Defining genre in music is an almost insurmountable task. Sometimes people and the media will refer to an artist by genre, but many artists transcend genre. Many emerging styles are a fusion or hybrid of previous genres, and much of the classical repertoire is defined by date.

Whilst it is beyond the scope of this syllabus to rigidly define genre and sub-genre within contemporary music, we have gone some way towards illustrating some of the conventions found within certain areas of the contemporary music arena.