Research: Genres

Music Video Genres

What are genres?

Genres are a category or style of music, it is usually characterised by the content and the way it is expressed. In the music industry there are a plethora of genres, both mainstream and hybrid, these include; Rap, Rock, Pop, R&B (Rhythm and Blues), Country, EDM (Electronic Dance Music), Classical and Hip-Hop.

List of genres and their conventions

Rap/Hip-Hop - Conventions of Rap/Hip-Hop are that the videos are very glamourous, with a lot of dancers, cars, usually very high key lighting and the artists showing off their wealth. Usually set in inner city urban locations, the artists try and reflect the lifestyle they are living in their music videos. The artists tend to be the dominant character in their videos, with their backup dancers being either their associates or those of the opposite sex. This can lead to the view that rap and hip-hop objectify women as they are usually wearing a lot less clothing while a male artist would be fully clothed and be surrounded by multiple women.

The conventional target audience for this genre male teenagers to adults, roughly around the age of 30 and under, living in inner cities, usually working or middle class. This is because the target audience is a reflection of the artists themselves, or how they used to be. Artists such as Eminem, Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar regularly address their background in their songs.

Rock - Conventions of Rock are usually a band performing, the artists wearing dark clothing and are usually white males that are older than 30 years old, also may have grown out their hair.
The target audience for this genre is usually males over the age of 18 up until around 50 years old.

Pop - Conventional Pop songs have both male and female artists that are under the age of 30, down to as low as 16 years old, videos are usually colourful and have quite high production value as they are usually very creative, almost like a musical due to the narrative performance that is seen.
Their target audience is teenagers, young adults and adults who enjoy upbeat, visually pleasing music.

R&B - conventions of the R&B genre are male artists, usually with a female counterpart in their videos, dancing, minimal clothing and very simple locations such as a house or a room.
Target audiences for R&B are teenagers and young adults, usually females under the age of 30. The videos are visually appealing and have well bodied male artists that are choreographed well.

Country - country songs are narrative based, usually about a romance which may or may not be about the artist themselves. Lighting is usually very high key and the artists are not showing off their wealth but more likely try to be perceived as "normal people".
Target audience is middle ages male and females that enjoy music that is universal.

House/Dance - Conventions of this genre are repetitive beats with clubbing scenes being shown, women wearing minimal clothing, UV lighting and generally alcohol. This is as house and dance music are usually played in clubs and festivals. Artists are not usually featured in the music videos.
Target audiences for this genre are young adult male and females who are usually of the drinking age and are able to go clubbing, these songs are generally for parties and not really for relaxation.

Jazz - Jazz usually has male artists who play instruments such as, the saxophone, cello or piano. In videos they are dressed quite sharply in suits and may wear hats.
The target audience for this genre are older males and females as they may be more likely to enjoy relaxing music and a calming atmosphere.

Indie - Conventions of indie music are slow and relaxed beats, with picturesque locations in their videos. The artist is usually present in the videos and it may carry a narrative.
The target audience for indie music are young adult male and females who enjoy relaxing instrumentals and distinctive vocals.

Mainstream and Niche genres

Genres can be split into mainstream and niche depending on their popularity and specificity. For example, Hip-hop is a mainstream genre as it can be split into many different genres, interpreted by different artists and producers. Trap music is seen as a branch of hip hop and originates from it, making it a less popular, niche genre. Niche genres are also very specific as Indie may be seen as quite mainstream in recent times, but indie-rock or indie-pop are hybrid niche genres, listened to by less but still its own genre. Target audiences also have an impact on what genres are, mainstream genres are favoured by younger people, while niche audiences are usually older people, this may be because artists focus on public recognition. As there has been a growth in social media over the last decade, younger people are increasingly on social media platforms, therefore they are able to express their views on the different genres of music they like and are more likely to purchase.

The importance of genres for an audience

It is vital for artists to be able to interact and share with their audience, social media has made that very easy in recent times. An artist is able to use social media effectively to understand how their audience feel about their music, therefore making more music that their audience are more likely to buy, increasing profit. According to Twitter, the most tweeted about genres during the grammys were, Rap, rock, pop, kpop, r&b, country, latin and EDM. This shows that some niche genres may be growing and could possibly be becoming more mainstream. As we see artists move from genres such as Justin Bieber who predominately made pop songs, now leans towards providing vocals for EDM and working with artists of that genre such as Skrillex.

Conclusion

In conclusion, genre of songs are very important as to please the audience, it is important for the song to follow conventions of the genre, therefore the audience will be more likely to buy and share the music. As a result of this, I have decided to make my music video following the conventions of the Rap/Hip-hop genre, as this is one of the most popular around the world and has a very broad target audience. Due to this, I believe it will be easier to create something to please the audience as they will have many expectations due to the breadth of the conventions and the meanings behind it.