Words by Tommy X
In the beginning, Beatport said “let there be light” and there was light, creating a platform that allowed individuals to listen to new, undiscovered music in a place that once was formless and void of easily accessible tunes.
On the second day, Beatport said “let there be sound” and there was sound, boasting an extensive collection of new and forthcoming tracks and a library of your favourite well-known anthems.
Fast forward a week or so and on the twelfth day, Beatport will say “let there be genre tags” and there’ll be a shit load of bizarre and confusing electronic sub genres that will have us all questioning whether we’re listening to house or something that some random punter has dubbed ‘molecularly distorted, trip-acoustic, synth-Jazz’.
It’s madness. But apparently something we asked for. Next Monday, on the 12th of September, Beatport will introduce genre-tags as a means of differentiating commercial EDM and underground electronic music, the site’s “number one feature request”.
I think I’m safe in saying that most people are pretty well versed in knowing their arses from their elbows and their Avicii’s from their Al Zanders’, but apparently this is a necessary evil and one that will institute some 500,000 re-categorisations online.
We’re all for preventing cross-contamination (I mean who wants a salmonella laden salad having just successfully rendered half a dozen pork chops?) but at the risk of confusing your audience and confining your music to an uber specific niche, is it really worth it?
Tell us what you think.
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