Text by Niels Schaldemose
At SPOT+, the way we think about music genres was put under the microscope in the talk “What’s Genre Got To Do With It?”
The panel featured Anders Wahren, director of VEGA, Rikke Andersen from Spot Festival, AnnaLena Panter from the festival Transmediale in Berlin, and Matt Choboter, composer and pianist.
Anders Wahren from VEGA was the first to challenge the traditional boxes. He argues that today, music is increasingly organized around scenes rather than fixed genre definitions.
Genres can be useful as a shared language within the industry, he says, because they make communication with media and collaborators easier. But he also warns against allowing categories to become too controlling:
“It becomes dangerous when we try to force everything into genre boxes. Then it just becomes data.”
He elaborates that artists rarely think in labels – it is the systems that do.
Rikke Andersen, director of Spot Festival, recognizes this perspective.
She explains how the festival uses genres as small reference points, giving audiences an idea of what to expect. But she experiences that guests still move freely between different expressions and styles.
“I really see that our audience comes to experience things. They come to discover something they don’t know, and I don’t think they care that much about genres.”
She also explains that Spot Festival actively tries to mix expressions and create broad representation in music – something she believes works well.
“It’s really exciting to see very different acts side by side… we always hope the audience will simply wander by, stay, and discover something new.”
Genres can, however, still play a role in the administrative side of running a festival, where they can help secure funding for different acts.
“When it comes to genre, we often use it in relation to funding. This year, for example, we’re focusing on the roots genre, and we were able to receive government support specifically for that.”
From Transmediale in Berlin, AnnaLena Panter explains that genres hardly play a role at all in her curatorial work:
“The audience comes for an artistic experience, not to have a particular style confirmed.”
Throughout the talk, there was broad agreement across the panel that it makes sense to think beyond genres as they have traditionally been understood.
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Tekst af Niels Schaldemose
På SPOT+ blev musikgenretænkningen taget under behandling i talken “What’s Genre Got To Do With It?”.
I panelet sad Anders Wahren, der er direktør på VEGA, Rikke Andersen fra SPOT Festival, AnnaLena Panter fra festivalen Transmediale i Berlin og Matt Choboter, der er komponist og pianist.
Anders Wahrén fra VEGA var den første til at udfordre de gamle kasser. Han peger på, at musik i dag i højere grad organiserer sig i scener end i faste genredefinitioner.
Genrer kan være nyttige som et fælles sprog i branchen, siger han, fordi de gør det lettere at kommunikere med medier og samarbejdspartnere. Men han advarer også mod at lade kategorierne styre for meget: “Det bliver farligt, når vi prøver at presse alt ned i genrebokse. Så bliver det bare data.”
Han uddyber, at kunstnerne sjældent tænker i labels – det gør systemerne.
Det samme genkender Rikke Andersen, der er direktør på Spot Festival.
Hun beskriver, hvordan festivalen bruger genrer som små pejlemærker, så publikum har en idé om, hvad de går ind til. Men hun oplever, at gæsterne alligevel bevæger sig frit mellem udtryk.
“Jeg ser virkelig, at vores publikum kommer for at opleve ting. De kommer for at se noget, de ikke kender, og jeg tror ikke, de går så meget op i genrer.”
Desuden fortæller hun, at Spot Festival aktivt forsøger at blande udtrykkene og skabe bred repræsentation i musikken – noget hun oplever, fungerer godt.
“Det er virkelig fedt at se de meget forskellige acts side om side… vi håber altid, at publikum bare driver forbi og bliver hængende og oplever noget nyt.”
Genrerne kan dog have betydning i det administrative arbejde med festivalen, hvor de kan bidrage til at finansiere forskellige acts.
“Når det kommer til genre, så bruger vi det ofte i forhold til funding. I år har vi eksempelvis fokus på rootsgenren, og vi kunne få støtte fra staten til netop det.”
Fra festivalen Transmediale i Berlin fortæller AnnaLena Panter, at genrer slet ikke fylder i hendes kuratoriske arbejde: “Publikum kommer for at opleve en kunstnerisk oplevelse, ikke for at få bekræftet en bestemt stil.”
Under talken var der bred enighed i panelet om, at det giver mening at tænke ud over genrer, som man traditionelt kender dem.
