quoted as saying, "Don't be a prisoner of your own style." He has described his musical style as "liberating, euphoric, uplifting, melodic and energetic."
He hosts a weekly radio show A State of Trance, which mostly consist of progressive and other genres rather than trance. The show completed its 350th episode in May 2008, running for over 7 years.
In October 2002, van Buuren was voted Number 5 in the DJ Magazine 100 top DJs. The following year, he jumped up to the #3 spot, and held 3rd place for the next 3 years. His work left him at the #2 spot, just below Paul van Dyk in the 2006 polls, and in 2007 Armin reached Number 1, heading the 2007 DJ Mag Top 100.