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3 years, 5 months ago

Is there a definitive list or source to organize your music by music genres?

I am struggling to get my iTunes albums & artist organized (no thanks to CDDB or Grace Notes..sometimes by user feedback or input). I have the opportunity to completely redo my music library. I've tried a simplified method sub categorization, but some artist are too awkward to be labeled under generic labels. My musical ear isn't trained that well enough to figure out the 100s of subcategories to put my songs in (although I'm learning). Any database reference or source is greatly appreciated. If Gracenotes or CCDB is the ultimate solution let me know. Thanks
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nativenerd | 3 years, 5 months ago
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Wikipedia actually has a fairly comprehensive list of genres and a description of each. As far as just being labled on an artist-by-artist, or even song-by-song basis, I've never seen one. I have 80gb of music, and I pretty much use the large generic genres(R&B, Country, Rock, etc) and then use the "Mood" for more detail if I want it.

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ccowman | 3 years, 5 months ago
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I use wikipedia for all my music and iTunes updating needs. They have a good use of album art and genre titles. Good luck updating your metadata.

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ryanscott | 3 years, 5 months ago
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no. there are new genres being created every day. i've never found these lists to be useful. once you delve into any type of music these 'official' categories become useless. dubstep, techstep, techhouse, house, acid house, drum and bass, gabber, nosebleed, drillstep, drill and bass, electro, electro breaks, electro house, electrostep, darkstep, two step, techno, minimal, minimal two step, drone, ambient, ambient groove, click hop, trip hop, I could go on and on, and this is just a few sub genres electronic music. All distinctly different. New ones every day.

If your taste isn't well enough defined in a genre to tell the difference between them, it doesn't much matter how you categorize them, does it? Just group them however you want, apply a label of your liking.

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percussion | 3 years, 5 months ago
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No. Pigeon-holes are for birds. It's music - just listen to it.

This is a classic right-hemisphere vs. left-hemisphere issue. I tried to organize my library when I first started, but found that by subdividing the genres it became too much of a playlist maintenance headache. Just use the high level categories so when you want to listen to some Jazz, you'll get all the subgenres included.
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factotum | 3 years, 5 months ago
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I agree with ryanscott, and would add that music is a very subjective thing. People can and probably always will bicker about whether a given artist should be classified a certain way.

At the end of the day, there can't and shouldn't be a definitive list of genres because there shouldn't be a "definitive" anything when it comes to an art form. Tastes change, long-forgotten artists are rediscovered, and what was once considered essential becomes trite.

While that may be frustrating if you're looking for guidance --you say your "musical ear isn't trained well enough" -- it also has the effect of making musical discovery a lifelong pleasure that never stops rewarding the inquisitive listener.

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matthazinski | 3 years, 5 months ago
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No, this is why I hate the "Genre" ID3 tag, as many artists have combinations of genres or obscure ones. For your problem which Gracenote doesn't help, have you tried the MusicBrainz tool? It is supposed to automatically fetch ID3 information (including the genre, I think) based on the actual audio and put it into your files. But is there really a reason you need the genre tag anyways? I never use it, because it's much easier to find what you're looking for by Artist. There are also tagging tools out there that may not solve this problem exactly, but will definitely organize your collection. Try this Lifehacker article for recommendations on tagging tools, etc.

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