The Death of the Music Genre

The limit of traditional categories in a digital age

Vanessa Reed, by Ruth Kilpatrick
Paulina Ahokas, courtesy of Tampere Hall
Tina Edwards, by Paul Black
Sam Lee

Chaired by Vanessa Reed (UK), PRS Foundation; with Paulina Ahokas (Finland), Tampere Hall; Tina Edwards (UK), Jazz Standard EZH; Sam Lee (UK), The Nest Collective/Song Collectors Collective

This panel is a provocation. We propose that the most interesting music and events are the hardest to categorise; they can’t be easily pinned down to one genre or another. The artists that excite us the most identify with multiple influences. They hate being put into an old-school box. And yet, the industry itself is holding on to its most familiar forms of segmentation. Venues still use genre-determined marketing lists and some artists are nervous that they may be dumbing down if their music features in playlists which rip up technical definitions and speak directly to listeners’ emotions or needs. Peaceful piano, mood booster or deep focus anyone?

Come to this panel to challenge or learn from leading innovators who dismantle traditional approaches to promoting music.