Music Genre

Genre
A genre is a type or category of media text. This could be films, music, books, soaps etc… each genre has its own codes and conventions – its own repertoire of elements. As defined by G Burton, ‘genres are created through repetition and recognition leading to anticipation and expectations’.




Music Genre A music genre is the way a type of music is constructed that identifies it as belonging to a particular type or category of music which helps distinguish it from different types of music. It is a class of music that is assigned with certain media language and codes and conventions. Music is not always categorized by its musical construct but may be categorized according to environmental origins.
Music can be divided into genres in many different ways. However it is not necessary that these genre classifications are fixed; certain styles may overlap one another and may relate to more than one category of music. There is often similarity between the same type of music which may be portrayed in a number of ways. Musical pieces of the same genre may have related media language although many of these try to portray a unique and different image different from the typical styles shown. Music genres help audiences select music that has a high degree of being satisfying to them. They are aware of what they are purchasing.
A music genre will also include a wide variety of sub genres and larger genres may consist of more specific genre for example rock. Its sub genres include folk rock, Christian rock, jazz rock, blue rock, soft rock, indie rock etc…




Music genre and its Audiences Different genres appeal to different age groups but this does not mean that a particular genre would only appeal to one age group. As for media language, audiences also overlap. For many it may be what type of music they have been surrounded by as they grew older, for others it may be a totally unique type of music that they had not really had the influence of for very long. For example if we look at classical music, as for many years it has probably been the interest of the older age group, compared to teenagers who may be more intrigued by rock or rap music. However, I am certain that there would be children/teenagers who prefer classical music rather that rap and rock. It is always about individual taste. The audience for genres tends to change over years for example ragtime music; the original target generation may have totally died out by now.




Different genres & Artists
Classical – Andre Rieu, Katherine Jenkins, IL Divo,
Hip hop – Jay Z, Ludacris, Timbaland, 50cent
Blues - Jhonny Otis, Kellie Rucker, Gazed
Jazz – Jamie Cullum, Diana Crall, Nina Simone
Dance – The Prodigy, Scooter, Calvin Harris
Folk – Boo Hewerdine, Julie Fowlis, Kate Rusby


Genre Statistics
As part of my research I tried to find the growth of certain genres and popularity of the genres over the years. It appears that music sales dropped drastically in 2007 compared to previous years. As shown below music sales of all genres on average fell 15.8% over the year. This must have had drastic impact on the music industry.





































Reference
http://www.itfacts.biz/2007-us-music-sales-by-genre/9354 - Fact recorded on: Tuesday, November 10 2009 15.19


I also found a few pictures of album covers that portray the different genres, and show the type of differences there are.

We are now aware of the things that are needed in a music product in terms of the genres codes and conventions and media language. It will help us when creating our brand image and focusing on what our chosen genre (Indie) consists of.
As we can see over the years music sales have dropped drastically therefore being able to advertise our music through various ways such as the Internet as well as magazines helps to further promote the artist/band.