Comment by JohnFen
2 days ago
> genres? Made up out of whole cloth.
The problem with genre remains entirely unsolved across the board. The solution I use in my collection is to do what everyone else seems to do: make them up out of whole cloth. Because I'm the only one making them up, it means my labeling is at least internally consistent.
I will admit that I do precisely the same with my collection! But I truly felt that those interns should’ve received a list to choose from, not an open text field.
The biggest issue with genres is most databases treating them as one to one rather than one to many.
That's a real issue. I think the biggest issue with genre, though, is that even if people agree on a list of possible genre labels, there is often disagreement about what music belongs in which genre.
This isn't a new problem at all. Even music labels often disagree. Back when record stores were a thing, it was pretty common for different stores to categorize the same albums differently in terms of genre. I think the only way to avoid it is to stick to very, very broad categories. "Rock", for instance, covers an amazingly broad set of styles.