On the failure of genre

On the weekend, I bought two CDs:

• Goldfrapp – Supernature
• Ministry of Sound – Sessions

I couldn’t find the Goldfrapp. At all. Despite being heavily promoted in store, with a large 10×10 m poster dominating the front window, they did not have any on a display stand, and they didn’t put it in the music genre sections I would have expected it, like “Popular” or “Electronic” or “World”.

The morons had put it into the “alternative” section. The CD is about as alternative as Pink Floyd’s The Wall, which is (correctly) in the popular section.

Genre-ification of music does not serve customers. I’m sure it makes the CRM enabled music execs wet their pants, but it leaves me cold and I buy a *bucketload* of music every year.