Many Records have multiple Genres assigned: e.g. Techno + Electro
Genres (Styles)
I am using my own definitions – independently from discogs.com and others:
A genre definition never fits 100% and often several genres apply. For dance music I use ‘club play’ in contrast to ‘chill-out/listening only’.
R&B (Rhythm&Blues) vs. Pop is Billboard‘s definition – don‘t blame me for racism.
Certain genres developed slowly over the years. Find a list of the typical/dominant genres per decade below.
Subgenres (Substyles)
Subgenres are often short-living, born as a fashion and spread regionally. Some cover a spectrum of different genres, e.g. „Rave“ in the UK (Manchester) could be anything between PopClubPlay (Brit Pop), Techno and even Rock whereas „rave“ elswhere in Europe only meant Techno and Trance.
‚Boogie‘ desribes not the 1950s Rock‘n‘Roll dance style ‚Boogie Woogie‘ but a variety of upflifting R&BDanceFunk/ClubPlay – mostly underground – of the 1980s.
Subgenres can be found in the output list (search result) under COMMENT/TRACKLISTING (sorry, this field is non-searchable)
70s Genres: Disco
70s Subgenres: Philly Sound, Soul, Krautrock, Brasil, Hard Rock, Punk
80s Genres: R&BDanceFunk, R&BClubPlay, PopClubPlay, HouseClubPlay, RapOld/NewSchool, PopNewUKSynthiWave
80s Subgenres: pre-House, Acid House, Garage, Detroit Techno, Miami Bass, Electro Rap, HiNRG, Boogie, EBM, New Beat, Cosmic, Balearic, Industrial, Indie, Breakdance
90s Genres: HouseClubPlay, HouseDeep, Techno, Trance, D&B
90s Subgenres: Progressive House, IDM, Hardcore breakbeat, Rave, Jungle, Acid Jazz, Grunge, Euro Dance
| RC R&BClubplay (888): afroamerican artists; dance music often with vocals which do not fit to ‚pure‘ house/techno etc. |
| PC PopClubplay (837): caucasian artists; dance music often with vocals which do not fit to ‚pure‘ house/techno etc. |
| EL Electro (825): roots and parallel to techno;often slower than techno |
| HC HouseClubplay (727): uplifting modern disco ‚house‘ music; successor of classic disco; started mid-80s in Chicago |
| RF R&BFunk (662): the harder side of soul; reduced melodies. Often jazzy elements |
| PR PopRock (583): guitars and analog drums; the harder side of ‚pop‘. Often just „mainstream“ |
| PU PopNewUKSynthiWave (493): „New Wave“/new romantic pop including post-punk; often with synthesizer melodies |
| DI Disco (465): the classical dance music from 1973-1980; big bands/studio live recordings in the era before sampling |
| HD HouseDeep (413): deep baseline & groove, soulful vocals, started mid-80s in Chicago, often slower than ‚House ClubPlay‘ |
| TE Techno (399): minimalistic electronic dance music; started mid-80s in Detroit |
| IN Indie (359): independent record labels/underground music; opposite of major labels/pop music, often rock music, less synths |
| KI Kitsch (317): very personal definition of ‚silly/childish‘ happy sounding emotional music |
| AE RapElectro (292): electro beats incl. vocoder plus rap |
| TR Trance (224): melodic variation of techno; started early 90s in Belgium and Germany |
| AO RapOldschool (202): the origin of rap: spoken words to happy disco beats from 1979-1983 |
| HP HouseProgressive (164): all forms of house music which are neither ‚deep‘ nor ‚clubplay/disco‘, e.g. techno house/electro house |
| RO R&BSoul (161): the classic melodic afroamerican dance music since the 1960s |
| JA Jazz (142): the oldest afroamerican music; typically with trumpet or saxophone and/or piano |
| AN RapNewSchool (126): the follow-up to oldschool rap, ca. 1984-1990; stripped to bassline/reduced melodies plus scratching |
| DB D&B (107): drum & bass: all kinds of breakbeat or anything without a strict 4/4 rhythm |
| IT Italo (107): Italo Disco, dance music from Italy of the 80s; sung in English (not the mainstream Italian Pop music) |
| AH RapHipHop (97): the follow-up to newschool rap, since ca. 1990; heavy sampling/smooth melodies plus fat beats |
| EG Reggae (76): Jamaican chill-out music |
| PG PopNewGermanWave (74): German „New Wave“ pop/rock/synth music of the early 80s, often with childish vocals |
| DU Dub (63): Jamaican reggae music stripped to the bone |
| TH TripHop (49): UK chill-out style with elements of Dub and Ambient |
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