I think the idea of the “genre” is on its way to extinction. What used to be a way to describe a band’s sound has become a marketing tactic. Back in the days when going to the record store on a Friday night was the cool thing to do, it always bothered me when I would see stickers on a CD that said something to the effect of “For Fans Of (fill in the blank).” No thanks. If I wanted to hear those bands I’d buy their CDs. Those stickers, to me, represented the industry’s completely unspoken marketing tactic. Here’s how an A&R meeting about one of these bands probably sounded like:
• Record Exec: We really messed up. This band is terrible. No one will want to buy this.
• A&R Guy: Can’t win ‘em all. I saw a bunch of kids with Taking Back Sunday shirts on at their last show. That band sells a ton of records.
• Record Exec: Then it’s settled. Print up a bunch of stickers that say “For fans of Taking Back Sunday” and put them on the CDs.
• A&R Guy: Will that help?
• Record Exec: Kids these days are idiots. If we tell them a band sounds like whatever garbage is trendy these days, we’ve struck gold.
• A&R Guy: Brilliant!
When an artist signs to a certain record label, there are a number of preconceived notions about these bands. If an artist signs to Sub Pop Records, the initiated music aficionado may draw the conclusion that the band will sound like a mix between Blitzen Trapper and Iron & Wine. They may be completely wrong, but if a band signs to a record label with a roster full of bands in a certain genre, they will almost immediately build a fan base in said genre, even if their sound differs in the slightest.
This is why I believe that there are only four core genres: Rock, Hip-Hop, Jazz and Horse Piss. While undoubtedly distinctions can be made about the sound of the bands within each genre (like how some rock music sounds like country music and vice versa), each band’s sound can be ultimately traced back to one of the four main categories. The only problem in this situation is defining the line in the Horse Piss genre. Statistics from a 2009 poll (done by me with a polling base of myself) says that 98% of the music in 2009 falls under the Horse Piss genre. Now lets be honest. Some bands just don’t belong in this category. I have it on good word from a top Obama official, that he will address the need to create a Horse Piss sub-group for the Kings of Leon, Lady GaGa and 3Oh!3.
This act alone tells me that genres are no more than a creative ploy by the record companies (and the government) to peddle music. I will leave you with my cry to the record execs that make me want to shoot myself when I turn on the radio: If you haven’t made your New Years resolutions yet, I’ve got one for you. Quit your jobs and hire me as your replacement. Because, unlike you, I can tell what music is good and what music causes sudden surges in young adult suicide rates.
*Check out my posts over at The Record Crate*
Photo Credits:
http://studiocam.files.wordpress.com
http://www.thismusicsucks.com
