Genre of Music

"Genre means classifying a text according to its content and style as well as its structure and way of production."


Generalising, most music can be divided into these categories.

• Pop
• Classical
• Dance
• R&B
• Hip-Hop/Rap
• Rock
• Metal
• Country
• Jazz
• Blues 
• Reggae

Each of these contain a variety of sub-genres. However they all have specific characteristics, for example the instruments used or tempo of the music. They also can be connected to other things such as fashion (Gold Chains - Hip Hop), Hair (Mohawk, Punk) and lifestyle. Each genre has specific institutional support, including venues, radio stations, record/cd shops, festivals and magazines.


Image is crucial for music genre, an artists look categorises them before they even start performing/releasing material. An artist of band must be represented visually in records, photos and music in order to fulfil their genre category.


Looks are also as generic as sound. For example, it is hard to differentiate between many old school hip hop videos, which often consist of a 'hood' like setting and male characters dressed in baggy clothing and gold jewellery.


Childish Gambino, who has inspired a new generation of hip-hop/pop is often photographed wearing very minimalistic, simple clothing. With scraggily, messy hair, this associates him with a laid-back, humble attitude which is chillwave-like music promotes.