# Defining musical genres

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defining-musical-genres/445753
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 17, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defining-musical-genres/445753 "2008-04-17T17:38:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defining-musical-genres/445753/1 "2008-04-17T17:38:36Z")

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Define “rock” vs “pop”for me. (Thanks in advance for your input)  
Is Madonna a “pop” or “rock” artist? How do you all distinguish between those terms? Is it an important distinction in any way?  
In the folkie community the definition of “folk” music has been a subject of much debate – I always went with “I know it when I hear it”.

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### Author: ![Kalibakthegreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@Kalibakthegreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalibakthegreat)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defining-musical-genres/445753/2 "2008-04-17T17:41:31Z")

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Check out [allmusic.com](http://allmusic.com)

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### Author: ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2008, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defining-musical-genres/445753/3 "2008-04-17T21:49:37Z")

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Rock music generally requires a certain set of instruments–a guitar or two, a drumkit, and maybe a bass. By that standard, a lot of Madonna’s work doesn’t qualify. But there is a significant overlap between rock and pop. allmusic’s breakdown by genre is generally good at a high level, so you might take a look there.

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### Author: ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2008, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defining-musical-genres/445753/4 "2008-04-17T22:45:34Z")

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[QUOTE=well he’s back]  
I always went with “I know it when I hear it”.  
[/QUOTE]  
This is the only accurate definition (a variation of Damon Knight’s “Science fiction is what I’m pointing to when I say ‘this is science fiction’”).

It is next to impossible to create a definition of a genre that will include everything you consider part of that genre and eliminate everything you don’t think is part of that genre. So you end up pointing.