Research and Planning

Genre

What is Genre?

Definition = A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.

To me, genre is crucial in a music magazine; it not only determines its readers, but is the main contributor to the magazine’s brand.

The success of the magazine does not depend entirely on its genre, but it does play a very important role indeed.

Audience Pleasure

If a magazine supports a specific genre, then it will subsequently attract a certain type of reader.

For example, a Rock magazine may not be read by someone who is a fan of classical music.

A fan of Country music will obviously not read a magazine specialising in the genre of Electronic.

Various Genres

There are a diverse range of genres out there, each occupying different magazines.

Rock e.g. Rolling Stone

Pop e.g. Top of the Pops

Country e.g. Country Music

Hip Hop e.g. Vibe

Jazz e.g. Downbeat

Sub-genres

A sub-genre is something that takes influences from a main genre and/or other sub-genres to create something new but still has roots in one main genre.

For example, Rock is a main genre and ‘Metal’ is a sub-genre as it takes influences from Rock, while creating its own unique sound.

‘Pop-rock’ combines characteristics of both Pop and Rock to develop a different sound.

How to recognise genres

At first, genres seem rather difficult to detect, however, there are some dominant features that reveal them.

Image = A significant artist or band featuring on the front cover will almost instantly inform the reader of the genre. A Rock band will obviously suggest that the magazine focuses on that specific genre.

Colour = The primary colours on a magazine front cover are crucial. Dark, harsh colours will ultimately portray the magazine’s genre; as will soft, bright shades.

The End

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