A genre of music is simply an organizational category. This category is affixed by artists, fans, critics, or salespeople in an attempt to group musically similar works together.
A genre may be associated with certain:
- musical instruments
- attitudes, philosophies, and values
- composition techniques
- artistic approaches
- demographics
- musical scales
- rhythms
- time periods
- lyric themes
- geographic locations
Each genre has its own accepted norms and conventions. An artist may attempt to incorporate new, unexpected elements into a genre work while keeping other guidelines according to taste.
When an innovation spreads to other artists, it often becomes a new subgenre.
