Making sense of genre and style in the age of transcultural reproduction

Abstract

Through a discussion of the theoretical and empirical foundations of the concepts of style and genre, this article draws attention to the conceptual dilemmas that emerge when established regimes of musical ownership and production/reception dissipate in the wake of radical changes in how music is mediated. Concurrently, it is noted that gatekeeping institutions are often strongly persistent despite superficial appearances of the contrary. On this basis, the article argues that concepts of style need to be understood in terms of the consolidating authority of certain hegemonic narratives and discourses and their associated (dominant) trajectories of musical practices.