IS THE IDEA OF GENRE DYING?

As listening habits continue to change and the Spotify generation takes over, are the walls between music scenes crumbling? We ask…

I think there are too many subgenres, personally.

Rock and metal are basically fine for classifying music. You shouldn’t dismiss bands because they’re in a subgenre you don’t like, you’ll miss out. Really, there are only two genres we need – what you like and what you don’t. Nothing else matters! DAVID CONNELL

From a fan perspective, grouping certain bands together helps you go from discovering one to enjoying a whole load more. It just gets a bit dangerous when bands specifically categorise themselves as such, because you run the risk of homogenisation and the dilution of ideas. So ultimately the idea of genres is good, but it sure as hell isn’t everything. NICK EDGEWORTH Genre isn’t dead but the borders between genres are becoming blurred, and it’s a great thing. Bands who can mix completely different genres are the new model. All these new bands got the chance to have everything on the internet; they have the chance to listen to

everything and mix them in new musical ways and that’s great!

THEO LAFAVE

I think it’s vital that we continue to create genres and subgenres so people are able to explore and enjoy music of a certain kind. If I liked Megadeth, I’d look for other thrash bands. Without genres, who knows if I would ever discover Warbringer? Also, I can now listen to a German black metal band because I listened to black metal bands from the US and Scandinavia. Without having genres, I don’t think I would ever listen to music in a language that I don’t understand.

NIKHIL KULKARNI

If anything, genre is more definitive now. In the 80s, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Meshuggah, Slayer and all the glam stuff was just ‘metal’; now it seems like it’s too fucking important to have a specific crate for absolutely every minor difference in sound. ANDERS BAKKUM

I think the classifications that we have used are becoming more and more porous. Many bands are bridging different genres through a drive to be original and perhaps appeal to a broader demographic. the association with a certain genre is still considered important by some, however, as a pride and sense of ownership still exists.

CHRIS STONE Bands today mix genres so much that it’s almost impossible to class them as just one subgenre. It’s not so black and white so it’s a lot easier to say. “I like this band and others with a similar sound”, rather than stating the genres you like. there’s too many subgenres to keep up with anyway! LAUREN BEAN

there’s so much crossover that, although metal is very diverse, there’s no strong way of defining subgenres, I think there’s a loose area of bands that go together, but actually titling subgenres seems a bit pointless. Ultimately, if you fall directly into a subgenre your music is probably not very dynamic.

KATIE POWELL

to me, people in this era don’t “respect” genres anymore – they are seen as only a label. Back in the day, for example, if a metal guy wanted to hear funk music he had to buy it, and that’s not gonna happen now. the internet has crushed economic barriers to listen to whatever you want.

GRIMGURTH HERU

Without subgenres I would not have discovered the bands I enjoy today. Starting with Nightwish, then discovering Within temptation, Delain and epica all through subgenre recommendations, it’s been an enjoyable journey. DALE GREENWOOD

But if genre was dead, what would we argue about? We would have no more reasons to get butthurt when someone classifies our favourite death metal band as black metal!

GILLES FRENETTE

NEXT MONTH: WHAT CAN WE DO TO SAVE THE UK’S MUSIC VENUES?