Genre Research & Brainstorm

WHAT IS GENRE?

A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. Music can be divided into different genres in many different ways. The main properties of various music genres which differ them from the rest are their tempo, the instruments used as well as the implementation of the structure and the format in the form of choruses, bridges or verses. Music genre additionally be identified by its representations within the music videos. Each specific music genre tends to have certain representations which are mainly associated within the genre due to the mediated view by which the audience can identify the genre. The specific inclusion of representations within various genres as a result has allowed for stereotypes to be constructed. 

We as a audience need to define the different genres in order to broaden our knowledge on the ongoing creation of various subgenres. By being able to recognise and associate different elements of music videos or songs with a particular genre will allow us to set our interest within music and allow for expression of interests with fellow members of the public such as close friends.

Some of the main genre associations have been portrayed below:

Within the brainstorm above I have portrayed some of the key representations of hip-hop music genre. The representations mainly place the hip-hop genre in a negative light as the associations are mainly unpleasant. The music artists mainly follow aggressive and muscular representations in order to empower their high status and 'manliness'. In terms of the mise-en-scene which is mainly portrayed within hip-hop music videos the artists focus their videos on elements which underline their social status such as the inclusion of gold jewellery, money, expensive cars and well decorated villas. In addition to this, the artists mainly use women as a sexual symbol which has been mainly developed through tv, magazines within the recent years. Concluding, hip hop artists and any individuals which appear in hip hop music videos have a 'irresponsible' image pinned onto the, which is emphasised by the aggressive poses, inclusion of vandalism in the form of graffiti or by wearing baggy clothing. The negative representation of hip hop has been mainly affected by today's media, which I believe has caused the artists to fall into the 'self fulfilling prophacy', therefore they have started to believe and reflect the image they have been set by the media. As a result of this, the audience believes that this is the true representation of hip hop genre.

Todays Pop artist representation can be considered to be a complete contrast to what todays Hip Hop genre represents. The Pop Artists are mainly portrayed as innocent and feminime causing the genre to be more pleasing for the end consumer in comparison to hip hop. The feminime look of the artists has been mainly constructed by the inclusion of stylish clothing such as skinny jeans and tight tops, which can be seen within the most know boy band 'One Direction'. The boy band mainly includes matching clothing and dance routines portraying the whole group as cheerful, connotating positive messages to the audience. 

I have found that the R&B genre which can be represented by artists such as Neyo, mainly focuses around portraying the artists as confident to a point that they reflect their masculinity, however not being over the top such as Hip Hop genre where the artist hyperbolate their 'gangster' look. Within R&B the artists mainly consider wearing loose clothing with a stylish touch such as leather jackets or hats. Furthermore, females which are portrayed within R&B videos tend to wear revealing clothing which portrays their feminine characteristics to the artist and the audience. In comparison to the rest of the genres. R&B is well known for the inclusion back-up dancers where their purpose is to exaggerate the importance of the artist.

Within the last brainstorm we can see the genre associations for Rock and Alternative Rock. I have placed the two genres together due to them portraying interlinking associations as Alternative Rock is a subgenre of Rock. Both genres portray their artists as long haired, tattooed individuals who mainly acquire piercings and black clothing in the form of leather jackets and trousers. The stereotypic association of rock/alternative rock in terms of the artists behaviour is quite unusual in comparison to other genres, due to the artists mainly screaming on stage as well as their ability to break their musical equipment. These factors portray they as quite brutal and confident which has been further enhanced by the inclusion of mainly dark makeup on the artists faces.