Genre in Popular Music

Genre greatly shapes the way music is created, produced, marketed, and consumed. And yet, genre is more than just a tool to categorize music: These groupings often reveal complex socio-cultural constructs that replicate cultural beliefs about identity and society. This course explores genre as a multifaceted concept within 20th- and 21st- century popular music in the U.S. by examining how these categories are socially and musically constructed, defined, and transformed throughout history. This course investigates how genre has changed from the time of vinyl records to streaming platforms through a blend of lectures, discussions, and listening sessions. We will explore how scholars across numerous disciplines conceive of genre in popular music through interdisciplinary readings and writing activities. This course promises to broaden your understanding of genre while enhancing your personal listening practice as we unravel the tapestry to reveal how genre shapes the musical world around us—all the while exploring if genre truly matters. There are no prerequisites, and a prior knowledge of music or ability to read Western music notation is not required.