Genre-less
Music radio stations today are usually segmented by genre or even sub-genres.
Rock, alternative rock, classic rock, adult contemporary, hot adult
contemporary, hits, urban hits, mainstream country, classic country are among
the radio industry format names.
The company I work for has successfully staged a genre-less music festival each
of the past six Septembers called the iHeart Radio Music Festival and I have
been lucky to attend five of them, including the one last weekend. This year was one of the best.
Faves night 1: Sam Hunt, U2, Billy Idol.
Faves night 2: FGL, Backstreet Boys, Pitbull, Tears For Fears, Cage the Elephant.
Others on the lineup were also good and much of the audience loved them, including Brittany Spears, Drake, Zedd, Sia, Ariana Grande, Usher. Sting was also on the show and he is one of my favorites but this particular performance was underwhelming.
Thumbs up to iHeart for this one. And I'm not saying that just because I work for them. My iTunes playlists are just as genre-less as the festival. I bet yours are too. Music is the language and the feeling that connects and unites all of us.
As you can see from the list, many styles, genres and generations were represented and people who normally favor one type are exposed to others they/we might not normally see. Pitbull is the best example. He was great. I would not normally be at one of his concerts. Many people who don't usually like country loved Florida Georgia Line. Back Street Boys seemed to appeal to everyone.
Genre-less is probably not a word but Kenny Chesney used that term in an
interview to describe the festival. He has played it twice now. Many of the
artists are as excited to see performers out of their genre as we are.
Boomers at the older end of the age range might remember when top 40 radio
stations played all the top hits, regardless of genre. A 1968 radio station
playlist could include the Temptations, Beatles, Paul Mauriat Orchestra, Jimi
Hendrix, Glen Campbell.
 |
| Billy Idol and Miley Cyrus |
Faves night 1: Sam Hunt, U2, Billy Idol.
Faves night 2: FGL, Backstreet Boys, Pitbull, Tears For Fears, Cage the Elephant.
Others on the lineup were also good and much of the audience loved them, including Brittany Spears, Drake, Zedd, Sia, Ariana Grande, Usher. Sting was also on the show and he is one of my favorites but this particular performance was underwhelming.
Thumbs up to iHeart for this one. And I'm not saying that just because I work for them. My iTunes playlists are just as genre-less as the festival. I bet yours are too. Music is the language and the feeling that connects and unites all of us.
 |
| Florida Georgia Line and Back Street Boys |
As you can see from the list, many styles, genres and generations were represented and people who normally favor one type are exposed to others they/we might not normally see. Pitbull is the best example. He was great. I would not normally be at one of his concerts. Many people who don't usually like country loved Florida Georgia Line. Back Street Boys seemed to appeal to everyone.
Comments