Know Your Genre

record store rack

By David A. Barber
Author of Gigging, Everything You Need to Know About Playing Gigs (Except How to Play Your Axe)

“What kind of music do you play?”

If you haven’t heard this question yet, you soon will. There’s no right answer to the question, but there is a wrong answer: “Our music is so diverse/original that it can’t be pigeon-holed.” Or “We don’t want to limit our creativity by putting ourselves in a category.” There’s a million ways to put it, but the bottom line will come across to music industry pros as “We don’t know what to call our music.” Or worse: “We’re so weird nobody’s come up with an appropriate description, yet, and you can be sure that when they do, most people will be turned off by it.”

Why is this so important? Because on many levels, a variety of people you will work with in the industry need to know quickly whether or not you are worth their time. Booking agents don’t want to put you in a metal club, if you’re a jazz band. An Indie ‘Zine editor might want to focus on alt-country, and will want to hear your stuff if that’s what you play, but also doesn’t want to waste his time if that’s not your style. By not telling him what kind of music you play, you are likely wasting his time and he will pass over your act in favor of an act that does know how to describe their sound. In the record store they need to know what genre to file your CDs (or whatever) under. If you don’t tell them, they will probably banish you to the “Other” or “Miscellaneous” bin where your CDs will sit unsold until the store decides it needs that space for something else. Radio programming managers need to know if your song will fit their format. If you can’t describe to them what you sound like, they are much more likely to decide you don’t fit. Record label executives want to know if you are going to fit in with the other artists they have signed. Commonly, they are looking for a fairly specific sound that they think the public will like, if that’s you, they might just listen to your CD. If they can’t tell from your cover letter and/or biography (bio), then your demo might go straight into the circular file. The public also likes to know what they’re likely to hear if they come across your act. Online, if you say “We play death metal” right up front, then fans of that genre will find you and listen. If you say “We can’t be labeled…” Well, who is searching for that? Nobody.

What to call your music can be as simple as Rock or as complicated as Acoustic Death Metal with Light Jazz Influences. Don’t be afraid to call it pop if that’s what it is. It may not be the coolest genre, but it sells the most records. Remember “Pop” is short for popular.

Don’t be afraid to make something up. If your act is truly blending hip hop with bluegrass, call it “grasshop” (and always including a description of what that means). We once worked with a band that called itself “Hip-core,” a fusion of hip hop and hard-core rock. When crafting such a title, avoid over-abused words like “progressive” and “alternative” because to industry pros they basically mean nothing. The word Indie has become just as meaningless today as Alternative was in the 1990s. However, it’s still better to call yourself Indie than nothing at all.

If you’re struggling to determine what kind of music you play, look to your influences. What genres do they fall into?  If it was, for example, Bob Marley and Metallica, then you might want to use the words reggae and metal. Sometimes it helps to get an outside opinion or two. Don’t forget the genres used by the public and in reviews are usually different than those used in the record stores, and radio genres are whole different beast. It may take some research to determine if you fit better into AAA (Adult Album Alternative) or CHR (Contemporary Hit Radio), but by figuring it out before you submit your music, you’ll have better luck. (Here’s a link to a useful list of radio formats: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_music_radio_formats)

These days you may not need to find one descriptive phrase that covers all of your music, or your band.  You can, in many cases get away with slapping a genre on each song.  That way, if you are promoting one song that’s ska and another that’s jazz, you may be able to penetrate both categories separately.  In other other situations, like booking, this may not work as well.

 Here’s a link to very helpful site, if you are having trouble figuring out what genre you are: Know Your Genre