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have based their responses on historical precedent: there
are genres today that didn't exist in the past, so there will
be genres in the future that don't exist today. others have
offered specific examples —folktronica, dubstep, garage —
that evolved out of previous genres, but now seem to stand by
themselves. Some have even suggested that asking the question
in the first place betrays a lack of faith in humanity.
I would like to argue for the opposite position: all the
genres of music that will ever be created already exist in
some form. All future music will be classifiable as a subclass
or a hybrid of present-day genres.
Clearly this perspective will be controversial, so let me
start out with some disclaimers. First of all, the answer to
this question hinges on how we define the word "genre." If
it's nothing more than a label applied to a group of musicians
with similar styles or goals, then obviously there will be
uncountably many more genres in the future. People love to
categorize and classify music, and everyone wants to be the
first to lay claim to the "next big thing" by naming a genre of
their own. But if we define "genre" as a collection of music
that contains ideas, attitudes, or sounds that stand apart from
anything produced previously, the question at hand is no longer
inane, but profound.
Secondly, although I believe it's right, I sincerely hope
that my response is wrong. I hope that the boundaries of music
will continue to expand, and that we will see as many new,
wholly unique genres in the next century as we have in the
last. However, I think there are logical reasons to believe that
this won't happen.
There have been two developments in recent music history
that justify the claim that no new genres are forthcoming.
Taken together, these two mutually exclusive occurrences signal
that we have, in a way, reached the end of music history:
1. the rise of conceptual music
By conceptual music, I mean music that places greater weight
on ideas than on pleasing rhythms, harmonies, or melodies.
examples of this include the work of Arnold Schoenberg,
John Cage, and Karlheinz Stockhausen, and styles such as
free jazz, noise rock, and musique concrète. The reason this
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