Wikipedia says: ‘A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometimes used interchangeably.
but shared traditions and conventions are rarely universal.
With the music industry rapidly evolving to a model based on streaming and increasing use of algorithms to predict and recommend new music or music to suit our moods or taste, old ways of classifying music is under strain, particularly by music that fuses styles, traditions and cultures.
Music was divided into genres in varying ways, such as into popular music and art music, or religious music and many many more. The artistic nature of music means that these classifications are often subjective and controversial, and some genres may overlap. Academic definitions of the term genre itself vary.
‘There are eighty-three categories at this year’s Grammy ceremony. Although some awards—Comedy Album, Spoken Word Album, Liner Notes—feel relatively unambiguous, most are inherently vague. Whether an album belongs in one category or another (Mainstream or Alternative? is debated, often hotly, by nomination committees assembled by the Academy. Those determinations are, of course, fallible.’
If we no longer have commonly understood terms to indicate ‘genres’ to define musical traditions, styles, preferences and tastes (Indo-Arabic Jazz fusion anyone?) where does that leave us?...at a loss for words?
Recently my son, a teenager politely used the phrase “old people music” to describe my musical preferences (which span a wide range of cultures) but tend to be predominantly pre 2000s (1970-2000)
Here is an article that discusses aspects of these: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/03/15/genre-is-disappearing-what-comes-next
but shared traditions and conventions are rarely universal.
With the music industry rapidly evolving to a model based on streaming and increasing use of algorithms to predict and recommend new music or music to suit our moods or taste, old ways of classifying music is under strain, particularly by music that fuses styles, traditions and cultures.
Music was divided into genres in varying ways, such as into popular music and art music, or religious music and many many more. The artistic nature of music means that these classifications are often subjective and controversial, and some genres may overlap. Academic definitions of the term genre itself vary.
‘There are eighty-three categories at this year’s Grammy ceremony. Although some awards—Comedy Album, Spoken Word Album, Liner Notes—feel relatively unambiguous, most are inherently vague. Whether an album belongs in one category or another (Mainstream or Alternative? is debated, often hotly, by nomination committees assembled by the Academy. Those determinations are, of course, fallible.’
If we no longer have commonly understood terms to indicate ‘genres’ to define musical traditions, styles, preferences and tastes (Indo-Arabic Jazz fusion anyone?) where does that leave us?...at a loss for words?
Recently my son, a teenager politely used the phrase “old people music” to describe my musical preferences (which span a wide range of cultures) but tend to be predominantly pre 2000s (1970-2000)
Here is an article that discusses aspects of these: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/03/15/genre-is-disappearing-what-comes-next
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