Some treat the terms genre and style as the same, and state that genre should be defined as pieces of music that share a certain style or “basic musical language.”
Others state that genre and style are two separate terms, and that secondary characteristics such as subject matter can also differentiate between genres.
A music genre (or sub-genre) could be defined by the techniques, the context and the themes (content, spirit). Also, geographical origin is sometimes used to define the music genre, though a single geographical category will normally include a wide variety of sub-genres.
Music can be divided into genres in many different ways. These classifications are often arbitrary and controversial, and closely related styles often overlap. Many do not believe that generic classification of musical styles is possible in any logically consistent way, and also argue that doing so sets limitations and boundaries that hinder the development of music. While no one doubts that it is possible to note similarities between musical pieces, there are often exceptions and caveats associated.
Labeling music with genres often does not reflect a specific culture, race, or time period. Larger genres consist of more specific sub-genres. EG: Genre = Jazz, subgenre or style = Acid Jazz
A music genre is a categorical and typological (the study or systematic classification of types) construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music. Genre is a common concept that has great commercial and aesthetic importance, but it also continues to frustrate fans, artists, composers, and critics who don’t want to be pigeonholed, for instance. There is always disagreement about the definition of a genre, and it is impossible to list all genre categories in existence.
There are several approaches to genre. In his book Form in Tonal Music, Douglass M. Green lists the madrigal, the motet, the canzona, the ricercar, and the dance as examples of genres (from the Renaissance period). According to Green, “Beethoven’s Op. 61 and Mendelssohn’s Op. 64 are identical in genre – both are violin concertos – but different in form. Mozart’s Rondo for Piano, K. 511, and the Agnus Dei from his Mass, K. 317 are quite different in genre but happen to be similar in form.”
Attempting to pigeonhole some musicians/sound artists into a single genre is often hard to do as they may produce work in a variety of genres over time and/or in a single work. Another problem with grouping music into genres is that it is a subjective process that has everything to do with personal understanding and individual ways of listening, especially true with sub-genres. A classic example is the music of the English 70′s band Led Zeppelin who have been labeled anything from heavy metal, hard rock, classic rock, folk, blues and electric folk.
So why do we do it?
Categorisation of music into genres is seen by many as based more on commercial and marketing motives than musical criteria. For example musician, John Zorn wrote in Arcana: Musicians on Music that genres are tools used to “commodify and commercialise an artist’s complex personal vision”.
Many of the original commercial genre labels (such as post-rock) were contrived by marketing executives and/or music critics and are as such too vague.
Categorization
1) Art Music, also known as “serious music”. Refers to classical music (contemporary, European & non-European), Electronic art music, experimental music, minimalist music and some forms of jazz.
2) Popular Music, Any number of musical styles accessible to the general public disseminated by one or more of the mass media.
3) Traditional music, the modern name for folk music, expanded to include non-traditional material. Characteristics include Oral transmission (music passed down though singing, listening and dancing); Cultural basis (music derived from a particular region or culture).
4) Regional and National music, defined by it’s geography. Eg: Aboriginal music.
Audio culture’s genres and styles are often influenced by many other aspects of that culture, including, among others, social and economic organisation, climate, access to technology, consumer and drug culture and regional or urban architecture. The emotions and ideas that audio expresses, the situations in which audio is played and listened to, and the attitudes towards players, performers, designers, producers, instrument makers, programmers and composers all vary between regions and periods.
Take for example Acid House’s characteristic electronic “squelch” sounds developed in the mid 80′s by DJs experimenting with the Roland TB-303 synth, Hard bop jazz which incorporates influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music and blues, the classic Disco era which dominated mainstream pop until the late 1970′s and originally sprung from gay clubs. World music which has replaced “folk music” as a shorthand description for the very broad range of recordings of traditional indigenous music and song from around the world. See the World Of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival for an example.
A list of genres & styles can be extensive and although the Music industry tends to focus on the more popular genres such as “Rock” or “Electronic” music (of which there are some 370 listed genres), a much more detailed listing (on wikipedia) includes such fields as: Cultural and regional, Art Music, Post-industrial and World music as well as an extensive alphabetical listing from: A-F, G-M, N-R, S-Z. (Source: List of genres of Music, Wikipedia).
A minority of sub-genres and styles make it into the accessible mainstream and only specialised CD outlets, radio programs or web portals provide access to the more alternative genres. For example, iTunes, arguably the biggest online provider of music today extends its genre listing to only 16 (including: Alternative, Blues, Children’s music, Classical, Country, Dance/Electronic, Hip-Hop/Rap, Inspirational, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Roots, Soundtrack, Vocal, World).
Examples of interesting but hard to find styles might include: audio field, audio foley, audio soundscape, computer music or algorithmic composition, audio installation.
Brief History
Scientific and historical musicology studies into the composition, performance, reception and criticism of music over time show that genres of music have been in existence for at least 50,000 years and that the first music was invented in Africa and then evolved to become a fundamental constituent of human life.
Since all peoples of the world including the most isolated tribal groups, have a form of music, scientists have concluded that music must have been present in the ancestral population prior to the dispersal of humans around the world (up to 160,000 years ago when modern humans emerged from Africa).
Music history eras (or periods) classified up to today include: Prehistoric music, Ancient music and Western Art music which includes Early music, Medieval music, Renaissance music, Baroque music, Classical music era, Romantic music, 20th century music and Contemporary music.