Genre of Music

Genre of Music

Genre is a way of classifying music dependent on the content and style. There are many different genres and generally most music can be divided into these styles:

• Pop
• Classical
• Dance/Techno
• R&B
• Hip-Hop/Rap
• Rock
• Metal
• Country
• Jazz
• Blues
• Reggae

Each of these contains a series of sub plots as well as hybrids & mash ups, however each of them have their own characteristics e.g. instruments, rhythm, lyrics and vocals. They can be connected with other things, such as fashion, hair and lifestyle. Each genre has specific ways of institutional support, including performance venues (e.g. nightclubs), radio stations, record shops, festivals and magazines.
Image is crucial for music genre, and an artist's look categorises them before they start performing. For an artist or band to truly fulfil a genre category, they must be represented visually, on records, photos and music videos.

Genre has always been a cornerstone of music business because customers often dedicate themselves to a certain style of music (e.g. hip-hop, R&B) and are not interested in buying outside of it. 
Although many artists resent being categorised into a particular genre in this way, there is no doubt that retailers and customers rely genre to make their choices. Online music streaming services (like Pandora or Spotify) take into account your past genre choices in order to keep playing you new music that you may be interested in buying.