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In music studies, genre theory has primarily been used to study popular music rather than classical music. This article demonstrates how genre theory can be applied to studying classical music production in order to understand how its value is negotiated and reproduced. Drawing on data from interviews with early-career female classical musicians in London, it explores discourses of classical music as a genre in order to understand how genre shapes working lives. We identify three themes within the data: first, genre hierarchies contribute to the (re-)production of divisions of labour, in ways that reaffirm gendered hierarchies. Second, many research participants actively portrayed themselves as being interested in different musical genres, both as listeners and as performers, but identified other classical musicians as having pejorative attitudes towards non-classical genres or practices such as playing in a band. Third, genre hierarchies were (re-)produced in institutional settings, in musicians' working practices and in social interactions. Overall, analysing classical music as a genre through examining the perspectives of freelance musicians shows that subgenres within classical music, as well as classical music itself, are understood relationally to other genres in a hierarchy of value that reaffirms existing inequalities in the cultural labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this article is on Zimbabwean popular songs that adapt traditional Shona ngoma (drum) genres. Its purpose is twofold. First, the article identifies Zimbabwean popular musicians' various approaches to the adaptation of traditional rhythmic patterns and song texts associated with certain ngoma genres. Second, it examines how these approaches influence the process of redefining the Shona musical tradition. It is argued that the traditional drumming patterns and styles incorporated within specific Shona popular songs have an important role in redefining this music culture within Zimbabwean popular music in general. A critical analysis is conducted on selected ngoma-influenced, Zimbabwean popular songs and the opinions expressed by the popular musicians who create the music. Three different approaches of adapting ngoma rhythms have been identified and are explained. These approaches are realised in the "integration" of musical and non-musical elements, "framework" as far as the imitation of structure is concerned, and "component", as far as content is concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts an intervention in contemporary popular music classification. It argues that popular musicians do not only choose the titles to their works, but go further to define the genres of these works. The dynamic at play is such that most popular musicians claim to produce works of different and new genres with each new work they create. By engaging with the works of a selection of Nigerian popular musicians, the paper shows a trend of opportunistic productions within the political music genre by artists not otherwise known for political songs. Through a discussion of the textual and contextual elements of the material, the paper argues that an increased number of popular musicians have started producing protest political music and unity political music, following Nigeria's democratization in 1999, as a way of alerting audiences of their political astuteness and in an attempt to court political relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]