# The Essential Music Libary: Project Planning **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 19, 2005, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321 "2005-09-19T04:29:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/21 "2005-09-19T18:59:26Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > I wouldn’t mind splitting it in two, but again, I’m trying to keep the thread count reasonably low. Having 6 threads for one style doesn’t work. > > What’s a reasonable two-way split? I would go with Country & Western - to include old, new & alt-country, and Grass & Roots - which would include Old Time, all the grass variants, and Roots/Americana. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/22 "2005-09-19T19:03:40Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > It’s your last quote that I am getting at - I can almost see a two-part thread: 1) to pile on with the names of artists within that genre, albums, songs, what have you. But AFTER that, some filtering of the list - so you (we!) end up with a short(er) list of essential albums and/or songs. You are driving and I am sure you don’t want it to be overly complex, so will leave it at that - maybe after a thread has progressed for a bit, you can summarize the list of names that kept getting repeated. I hadn’t thought of that. Maybe not in each thread, but either in a summary at the end, or in the index thread. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/23 "2005-09-20T00:07:23Z")
As promised, here’s the updated genre list: [ul] [li]Avant-Garde/Experimental[/li][li]Blues[/li][li]Classical[/li][li]Contemporary Classical[/li][li]Country & Western[/li][li]Electronica[/li][li]Funk[/li][li]Gospel[/li][li]Grass & Roots[/li][li]Jazz[/li][li]Metal[/li][li]Modern Rock[/li][li]Non-Western (aka “World”)[/li][li]Opera[/li][li]Pop/Dance[/li][li]Punk/Post-Punk[/li][li]R&B/Soul[/li][li]Rap/Hip-Hop[/li][li]Rock[/li][/ul] Based on the feedback I’ve gotten so far, and what I know about the various styles, this seems like a pretty good way to organize things, except I wonder if funk really deserves its own thread. Even with that, it’s about as many threads as I wanted to do anyway, so it works out well. The rock thread tacked on to the end is what I was previously calling classic rock. I expect that some of these will go pretty quickly, and some will last quite a while. Now I just have to decide what order to go in. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/24 "2005-09-20T01:12:01Z")
So what happened to film music? Did you ever make a decision? I still think (despite some overlap in composers) that original scores merit their own category (though song-compilation soundtracks can easily fit into your existing genres). And what about 20th century theatrical musicals? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/25 "2005-09-20T01:17:12Z")
I meant to include but left it off the list. I’ll put in a thread for film music and musicals. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/26 "2005-09-20T01:19:49Z")
I disagree that early 20th century pop is significantly different from modern pop (even if that comment were said in jest which I’m not sure about.) Even though there’s at least 3 distinct “pop” eras if not more since 1900, they all rely on sung melody moreso than any non-classical genre, which is enough for me to lump them together. Otherwise you could say we had 4 pop genres before even the Korean War! Now, dance OTOH, might be a separate category. Disco, synth dance, and techno and other electronica are more similar than different. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/27 "2005-09-20T05:23:04Z")
Oh, also, does progressive rock deserve a spot on this list? It seems that some pretty essential music falls into that category (some Genesis, for example). ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/28 "2005-09-20T13:18:07Z")
Prog rock fits in the rock/modern rock threads. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/29 "2005-09-26T04:37:42Z")
I’ve decided to use this thread for announcements, figuring that there are probably quite a few people subscribed and I can reach them this way. Project planning has ended, so please let this thread sink until the next announcement. [Classical](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=336834) has been launched. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/30 "2005-10-03T03:21:34Z")
[Rock](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=337956) has been launched. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/31 "2005-10-03T03:26:38Z")
[Rock](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=337956) has been launched. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/32 "2005-10-03T05:30:06Z")
I know you want this to sink, but I have a question about your overall vision - do you mean essential as in “great music” or also including stuff that’s more relevant in a zeitgeist sorta way - as in, stuff that’s super-popular or iconic even if it’s not musically great? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/33 "2005-10-03T14:05:38Z")
I’m not defining what I mean by essential. That’s up to each contributor to decide for themselves. My criteria for adding something is how historically significant it was, how representative of a particular style it is, and how much I like it, but I don’t have any expectations as to whether other people will apply the same criteria. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/34 "2005-10-10T15:02:04Z")
[Jazz](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=339051) has been launched. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/35 "2005-10-17T02:08:00Z")
[Modern Rock](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=340081) has been launched. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/36 "2005-10-24T04:11:34Z")
[The Blues](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=341203) has been launched. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/37 "2005-10-24T04:18:32Z")
Perhaps a topic for choral music? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/38 "2005-10-31T03:36:58Z")
[Punk/Post-Punk/New Wave](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=342310) has been launched. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/39 "2005-11-07T04:08:34Z")
[Opera](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343551) has been launched. Starting this week, I’m going to do two threads a week rather than one. Expect the next thread late Wednesday night. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321/40 "2005-11-10T04:54:51Z")
[Rap/Hip-Hop](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=344056) has been launched. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-libary-project-planning/322321.md?page=3)