Why Music Song Titles and Genres Matter
While watching a Venus Theory video Instagrambient: The Soundtrack of Social Media I came across the idea I've had a few times before. Why the title and genre of your music is important and how it sets expectations to the listener.
Titles
To an artist, the title of a track can either be the most important decision made before release... or completely arbitrary in the case of Deadmou5's many song titles and famous album "> Album title Goes Here <". Even in that nonchalant attitude we still get a taste of personality and mood before listening to the first beat.
A track's title can be as simple as the repeated lyrics echoed throughout the tune, or It can be an overall mood or theme the sonic pallet invokes. Either way, this is the most subjective part that is left up to the artist.
Sub-Titles
When I say title I also include the sub title such as
- bootleg
- remix
- edit
- Dubplate
- Club Mix
- Live Version
- Mashup
- chopped & screwed or slowed + reverb
These sub-titles can express a lot of info to the listener before they hit play. If I get the Club Mix of a song, I expect the intro and outro to be extended (helpful for DJs to blend in with other songs). If the song is tagged with bootleg I'll assume that the producer used dirty or low quality rips of the original tune to blend into their own beat.
Let's narrow in on the definition of a dubplate.
A dubplate is an acetate disc usually of 10 inches diameter, traditionally used by studios to test recordings prior to mastering for the subsequent pressing of a vinyl record, but pioneered by reggae sound systems as a way to play exclusive music. They would later become an important facet of the jungle/drum and bass, UK garage, grime and dubstep music scenes.
-source
The term describes the physical creation of said music, but within that we can infer what they would usually coincide with music genres of reggae, jungle, drum and bass, UK garage, grime, and dubstep.
The "test recordings prior" let's the listener know that these may still be works in progress (quieter unmastered), or simplified minimal beats that can be easily blended with other tunes.
Genres
For anyone in the "music genres don't matter, I like what I like" have never managed a music library with 100s of playlists and thousands of songs. As you start to zoom out, the interconnecting threads that make up the large woven blanket of music begin to close tighter in on themselves.
Organizing music into these groups helps us as DJs, music producers, song writers, and enthusiasts collect our thoughts and recall these songs for certain moments of conversation to inspiration.