How Music Genre Is Used to Categorize Music

How Music Genre Is Used to Categorize MusicHow Music Genre Is Used to Categorize MusicMusic genre - or simply genre - refers to styles of music. Rock is a music genre, as our country, reggae, classical, jazz among others. When talking about genre in the music industry, it is helpful to think in terms of top-level genres and sub-genres. Various Levels of Genre in Music Take, for instance, the genre of jupe. Rock is a very broad term that encompasses many different types of music, some of which are actually pretty divergent from one another. Punk, indie, shoegaze, AOR, metal and many, many, more all fall under the top level genre category of rock but can each be considered individual sub-genres. This sub-genre category is usually more useful in terms of describing music to another person. For instance, telling someone that a musikgruppe is a rock combo is not as helpful in describing the sound as saying the band is a punk band (the description of punk is more useful in telling so meone what an artistsounds like). Why Their Use Is Important If you want to work in the music industry, understanding genres are pretty important for a number of different reasons, including For Descriptive PurposesThe ability to be as descriptive as possible about someones music is a great tool for a number of different musical careers. Whether youre a manager trying to convince someone to listen to your artists music, a PR person trying to sell a magazine on a review, a radio plugger trying to land some plays for an artists or a booking agent trying to get a band a show, being able to give some musical points of reference in the form of a genre description is critical.Understanding the AudienceUnderstanding genre is also key to understanding audiences. Genres - or more specifically, sub-genres - tend to have a culture all their own. Fans of a parteicular sub-genre of music may tend to flock to the same kinds of venues and same kinds of shops, listen to the same radio station s, watch the same movies and use the same websites. This kind of information is invaluable when it comes to promoting and marketing music and putting together live shows. If youre in or representing, say, a punk band (which is a sub-genre with a very clearly defined culture of its own), then you can increase your chances of success by understanding where punks fans go for their music in any given area. It will help you reach the right listeners every time, increasing your chances of success. In fact, understanding the identity of a sub-genre can even help direct the design of your cover art and merchandise- or dictate whether you need these things at all. Affects Decision MakingIdentifying genre will also help musicians and their representatives choose the right labels to approach with their music and can even help them decide if they need a label at all. Whereas music in the pop genre benefits from having a major label behind it, indie rock can thrive on an indie imprint - and ca n be self-released much easier than a record by an unknown pop artist. A genre is a key to unlocking lost avenues for music industry success, so resist the urge to shrug it off as a meaningless label - it really is an important part of communicating your music to the masses.