Sorted: Genre & Categorisation in Contemporary Music Business

Categorisation is a perennial problem in the sphere of music. In the age of musical democratisation and playlists, this chapter explores the role of genre in the contemporary music business. It argues that there are distinct cultural and economic differences between genre and the playlist. The chapter explores the roles of the music business—by way of record label activities and journalistic practice, the resistance to categorisation from musicians themselves and the cultural policing practices of fans alongside the new practices of streaming services. It explores the notion of product in this triumvirate of fans, labels and industry, where genre shows the song as product to be sold generically to fans, the playlist allows the selling of fans (or at least their data) to advertisers.