Features

Music sub-genres exist in the industry like a thorny weed that becomes more persistent the more you hack it back; and this has never been more true than now, especially in dance music, where new sub-genres are born faster than you can type them into Wikipedia.

Breakcore, terrorcore, speedcore. ghettotech, ghettohouse, fidget house, skullstep, clownstep, crunk yacht rock, grimy, B-more – blink and there might be ten more tomorrow.

You see these new hybrids everywhere: when you're classifying your MP3s on iTunes, checking out a producer's MySpace page, or reading reviews and articles. Helpful? The flourishing range of sub-genres is a phenomenon that's potentially daunting consumers, dividing already marginalised audiences, and forcing producers to pigeon-hole their own work.  

The critics blame the current sub-genre boom on those wily kids on the internet, while proponents accept that it's part and parcel of the shift of music sales to digital formats. Others blame the music software technology boom, opening the floodgates to millions of consumers-turned-producers now making their own wares.

Creating a clever sub-genre is a good marketing ploy for an underground artist wanting to be noticed and a not-unheard of ploy by some crafty (or unwitting) journalist hoping to discover the "next big thing".

Dave Philpot from Skint Records believes that the music industry shift to digital is the reason why sub-genres are multiplying. "In the old days, you had HMV that had five or six genres, but now you have a list of genres from Beatport that people are constantly putting in."

"Genres are becoming more important," he added. "Before you'd shove your track into dance or house, but now artists are starting to think where's best to place it. So you get someone like Herve - he doesn't want to put his music into electronic or big beat or genres that are there, so he probably makes up a genre for it and describes it in the press release."

The UK electronic music scene is no stranger to the spawn of genres and sub-genres – and the Wikipedia entry for electronic music sub-genres names 22 genres and 218 sub-genres, which probably doesn't begin to tell half the story.

"I don't think this is a new thing to be honest," said Lloyd Seymour aka Skool of Thought and label manager of Against The Grain Records. "It's been happening for years and I think it's a sign of a healthy electronic music scene. The fast turnover of sub-genres has usually been a UK thing but many of the newer sub-genres are coming from around the world which is another good sign that electronic music is getting bigger, more accessible and united."

In the past few year, emerging sounds such as dubstep, fidget house, nu rave and other hybrid genres have risen amongst the more established genres (drum & bass, techno, house, hip hop, etc); meanwhile some genres – such as garage and rock influenced electronic music (new wave / darkwave / synthpop) - have experienced a renaissance with producers who are creating an updated version for the digital generation.

Drum & bass produces a never-ending crop: clownstep, liquid funk, neurofunk, skullstep. "It's a very nerdy genre and people watch for every hi-hat because people are so close up to it all the time," explained Chris Marigold, one third of drum & bass producers Blu Mar Ten.

"In drum & bass genres, there's more people making music than there has been in all of mankind," Chris pointed out. "Take house music from 1977 to 1987 – things didn't change that much. But then there weren't that many people making it. Things are accelerating at such a fast pace now."

Chris believes that that the drive to create new sub-genres stems from an insularity within the genre. "I think it's a very male thing to do, to stratify and label, especially in drum & bass when there's a lot of snobbery," he said.

Whereas sub-genre fever has decimated house, drum & bass and techno, other genres seem less affected. Dubstep is one. "In dubstep, there haven't been any named genres," said David Kennedy (AKA Ramadanman) co-founder of dubstep label Hessle Audio.

"People know there's differences in sound. It's kinda nice in a way - people worry too much about what it's called. Do you remember Wiley had that song 'Wot you call it?' which he wrote as a response to how people were talking about his songs. People didn't know what to call it rather than appreciating the music."

Similarly, breakbeat has seen little action, although there is no shortage of breaks production. Lloyd from Against The Grain commented, "It's interesting to see what might have been classed as breaks a couple of years ago now being labeled as electronica or electro, which may be the reason why some genres like breaks seem to be a bit quiet.  The music is still being made, but labeled differently."

So are sub-genres all that bad?

"Most of the so called sub-genres seem to be descriptions or a bit like Ikea furniture," said Marcus Scott from dubstep label Hyperdub, "a kit that predefines a certain sound and how it will come out. I don't think artists who are really creative feel they are part of this, only parasites do."

Chris from Blu Mar Ten thinks the sub-genre diversification has created a silo mentality amongst dance music fans. He said, "In 1989, dance music was this generic thing - acid house, nascent house, basic – so when you asked people what music they liked, they just said dance music. Now most people can only talk knowledgeably about the scene they're in."

From a marketing point of view, however, new sub-genres can benefit artists. "The whole sub-genre movement is a bit of a double edge sword," said Alex Oxely, from left-field electronic promoter 44 Productions. "From a marketing point of view, great because it means a new emerging sound can be branded 'cool' and 'new' but also creating a new sub-genre can be used as a way of dumbing down and pigeon-holing a development within an already existing genre."

"Putting a track down as house or progressive house is a bit boring these days," said Dave from Skint Record. "Detboi called his music something like trancecore or rhymecore – I can't remember, but it sounded brilliant - it made you want to listen to it."

Then there are some in the industry that turn an almost blind eye to the genre game – for instance US-based Fool's Gold Records, run by A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs. "As far as what's going on in the world at large - I try not to get too hung up on that stuff," commented Nick Catchdubs. "Everything goes in cycles. Watching drum & bass producers turn into electro and dubstep producers... and now back again?"

"We don't pick music to release by saying 'hey, we need a dubstep song' or 'hey we need a rave song' or whatever," Nick explained. "It's always been about cultivating the best music, period. That's why it's so satisfying to hear a song we've released, like the Crookers remix of 'Day N Nite' get played in electronic dance clubs and mainstream hip-hop radio at the same time."

The strange things is, in the face of the constant re-classification in UK electronic music, there is also an opposing urge to transcend genres that's compelling more artist to fuse different genres together, to experiment and break rules, artists such as Kode9, dBridge, Instra:mental and Randomer, with promoters following suit.  

"Electronic music has matured to a point, along with our computers and software, that some mental experimentation is now possible with relative ease, allowing people to be more creative," said fidget house producer The Bulgarian.

Nick from Fool's Gold agreed. "I think if you really love dance music you're naturally going to experiment with different styles. Sounds are always going in and out of vogue but the good stuff will always be playable."

And despite the economic forecast for doom and gloom, the prognosis for dance music remains positive. "I think dance scene is in a good state," concluded Dave from Skint. "Clubs are full again, DJs are making money, the majors are spending money on remixes again. If you go back four years ago, there were no remixes being done apart from house music but now they're getting club and underground mixes again. So there's money for producers."

Clearly, the overall feeling is that artists are fed up with the status quo, and labels, artists and consumers alike are ready to embrace change, and despite the somewhat superficial nature of sub-genres, which has gotten up people's noses, something deeper in the UK musical ecology is on the shift.

WORDS Amy Riley

Related Links:

• Sub Focus Album Review
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• Japanese Dubstep: Greg G
• Uprooted: Tech Itch - Elevation
• Beat Assassins Get Remixed