Music genre
In 1982, Franco Fabbri proposed a definition of the musical genre that is now considered to be normative. He stated that a musical genre is a set of musical events whose course is governed by a definite set of socially accepted rules. This definition shifted how musicologists viewed the field from being just a subset of popular music studies to an almost ubiquitous framework for constituting and evaluating musical research objects. Douglass M. Green distinguished between genre and form in his book Form in Tonal Music. He listed madrigal, motet, canzona, ricercar, and dance as examples of genres from the Renaissance period. Green explained that Beethoven's Op. 61 and Mendelssohn's Op. 64 are identical in genre but have different forms. Mozart's Rondo for Piano, K. 511, and the Agnus Dei from his Mass, K. 317, are quite different in genre but happen to be similar in form. Timothy Laurie argued that since the early 1980s, genre has graduated from being a subset of popular music studies to being an almost ubiquitous framework for constituting and evaluating musical research objects.
The proliferation of popular music in the 20th century has led to over 1,200 definable subgenres of music. A subgenre is a subordinate within a genre that adopts its basic characteristics but also has its own set of characteristics that clearly distinguish it. Philip Tagg noted this phenomenon in his paper Towards a Sign Typology of Music published in 1992. Such subgenres are sometimes referred to as styles within the genre. A musical composition may be situated in the intersection of two or more genres, sharing characteristics of each parent genre. Examples of fusion genres include jazz fusion, which is a fusion of jazz and rock music, and country rock which is a fusion of country music and rock music. A microgenre is a niche genre, as well as a subcategory within major genres or their subgenres. The artistic nature of music means that these classifications are often subjective and controversial, and some may overlap. As genres evolve, novel music is sometimes lumped into existing categories.
Country music originated in the southern United States in the early 1920s. Its origin stems from European folk music combined with blues and spirituals of African Americans. Hip-hop emerged in the early 1970s alongside a hip-hop subculture built by the African-American and Latino communities of New York City. Jazz originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rock music developed as rock and roll in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Heavy metal evolved from hard rock, psychedelic rock, and blues rock in late 1960s and 1970s with notable acts such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Motörhead. Bob Marley was honored by Zimbabwe's 1980 Independence celebration due to his music giving inspirations to freedom fighters. Soca music originated in Trinidad and Tobago in the 1970s. It was created by Ras Shorty I in an effort to revive traditional calypso. Reggae music originating from the late 1960s Jamaica was originally used by Jamaicans to define themselves with their lifestyle and social aspects.
Musicologists have sometimes classified music according to a trichotomous distinction such as Philip Tagg's axiomatic triangle consisting of folk, art and popular musics. Tagg maintains that popular music differs from art music through its mass distribution strategy as well as its non-written distribution modes which produces distinct production and consumption patterns between these musical categories. Starting from the end of the 20th century, Vincenzo Caporaletti has proposed a more comprehensive distinction of music genres based on the formative medium with which a music is created. The theory developed by Caporaletti, named Audiotactile Music Theory, categorises music in three different branches: written music like classical music, oral music like folk music before sound recording technologies, and Audiotactile music where the process of production and transmission is pivoted around sound recording technologies. These last two branches are created by means of the above-mentioned audiotactile matrix in which the formative medium is the Audiotactile Principle. Alternatively, music can be assessed on the three dimensions of arousal, valence, and depth. Arousal reflects physiological processes such as stimulation and relaxation, valence reflects emotion and mood processes, and depth reflects cognitive processes.
Automatic methods of musical similarity detection, based on data mining and co-occurrence analysis, have been developed to classify music titles for electronic music distribution. François Pachet, Geert Westermann, and Damien Laigre presented their work Musical Data Mining for Electronic Music Distribution at the 1st WedelMusic Conference in Firenze, Italy, in 2001. Glenn McDonald, an employee of The Echo Nest, has created a categorical perception spectrum of genres and subgenres called Every Noise at Once. This system is based on an algorithmically generated, readability-adjusted scatter-plot of the musical genre-space, based on data tracked and analyzed for 5,315 genre-shaped distinctions by Spotify. The platform uses these algorithms to automatically identify musical genres for electronic music distribution. Social influences on music selection have changed since music became more easily accessible through platforms like Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube. More people have begun listening to a broader and wider range of music styles due to this accessibility.
Personality is a key contributor for music selection. Those who consider themselves to be rebels will tend to choose heavier music styles like heavy metal or hard rock, while those who consider themselves to be more relaxed or laid back will tend to choose lighter music styles like jazz or classical music. According to one model, there are five main factors that exist that underlie music preferences that are genre-free. These five factors include A Mellow factor consisting of smooth and relaxing styles, An Urban factor defined largely by rhythmic and percussive music, A Sophisticated factor including operatic and world music, An Intensity factor defined by forceful, loud, and energetic music, and A campestral factor referring to singer-songwriter genres and country. Studies have shown that while women prefer more treble oriented music, men prefer to listen to bass-heavy music. Age is another strong factor that contributes to musical preference. Evidence is available that shows that music preference can change as one gets older. A Canadian study showed that adolescents show greater interest in pop music artists while adults and the elderly population prefer classic genres such as rock, opera, and jazz.
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Common questions
What definition of musical genre did Franco Fabbri propose in 1982?
Franco Fabbri proposed a definition of the musical genre that is now considered to be normative. He stated that a musical genre is a set of musical events whose course is governed by a definite set of socially accepted rules.
How many definable subgenres of music exist according to the text?
The proliferation of popular music in the 20th century has led to over 1,200 definable subgenres of music. A subgenre is a subordinate within a genre that adopts its basic characteristics but also has its own set of characteristics that clearly distinguish it.
Where and when did country music originate?
Country music originated in the southern United States in the early 1920s. Its origin stems from European folk music combined with blues and spirituals of African Americans.
Who created Soca music and where was it developed?
Soca music originated in Trinidad and Tobago in the 1970s. It was created by Ras Shorty I in an effort to revive traditional calypso.
What are the three branches of Audiotactile Music Theory proposed by Vincenzo Caporaletti?
Vincenzo Caporaletti proposed a theory named Audiotactile Music Theory which categorises music in three different branches: written music like classical music, oral music like folk music before sound recording technologies, and Audiotactile music where the process of production and transmission is pivoted around sound recording technologies.