What is music genre?

Different music genres and their association

What is a definition of a music genre?

Music genre can be categorises various types of music each genre has its own symbols and its own belonging to certain groups of conventions.  It is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometimes used interchangeably.  Therefore music is separated into many genres differently depending on the style. For example, madrigal, motet and dance are example of genres from the Renaissance period.  Renaissance music is vocal and instrumental music written and performed in Europe during the Renaissance era. This is an example of how a piece of music can be categorised. People may refer to some or all of a small group of categories when using period as the criteria for a music genre. These include Early Music, Medieval Music, Renaissance Music, Baroque Music, Classical Music, Romantic Music, and 20th Century Music. Within the music genre there is a popular music genre – any genre of music having wide appeal however, this doesn’t last very long. Another genre is expressive style, style – a way of expressing something (in language or art or music etc.) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period; “all the reporters were expected to adopt the style of the newspaper”. Also each genre has different associations and representation for example;

This is an example of the elements that influences the representation of house music. Dance music includes ambient, breakbeat, disco, electro, freestyle and electroacoustic music. It is the music made to facilitate or accompany dancing. The Renaissance dance music was written for instruments such as the lute, viol, tabor, pipe, and the sackbut. In the Baroque period, the major dance styles were noble court dances. From that the dance music developed to classical music era containing vocals mostly sonatas, string quartets and symphonies. General association of this genre includes beats music and often are shown at the club, gigs or festival. 

conventions of music genres

Music Genre	Conventions of the genre
Hip Hop Artist: 50 Cent Song: I’m the man	Some conventions of this genre are mostly based on a lavish lifestyle, Some conventions in this video are women wearing promiscuous clothing. These women are clearly objectified and are used as sex symbols within the music video. A theory in which can relate to this is bell hooks’ theory of the lighter skin women being more sexually attractive and therefore seen as an object and not a person. In hip-hop there are also conventions such as Jewellery, 50 cent is the main star in the music video and this is signified by the amount of jewellery that he is wearing. There is also strong language when taking the lyrics into consideration. This seems to be a trending theme throughout the hip-hop genre as when comparing music videos from the same genre strong explicit language is apparent throughout.
Pop Artist: Justin Bieber Song: What do you mean?	Some typical conventions for pop music are that seen in a pop music video are dance routines, dance routines are actively seen throughout the pop genre as it will appeal to a younger audience, the dance routine will most likely include the main singer and will also have entourage of back up dancers to further emphasise the dance moves. The pop videos that I have researched also have a vast array of bright colours both in terms of the mis-en-scene and also the transitions and cinematography. The style of the music video was a performance based performance, this allows the performance to attract the younger audience
Punk Artist: Blink 182 Song: All the small things	Some conventions that I have seen when looking at this specific music videos are that they contain eccentric haircuts, this my signify that the music is one of alternative choice, the punk genre music videos also have dark clothing, this is again seen as eccentric however not overtly as the clothes are dull colours however have strange designs or rips in them. Live instruments are almost always played and a live performance is all but guaranteed.
RnB Artist: Mario Song: Let me love you	In R&B there are some conventions which are always used, for instance the use of money and luxury items are used to show the singer in a position of financial power, in combination with this they also show women in a position of naivety and lust, this is similar to the hip-hop conventions however the music genre is typically softer and men are seen as more emotional and loving towards their partners compared to hip-hop where women are objectified.
Rock Artist: Red hot chili peppers Song: Can’t Stop	When looking at rock music videos it is clear to see a similarity with rock and punk, for example both have live performances in which instruments are played, this makes the video more intense and clearly shows that the music video is a live performance. In terms of the mis en scene the performers usually have long hair and is able to shake that hair to create effect.
GRIME Artist: Santan Dave Song: Thiago Silva	When looking at grime music I am able to see stereotypes such as the mis en scene, the young men are wearing darkclothing with mostly Hoodies, this shows grime music to be urban and also targeted at younger people, The singers also have aggressive facial expressions, this could be signifying that the young males are serious about their subculture and take it very seriously. There are hand gestures similar to this seen in Hip-hop as grime is a sub culture of that music genre.
DANCE Artist: Alan Walker Song: Faded	The music video shows slow movements and baron places, I believe that this is a countertype to traditional dance music videos as the genre of music is very upbeat and therefore the slow movements do not flow with the music , the colours of the music video are also dark which again I believe is a countertype as I would believe that this music genre would need to have bright lights to stay current and modern.