Music genre
A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or "basic musical language" (van der Merwe 1989, p.3). Music may also be categorised by non-musical criteria such as geographical origin though a single geographical category will often include a wide variety of sub-genres.
Categorizing music, especially into finer genres or subgenres, can be difficult for newly emerging styles or for pieces of music that incorporate features of multiple genres. Attempts to pigeonhole particular musicians in a single genre are sometimes ill-founded as they may produce music in a variety of genres over time or even within a single piece. Some people feel that the categorization of music into genres is based more on commercial and marketing motives than musical criteria. John Zorn, for example, a musician whose work has covered a wide range of genres, wrote in Arcana: Musicians on Music that genres are tools used to "commodify and commercialize an artist's complex personal vision". Others contend that it is actually the artist who chooses (knowingly or not) to create an artistic work that can be easily classified within a genre. These contentions are not mutually exclusive; Some say there is a tradeoff in which most artists seek individual expression as well as the approval/acceptance of an audience, and audiences like any group of human beings prefer to identify themselves with the things they love... hence the need for a label.
Some genre labels are quite vague, and may be contrived by critics; post-rock, for example, is a term devised and defined by Simon Reynolds. Another example of this is video game music, which while defined by its media, can also represent its own style, as well as that of any other musical genre.
Categorizing music by genre does make it easier to trace threads through music history, and makes it easier for individuals to find artists that they enjoy. Moreover, the use of genre labels may actually drive the development of new music (especially in a commercial context) insofar as it helps cultivate the interest and participation of a target audience in the early and middle stages of a musical trend. Most new genre labels are aimed at the youth market, who typically desire to contrast the mainstream, yet conform to their peer group... resulting in readily marketed fads of all kinds, including music genres. Swing, Rock, New-Wave, Rap, and Grunge are all examples of music genres in which millions of young people enjoyed being different... in unison. This disproportionate commercial targeting of genres towards the youth market may diminish as young people increasingly shift from being music "buyers"... to being music "downloaders", with or without a purchase involved.
Although there are many individual genres, it is possible to group these together into a number of overlapping major groupings.
One of the problems with the grouping of music into genres is that it is a subjective process that has a lot to do with the individual's personal understanding and way of listening to music. This is especially true in sub-genres. One example is Led Zeppelin, which could be called heavy metal, hard rock, or blues, depending on one's interpretation.
This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
Video: Sarah Geronimo's Diff. Music Genre Performances
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