Media Theorists

Hodge and Kress define genre as "typical forms of texts which link kinds of producer, consumer, topic, medium, manner and occasion" they added that "they control the behaviour of producers of such texts, and the expectations of potential consumers."

 

This makes sense to me as it shows the way the audience and the producers can shape a genre. The producers only create the types of music they know will sell, and produce what they feel comfortable will make a profit. However consumers also play an important role as each customer will buy what they enjoy, and this will reflect in sales back to the producer. This can influence the genre as if an audience is not enjoying a type of music, there will be a decrease in sales and the music the producers make will change to meet the needs of the audience.

 

 

-----



 

 

Steve Neale says "genres are instances of repetition and difference."

 

This is also true as genres are established through codes and conventions. Codes are created by them being involved in a significant amount of films, and when used repeatedly they become conventions. An example of this would be in Western films with tumbleweeds, they have been used so much in the desert and in frontier towns that it is expected for them to make an appearance somewhere in a Western film, be that for comedic effect or for atmosphere. The differences between genres is what defines them as separate classes, they are important as some people will favour a certain type of genre and therefore will look specifically for that media in their preferred genre.

 

 

-----

 

 

John Hartley states that "genres are agents of ideological closure - they limit the meaning-potential of a given text."

 

In some respects I can agree with what Hartley is saying, there can be some limits in defining genres, as the conventions and the codes can limit what could be included in media. However some people are now pushing those boundaries and creating hybrid media, this allows the genres to not be limiting but to show what works well together, for example, Romantic Comedies and Punk-Rock music.

 

 

-----





Both audience and producers control genre, this can be seen in how audiences respond to types of media. The producers create what they think will sell, but if the audience responds negatively, the producers will change what they create in order to grow their brand.