Music Categories today

So, I've always been pretty much into "Rock, Jazz, Blues and Classical".
 
Lately since I've been getting deeper into learning to mix, I'm discovering a new passion for more modern music. But I have NO IDEA what type of music I'm listening to. It's like there are 100 different types of music today! Hop Hop, House, Acid House, EDM, Rap, Industrial, who the heck knows what else!
 
What's been really attracting me (and I'm really surprised) are productions of Artists such as Rihanna, Beyonce, Pink, Pussy Cat Dolls, Black Eyed Peas, etc. It's the production, mix and mastering styles that are really grabbing me.
 
What would you classify this type of music as?
 
Thanks for any thoughts.

I know what you mean. There are a few types of modern stuff that sounds like a combination of R&B and hip hop. It starts out with a really nice melody and then breaks into the edgy spoken word, and then back. It usually has two different singers, one for each part. If this has a style name I wish I knew what it was. I kind of dig it and I usually avoid mainstream stuff.

codamedia
For me there are two types of music.... "Stuff I Like", and "Stuff I don't Like".
 
I can understand the need for general categories.... but the breakdown of 50 different types of heavy metal seems pretty pointless to me. Just because an artist or band stretches out a little doesn't mean we need a new genre to accommodate them.
 
Just my 2 cents.... (Canadian cents at that - not worth anything these days)

 
Yep.  We've talked about it before, but I only got into it because I was about to start loading around 300,000 songs into a new media player.  They are from a LOT of different genres and styles.  I don't care about making a bunch of subtle distinctions simply for the sake of categorizing and arguing differences on websites, but I want some organizing so I can play multiple tunes that sound good together.
 
I was pretty amazed at how many ways there were to categorize the same songs which is what makes it so overwhelming.  You've got style, time-period, location, comparison to another style, time-period or location, and more! A single song could be rock, progressive, 60's, Canterbury Scene, folk, post-war, World and pop depending on the grouping and who you ask (not even counting the combination sub-genres like progressive rock, progressive folk, folk rock, pop rock or folk pop that could apply to the above example).  I just basically don't want my Classical playing with my Metal, my New Age playing with my New Wave, my Jazz playing with my Pop, my Punk playing with my Blues, my Rock playing with my Electronica, etc.  I haven't completely cleaned up the 103,000 tracks already loaded into my media player so I currently have 36 genres and over 250 sub-genres.  Eventually I'll make playlists for different sub-genres and, if I can hear a significant difference between two of them (like you can with Gothic Rock and Soft Rock, or Ambient and Techno for example), then I'll keep the sub-genre otherwise things will get grouped down further.
 

It's gotten ridicilous. You build a lower/looser/raspier kick drum sound and use it a little less or more and you say you've started a new genre. What was called R&B in the sixties and what it's now....gosh..
It must be very much a selling argument. It is so cool to answer the question "what kind of music do you listen to?"
by saying " Goombah Hop Trance" (which no-one's ever heard of) than "fast and english."
 
(why on earth does this forum software always suggest words like "By" and "Project" and many others to be written with capitals??)

bapu

PilotGav
What would you classify this type of music as?
 

Well produced drivel?
 
Is that right?

There's LOTS of drivel out there. But I'm thinking more along the lines of well written and produced music. Not the "Lets shoot the cops" crap.

dmbaer

Kalle RantaahoIt is so cool to answer the question "what kind of music do you listen to?"
by saying " Goombah Hop Trance" (which no-one's ever heard of)

Or, you could pick a "real genre" from this list and come off a really authentic:
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_electronic_music_genres
 
Seriously, Moombahcore is an honest-to-god actual style of music that somebody dreamed up?  I'm either missing a lot or missing absolutely nothing ... I'm pretty sure it's the latter.

That list pretty much kills the genre of electronic music!

Oh yeah, and having the right studio setup is important! 
 

(I bet you didn't know that CJ had an Electronica-based studio did ya?)