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I thought I would follow up Mike's post with a similar but important topic and that is musical genres.

From what I can tell, there are no solid definitions of what makes a song fit into a specific genre. Often, these are loose approximations based on what a large number of people have collectively called their music over a long period of time. But within even the prime genres like Country, Jazz, Rock, Pop, Folk, Rap etc.. there is a ton of crossover and variation to the point where 1 song can easily be considered multiple genres by different listeners.

A real world example of the problem with genres came up when I asked 10 industry professionals (A&R, Publishers and producers) to tell me the genre of a particular song. I got 6 different genres listed from the 10 people. In reality, none of them were wrong and each had a justification for why they chose that genres (some arguments were based on style, some on lyric content, some on the other work by that artist, some on musical arrangement/instrumentation and some based on similarities of that artist to another artist know in a given genre. This was several years ago, but the lesson stuck with me. Even the experts don't agree. And the artists/writers themselves are often even worse at making the designation. It's not at all uncommon for me to ask an artist what genre of music they write/record and for them to say.. I don't know.. I don't fit any.. or I fit (and then they list 10-12 genres) or they rattle off all the genres that others have told them they fit.. etc.

So.. if no one knows what really fits into a genre, why have them at all? Many artists complain about genres and hate being placed in one. But genres are VERY important and needed in the music industry. Here's a good analogy of why:

If you go to a restaurant, and the menu says "food" only.. what do you order? You need to at least know it's a meat dish.. a vegatable.. but even that isn't much help in deciding what to order. You want something you are likely to want to eat.. not a surprise that isn't palatable. So even though many restaurants prepare similar dishes with very different approaches and recipes, they still give them common names so that you can at least find something in the ballpark of what you might like. Music is the same.

Genres make it easy for people to buy or at least sample your music. And that's what we all want right? We want people to access our music and hopefully come to a show, or buy a CD or show some interest in our work.

I thought it might be interesting, as an excercise and learning experience, to ask folks to give definitions of various genres of music... so I'd like to invite folks to do that here. But first, a few guidelines to make this worthwhile..

1. Give the name of a genre that you might actually find in a record store or on line or in a radio format.

2. Give a definition (please try to keep it to a couple of sentences) of what this genre is and what it takes to qualify a song in it.

3. Give an example of an artist/song or two that you feel represents this genre in the most dead center way. (since genres sort of sway one way and the other, find something in the "middle" of a genre, rather than the fringe.)

The purpose of this is NOT to tell people they are right or wrong.. it's to understand what peopel are thinking and why... so lets not get into arguments with people and say they are wrong.. rather.. if you disagree, give some tangible reason why you think a different definition fits and why a song may belong in a different genre than someone suggests (with some support of why). If we all do this, I think it will be an interesting learning experience. (Note: I am on the road so it may be a while before I can post any replies, but I will check when I can..).

So... how about some examples? Here's a list of some of the genres from our own Just Plain Folks Music Awards which you are welcome to use.. or feel free to post other genres.

Alternative, College Rock, Modern Rock, Rock, Hard Rock, Metal, Industrial, New Folk, Traditional Folk, Americana, Roots, Country, Blues, Pop, Contemporary, Dance, Elecronica, Rap, Spoken Word, Instrumental Jazz, Vocal Jazz, Cabaret, Solo Instrumental, Instrumental, Classical, Novelty, Singer Songwriter, Gospel, Contemporary Christian, R&B, Reggae, New Age, Cover, Celtic, Childrens, Ethnic, Tribute & Holiday. But there are more genres.. so feel free to add them if you have a strong idea of how to define them.

So, lets hear your thoughts!

Brian