Research: Genres

GENRE

  

A genre is literature, art or any other entertainment, that falls under a certain category based on its characteristics. Within the music industry, genre refers to the style of music. 

Different types of music are produced that depend on different factors - such as who the artist is and who their audience is. Videos that share elements are likely to fall under the same genre. 

Some traditional genres are pop (popular culture), rock and rap. Though, there are hundreds of sub-genres that also reach a wide audience, while some stay on a smaller scale. 

It is often hard to define music for what genre it is, as the diversity of music has tremendously grown over time. For example, the metal genre can be confused with death metal, screamo or noise music.

Genres continue to expand because so do audiences. Fresh interpretations and perspectives are being born into each era, so artists need to alter their style - or entirely new artists need to come forth - to keep audiences interested and satisfied. To simply put it, people have different tastes. If there were only two genres, most of the world wouldn't buy the products that come out of it. 

Without audience demand, there is no point for artists, of any genre, to continue making music as it wouldn't sell. 

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THE DIVERSITY OF GENRES

 

Not every genre is included on this list. Generally speaking, nobody necessarily knows every genre out there. This includes besides the Western world. Some genres have very distinct differences, such as House from Trap, while others are defined separately by small factors such as the tempo of sound, like R&B from Hip-Hop.

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 GENRE CHARACTERISITICS

 Here I have selected a few out of many genres. My selection was based on how different they are from each other, to fully emphasize the diversity. For each genre an audience, mise en scene, set of characters, theme(s) and structure have been briefly mentioned. Although these are just generalisations, and can be critically viewed as stereotypical. Alternatively, genres that do consist of dominantly white or black folk (as an example) may portray to other audiences a certain image about that ethnic group. 

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MAINSTREAM GENRES

Mainstream genres are types of music that are appreciated over a vast range of people. This music tends to be on the charts and playing on popular radio stations. Big budgets and star cameo appearances can aid an artist into becoming mainstream. These genres include:

• Pop - a product of popular culture (target audience: young teens 13-15)
• House - consisting of club and party hits (target audience: young adults 18-25)

Pop artists shown here include Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift & Robin Thicke

This analysis shows that the dominant genre is Pop, which is evidence of its' mainstream qualities compared to that of more niche genres such as Indie which had one of the smallest fractions in the pie chart.

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Though before an artist is mainstream, they're niche - sometimes always stay niche. This is most likely because they make music within a niche genre. Many sub-genres are niche, for example there is more awareness for pop than for synth-pop. Niche genres recieve smaller budgets and smaller (but more loyal) fanbases. Because the ideas aren't popular, they're often regarded as alternative. 

Niche artists indeed work to express original ideas that unfortunately do not always fit into the charts. Recently, some niche artists have gained fame, such as Grimes (formerly known as Claire Boucher). Which suggests that the diversity of genres is beginning to be more widely appreciated by the general public.

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AUDIENCE

The audience are a fundamental part to the success of an artist, no matter if they work under mainstream or niche genres. Profit is sourced from the audience, so artists need to have strong communication with their fans.

This is easier within niche genres. Being such a specific style, its followers will be easy to reach out to with products such as specialised merchandise and posters. However, mainstream artists have millions of different people to please, so it may be hard deciding how to do so. 

Fortunately, mainstream music earns a larger profit than niche music; therefore the stars can afford within their budget to experiment on promotion and marketing. Niche artists don't have as much flexibility, so need to choose carefully and ensure it conveys the genre with clarity. For example, a screamo t-shirt would most likely have a skull image on it. 

Beneficial to mainstream artists is their general audience, making it safe to lose fans if they change their style. Whereas a niche artist can't risk losing fans as they intially have less and a change of style would be too dramatic.  

It is important for the audience to easily indentify with the genre, so they can clarify whether it's their taste or not. If an artist has confusing platforms of promotion, a potential fan may lose interest. This is less important with mainstream artists because of their flexibility - people usually like their music regardless of the genre, as the star image generally recieves more attention. 

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 MUSIC VIDEO: Evanescense - 'Bring Me To Life'

 This falls under the Rock genre. The visuals are rather dark, e.g. lighting, which links with the somewhat melonchalic lyrics. The main character has black hair and pale skin; an appearance stereotypically associated with the rock genres. Critically, her mise en scene is bleak - the pale skin, the dreary colours, which all illustrates the rock genre. On a whole, the video is performance-based; made clear during shots of the band playing instruments. It may be narrative, as at a point she falls which could amplify "call my name and save me from the dark", although it dosn't end clearly so fits into concept too. 

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MUSIC VIDEO: Grimes - 'Realiti'

 This falls under the experimental electronic genre. The visuals reflect this as the video was shot in Japan, known for quirky and alternative ideas. Grimes' mise en scene is also assocated with the Japanese; her unusual hair colours and outfits. Her body language consists of 'weird' dance moves, amplifying the experimental side of electronic music. The editing is unpredictable, possibly unorganised which is further amplification of the 'alternative' aspects of music. On a whole, the video is concept-based as no story takes place, the audience are taken on an adventure around the streets of Japan. 

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 I have learned that genre determines more than what I once thought. The genre is the base of how music is produced and promoted. Through the genre, audiences can feel connected with artists. Associated with genre are particular themes which are demonstrated through music videos. Though artists are not always independent in their work - collaborations between artists allow different genres to fuse. This allows fan bases to interact with each other, and artists to share those within their own fan base. Upon this research I am still confident in creating something unique, such as embedding controversial aspects. Sometimes music videos work in reverse psychology; audiences know they don't like it but still give it views because dislike does not interfere with interest.

I would like to create a music video for a niche genre, such as alternative R&B. However, this genre is on the rise, so can be considered in-between the niche and mainstream sectors. I want to work with a genre such as this one because, conventions around alternative sound are more blurred than that of mainstream genres; this allows for more creativity and original concepts.

Therefore the genre characteristics I want to use will be non-conventional; for example, I hope to include concept narrative with some cartoon frames or animation.