Research: Genres

How many genres are there and why are there so many?

There are multiple genres of music within the music industry including mainstream and hybrid genres. Some existing genres include: Pop, Jazz, Rock, R&B, Rap, House, Metal, Indie, Country, Latin, Folk, Reggae, Classical etc. There are numerous genres in order to meet a mass audiences expectations as different people prefer different types of music, hybrid genres including folk rock, country rock, blues rock etc, therefore fulfil these expectations as they meet the audiences expectations and create something new for the audience to listen to. Also, artists have different and individual styles of music, therefore, their voices appeal to different genres placing their music into particular genres. Genres help to separate music making it easier to identify particular songs and artists, and allow the audience to compare similar artists who create music from the same genre.

There are multiple genres with key conventions and particular target audiences

including:

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance

Pop- Young male/female artists, bands, fashionable clothing, happy lifestyles, colourful music videos, narrative and performance is likely to be seen in their music videos.A conventional target audience of the pop genre is usually teenagers and young adults, particularly females aged 13-25, who can relate to the artists and enjoy watching their favourite artists, who have large fan bases perform.

Kelly - Cookie

R&B/Soul-Conventions associated with R&B includes Male artists, jewellery, tattoos, females wearing minimal clothing, young women dancing, expensive, urban locations.

- The target audience usually consists of teenagers/young adults and are usually females, generally aged 15-25, as they are likely to enjoy watching the male artists who are visually appealing, making the video more interesting and entertaining for them.

Green Day - American Idiot

Rock- Conventions of the rock genre include, a band, drums and guitars, black/ dark, leather clothing, older, white males, concept and performance based.

- A conventional target audience for the rock genre is usually older to middle aged males around the ages of 18-50, who enjoy listening to loud, dominating music which is supported by loud instruments.

Macklemore - Can't Hold Us

Hip Hop- Conventions of the hip hop genre include large amounts of people involved within the narrative usually dancing and getting involved, appealing mise en scene to promote wealth, such as money, expensive cars, jewellery, dominant male artists, powerful and independent female artists, urban locations such as the inner city.The target audience of the Hip Hop genre includes male teenagers and adults aged from 15-35, who can relate to the music videos and the lyrics due to most of them having associations with popular themes such as poverty, violence and females. Artists such as 50 cent, Jay-Z, Drake etc. are popular within the music industry and therefore may be seen as role models by the male audience.

Panic at the Disco - This is Gospel

Indie- Common conventions include a calm and relaxed atmosphere, performance and concept based, low budget, suburban locations such as studios, and parks/forests, instruments. The target audience of the indie genre usually includes young males and adults who can relate to the male artists and enjoy listening to instrumental music.

Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

Jazz- Male artists, instruments including a saxophone and piano, smartly dressed in suits, performance based. The target audience for the Jazz genre is usually older males and females who enjoy listening to distinctive voices and instruments playing.

Akon - Don't Matter

Reggae- Off beat rhythms, slow tempo, black male artists, bright colours, stereotypical locations such as Jamaica, narrative and performance based.

Yves Larock - Rise Up

House- Electronic instruments, bright colours, sometimes unclear narrative, strobe lighting effects, upbeat atmosphere, artists wearing casual clothing. The target audience are young, males and females, more so males, aged between 18- 28 who find upbeat, club music appealing and enjoyable to listen to.

- The target audience is likely to be black, older males who are from Jamaican descents/ backgrounds who can relate to the lyrics and possibly the artist.

Mainstream and niche genres

Genres can be divided into mainstream and niche according to particular music videos and artists that are promoted more frequently due to being from the mainstream genre in contrast to music videos and artists that are less popular as a result of being apart of the niche genre. The mainstream genres are the genres that the wider audience are all familiar with and continuously listen to music from this genre, which includes Pop, R&B, Hip hop, Rap, Dance, Rock etc. Whereas the niche genre consists of swing, alternative R&B, Western, Blues, Bhanga etc. Songs within the niche genre are less likely to be heard on popular media platforms such as radio and on TV in comparison to mainstream songs. The two types of genres also appeal to different audiences, for example music that is from the mainstream genre is more likely to have a younger target audience, whereas the niche genres are likely to have an older target audience. This is due to mainstream artists consistently being in the public eye and therefore perceived as role models to the younger generation. Whereas the older generation are likely to be able to relate to the niche artists who are more likely to produce niche songs with deeper meanings.

Importance of genres for an audience

Genre is important as various individuals have different expectations and prefer particular genres in comparison to others. It is important that the audience should be able to identify with the genre immediately in order to keep them entertained. If the audience are satisfied and they enjoy particular music videos in a certain genre, they are likely to watch similar artists who also produce music from the same genre. This is likely to make the genre more popular and could increase its fan base. Keeping the audience satisfied is also likely to secure the loyal existing fan base which is particularly important for artists as the audience have certain expectations and artists cannot afford to lose them. Finally, conventions of music genres are important as the audience may be able to relate to one music video due to it having a narrative and the video containing realistic themes, therefore, all music in the same genre should ensure they follow conventions so the audience are able to relate to all in the same way.

Conclusion

Overall, the genre of a song is particularly important as the music video to the song must follow conventions and meet the audiences expectations, allowing the video to receive viewings and for the artist to secure a loyal fan base. Conventions such as character representations and mise en scene should be clearly portrayed in order to make it easy to identify a music videos genre. Without genres, music would not be categorised correctly in an orderly form and the audience would not be able to distinguish between artists and songs. Therefore, genres enable order and audiences can identify the genre of songs easily according to conventions. Researching genres and their conventions has developed my knowledge regarding genres as I now know what conventions I need to include to ensure that my music video appeals to the target audience, encouraging them to watch the music video and keeping them intrigued. As a result, I intend on creating my music video according to the Rock/ Indie Rock genre, as this is a popular genre of music and is listened by a quiet mainstream audience. Therefore, I will be able to follow conventions accordingly and ensure that the video appeals to the audience. The conventions I Intend on including within my video include, urban locations that the audience are popular with and can relate to such as busy, fun clubs and buildings, dark colour clothing such as a leather jacket, pale faces and black ma-up eyes.