Some
genres, such as Indian music, are geographically defined;
others, like Baroque music, are largely defined by chronology.
Still others, such as Barbershop, are defined by quite
precise technical requirements. Some genres, however,
are quite vague, and may be contrived by critics; post-rock,
for example, is a term devised and defined by Simon
Reynolds. Yet another example of this is video game
music, which while defined by its media, can also represent
its own style, as well as that of any other musical
genre.
To
some extent, all attempts to categorise music will have
a degree of artificiality to them, because musicians
tend to produce music in any style they choose, without
concerning themselves with which genre they are working
in. Some people feel that the categorization of music
into genres is useless. John Zorn, for example, a musician
whose work has covered a wide range of genres, wrote
in Arcana: musicians on music that genres are tools
used to "commodify and commercialize an artist's
complex personal vision", implying that oftentimes,
genres represent efforts at marketing rather than actual
musical distinctions. Other artists feel that it is
the artist's fault themselves for making a body of work
that can be put into a shared class easily with others.
Dividing
music by genre is still widely done, however, making
it easier to trace threads through music history, and
increasing the ease with which individuals find artists
that they enjoy.
