With so many different genres of music out there, is it possible to create another new genre of music? Can you create your own music genre? The resounding answer is YES! So the next question you would be asking is, is it actually possible? Truth is, anyone with talent can make up his or her own genre of music. The question is whether anyone would like it.
What defines a genre?
To help answer how one can create a new genre of music, we have to first understand, what exactly is a genre?
Genres are simply a collection of categories that help us label certain styles of music. Genres have been created by artists or journalists in order to help answer listeners’ queries and also the uncertainty of what the new sound should be called.
Music is really just music and genre is something to help us label and to make sense of what we are listening to. It helps us describe the music in conversations and to better describe them.
Components to music
There are components that makeup music. And to develop a certain style of music and make it into a trend, you have to pay attention to the three components: Sound, branding, and name.
It’s these components that make musicians world-class artists. When artists have coined a term for their own sound, they make it trend through branding and marketing.
Creating a unique sound
Many subgenres exist in the music world and they are made up by combining two different sounds. Examples include grime, hip-hop, synth-wave, and vaporwave. Or you can adapt a genre that already exists and give it a different style and examples include dark techno, trap, and mumble rap.
Mixing two different styles together is so common it has been done to death. A music critic will probably already have a name for the sound that you want to create, that it may not be something new or fresh.
So, your objective would be to make a sound that even journalists have no name for. Genres are created by mixing new components and the key is that music critics cannot put their finger on it. It can be a mixture of this and that but something else they cannot really put their finger on.
How to create a genre?
Let’s get into the crux of the matter. How can we create a genre? The key is to listen attentively. Know your genre and every sub-genres to know their similarities and differences and gauge what is innovative and what isn’t?
The key is to keep an open mind and not tie your mind to existing genres. Be experimental but not to the point of breaking all rules that music no longer sounds like music. Be curious and open to sounds that you hear.
Know your listeners
After you have come up with a fusion mix and added new sounds, don’t get too carried away by your excitement. Put the recording aside and play it a few months later. Get friends with similar music tastes as you to listen to it.
Your friends will allow you to know what your listeners might love about the genre you created, or even hate. Do they find your genre a rip-off from other music they have heard? Perhaps they may even give you feedback on certain elements that allows you to continue experimenting.
We hope some of these ideas will get you into writing your own brand of music. Leave us a comment in our post to let us know what you think!