So, genre. Yeah. It's there. I know many people who are of the school of thought that says one should hate genre. They come up with all sorts of reasons, most of which I've heard before and none of which I care to listen to, let alone agree with. I can, however, see where they're coming from. They don't like "labels." Whatever, I got over that when I graduated high school.
Something that many genre detractors miss is that it is useful not only for the consumer, but also for the producers. If someone enjoys rock 'n' roll, for instance, yet happens to hate R&B, how could they tell the difference between new musicians they've never heard of quickly and relatively accurately? Genre descriptions definitely lump things together in a way that can help the consumer find new music that they'll like. Also, from a music industry standpoint, it makes it easier for record labels to gear there music towards one or a few genres, thus allowing them to maximize profit from sales without taking risks by putting out music that their particular consumers do not listen to.
There is a problem with genre, however. For, in the music industry in the US (even to this day), there are technically only three main genres of music. That being Rock, Pop and Country. I know, sad, ain't it? Everything else is what is called a "fringe genre." So, all of these fringe- and sub-genres are there because they're either unrecognized by the conservatives controlling what is corporate music, or made up by those listening to and writing the music. This leads me to my problem: Confusion Of Genre.
Confusion of genre happens when, to give a personal example, some asshat seems to think that hardcore is metal, just because they're both traditionally "heavy" styles of music. And, while hardcore may be the bastard son of punk and metal, that doesn't make it either. It has become something entirely different.
All this talk about genre brings me to another pet peev of mine... Road Runner Records. Ah, RR, ruining American Metal since it's inception. They have done more to hurt the style of music they push than help it, mainly by streamlining all of it into the same, plastic, watered down metalcore that all sounds the same. Fuck you, RR. Rant over.
the fact that there are only 3 main genres of music nowadays is directly proportional to the intelligence level of the average american citizen. less genres, less intelligence. people are so dumb they dont want to take time to appreciate different musical styles because, simply, it would take some thinking. so there we have it, 3 major genres, you wanna listen to music about beer and tractors you have country. you wanna listen to music about bitches and hos and dancin at the club you have pop. you wanna listen to nickelback you have rock. which leads back to good 'ol roadrunner records. any label who voluntarily signs nickelback and still wants to be seen as credible is suspect. which leads us to the point that corporations are ruining music. roadrunner is a subsidiary of warner music group of time warner corporation. all the corporation cares about is making more money which in this case includes dumbing down its music to suit the majority of consumers. a great business plan but a sad look at how low our society has gone.
ReplyDeleteBanderson, while I agree that it is a sad thing to have corporations running our music, I think you missed something in my post. Or, perhaps, I mis-wrote something. There have never been more than three main genres of music, it has always been like that. They've almost always been in control and if you're a musician (even nowadays) and they can fuck you over, they will.
ReplyDeleteWait--I thought I liked BOTH genres...country AND western....WTF?!
ReplyDeletePS: Nickelback SUCKS
ReplyDelete