Tune in, fade out: Music companies and the classification of domestic music products in the Netherlands

Abstract

This article contributes to existing research on the use of genre classifications in the music industry by shedding light on it from the perspective of a relatively small European country. It investigates how recording companies, in the Netherlands, classify domestic music products. It examines differences and similarities in the genre-specification of ‘local’ products compared to the practices in the international music industry, and it analyses hierarchies both within local genre classifications and between domestic and foreign music over time. Besides relying on interviews with key individuals in the Dutch music industry, we draw on Dutch chart data, music databases and trade information that address developments in the Dutch music market between 1990 and 2005. During that period, local Dutch music has not only become increasingly popular but has, to some extent, replaced Anglo-American music. Successful Dutch acts – such as those operating in the genres ‘ volks’ and dance – are primarily promoted by independent firms, while majors and independents primarily approach the ‘local’ in terms of market factors (e.g., demand), thereby foregoing the usual classifications of international genres.