What we call genre is sometimes circumscribed by stylistic elements, sometimes by subculture (demographics as seen from the listeners' own perspective). But qui

What we call genre is sometimes circumscribed by stylistic elements, sometimes by subculture (demographics as seen from the listeners' own perspective). But quite often since the rise of radio, it's circumscribed by target demographic as seen from advertisers' perspective. The worst case of that is probably "new age", a label rejected by virtually all the artists so labeled (and most of the listeners), and having no common traits to speak of, but lumped together as whatever sold better in bookstores than in record stores.