ABSTRACT
In discussing musical categorization, Simon Frith has argued, "popular music genres are constructed—and must be understood—within a commercial/cultural process". This chapter looks at how the ongoing, accelerated process of genre naming speaks volumes about group identity formations within communities associated with electronic/dance music, as well as the political–economic institutions of these music scenes. It focuses on locations where information is traded within electronic/dance music scenes on a widespread scale as well as at the localized level. Specialty record stores that carry electronic/dance music similarly stock a variety of subgenres, although they are often marked by numerous divider cards rather than filed in one mass in the merchandising racks. There is no doubt that some major electronic/dance subgenres—acid-house and jungle, for instance—sound radically different. Therefore, the expanding number of new subgenre names can be understood as a response to the socially recognized stylistic variations within electronic/dance music.
