Week 4 Defining Genres
This week's texts surrounded the issues that arise when defining genres and actually pigeon-holing music into genres due to the vast selection of genres and sub-genres. The first text, 'Genre' in Studying Popular Music Cultural addressed many issues surrounding genre and actually defining what 'genre' is and how we decide what genre artists, songs, albums etc. belong in. There are various theories from many different theorists, as Robert Walser stated 'genres are ideas which are "constantly debated and contested."' and this theory means that allocating music to a selected genre can be difficult, especially if an artist changes their style throughout their music career. For example, Miley Cyrus used to be a Country/Western artist and now she's one of the most iconic pop icons in today's society however because of her kooky style, behaviour etc. she isn't the face of pop, instead artists such as Taylor Swift (who also made the country - pop transition) are the icons because she follows the codes and conventions of being a pop-star.An issue with the concept of 'genres' is that it excludes people/artists more than it includes them and "genre boundaries" are created. These genres are also effective in ensuring that the artist doesn't experiment too much with their style/image as they're limited thanks to the codes, conventions and behavioural rules set. My second text by Lena and Peterson however suggests that there is more to the genre ladder (below) as it suggests that there's 4 "distinct genre types" which aren't the basic rock, dance, urban and pop. It suggests that they are "avant-garde, scene-based, industry-based and tradionalists". However it reinforces the points made in the first text as it states that genre is created to encourage "competitive success" but you won't be successful if you don't follow the codes, conventions and behavioural rules of that genre. Examples of this are female pop-stars - all of them are pretty, girly, innocent, feminine etc. you don't see many butch female pop-stars making the charts do you? Nor do you see many indie bands being reported for opposing the government or trying to defy the law (FTP, I Fought The Law). All artists fit into their genres correctly as that is the way they have been told to act, behave etc.
Once they are in a certain genre it is very difficult to change their attitudes, behaviour, image due to the rules set in today's society and music industry. I would do a reception analysis of Miley Cyrus fans to discover what they think of her transition, whether it's successful and if they agree with artists changing their style/image so extremely.
Text 1: Wall, T, (2003). 'Genre'. In: (ed), Studying Popular Music Culture. 1st ed. UK: Hodder & Stoughton Educational. pp.(179-188).
Text 2: Jennifer C. Lena and Richard A. Peterson (2008), Classification as Culture: Types and Trajectories of Music Genres, American Sociological Association, pp. (697-698).
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