History Main / DeadHorseGenre

!! Eurobeat
It's been produced for more than 25 years, with its popularity in Europe and North America peaking in the mid-1990s with acts like Real [=McCoy=] and La Bouche (largely made up of transplanted Americans recording in Europe) achieving mainstream success and going gold and platinum. But in 2020 it looks like its number is almost up, it's fallen out of popularity even in its main market, Japan. Para Para dancing, its raison d'etre, has also mostly gone out of style and is largely considered a passing fad. Dave Rodgers (Giancarlo Pasquini), one of the founding fathers of the genre, is himself abandoning Eurobeat and moving to other styles, along with the ''Manga/InitialD'' anime adaptation ending in 2014 (probably one of the reasons why one would know about the genre) and phasing it out in favor of J-rock in the newer Legend movies (big-screen remakes of First Stage), there's no sense in [[{{Pun}} Eurobeating a dead horse]].
* The genre has seen a slow but noticeable revival in recent years, with many electronic musicians, [=DJs=] and remix musicians experimenting with it once again, partly due to a renewed popularity in many circles (mainly due to MemeticMutation, {{Speedy Techno Remix}}es and JapanesePopMusic). Its renewed influence can be seen in various forms of hard Techno and Trance music, with Happy Hardcore (and to a lesser extent, Hard Trance) being heavily influenced by it.

Probably more of a target for amateur critics than professionals, this genre is also the one that most non-critics who start getting interested in music will hate the most. From Fabian and Music/TheMonkees to Music/{{NSYNC}} and Music/BritneySpears, performers who serve as faces for a faceless team of composers are viewed as outright traitors to music. They are the monster, the roots of the evil corporate machine that suppresses true music. They perform catchy but empty pop designed to hypnotize teenagers into becoming shopping-obsessed zombies. They... well, you know the drill. The average critic cares a lot about sincerity, so singers who only sing (instead of writing their own material) are unacceptable (depending on how long ago the artist came to prominence -- no one's criticising Music/NatKingCole or Music/FrankSinatra for not writing their own tunes...) Professional critics have to (publicly) give 'equal time' to modern manufactured bands for obvious reasons, but are free to trash selected out-of-date whipping boys (like the Monkees) with gusto. And don't even mention the words "Milli Vanilli" around them.

Nevertheless, so-called "Beautiful Music" radio stations enjoyed large listening audiences during the 1960s, '70s and '80s, sometimes even ranking as the ''most'' listened-to stations in their respective markets. Typical artists heard on such stations included orchestra leaders like Percy Faith, Mantovani and the 101 Strings as well as vocalists like Music/BarbraStreisand, Music/TheCarpenters, and Music/FrankSinatra. The death of Easy Listening as a radio format in the late 1980s had more to do with the age of the stations' listeners (as many advertisers do not target listeners over the age of 50) than with poor ratings. Many such radio stations moved into "soft rock" or adult contemporary formats playing the likes of Music/CelineDion, Music/WhitneyHouston and Music/LionelRichie, which generated just as much revulsion from rock fans and hipsters. Nevertheless, the genre still has its devotees and even a channel on Sirius/XM satellite radio called "Escape" dedicated to keeping the Beautiful Music sound alive.

Nevertheless, so-called "Beautiful Music" radio stations enjoyed large listening audiences during the 1960s, '70s and '80s, sometimes even ranking as the ''most'' listened-to stations in their respective markets. Typical artists heard on such stations included orchestra leaders like Percy Faith, Mantovani and the 101 Strings as well as vocalists like Music/BarbraStreisand, Music/TheCarpenters, and Music/FrankSinatra. The death of Easy Listening as a radio format in the late 1980s had more to do with the age of the stations' listeners (as many advertisers do not target listeners over the age of 50) than with poor ratings. Many such radio stations moved into "soft rock" or adult contemporary formats playing the likes of Music/CelineDion and Music/LionelRichie, which generated just as much revulsion from rock fans and hipsters. Nevertheless, the genre still has its devotees and even a channel on Sirius/XM satellite radio called "Escape" dedicated to keeping the Beautiful Music sound alive.

Nevertheless, so-called "Beautiful Music" radio stations enjoyed large listening audiences during the 1960s, '70s and '80s, sometimes even ranking as the ''most'' listened-to stations in their respective markets. The death of Easy Listening as a radio format in the late 1980s had more to do with the age of the stations' listeners (as many advertisers do not target listeners over the age of 50) than with poor ratings. Many such radio stations moved into "soft rock" or adult contemporary formats playing the likes of Music/CelineDion and Music/LionelRichie, which generated just as much revulsion from rock fans and hipsters.

It's been produced for more than 25 years, with its popularity in North America peaking in the mid-1990s with the popularity of acts like Real McCoy and La Bouche, but in 2020 it looks like its number is almost up, it's fallen out of popularity even in its main market, Japan. Para Para dancing, its raison d'etre, has also mostly gone out of style and is largely considered a passing fad. Dave Rodgers (Giancarlo Pasquini), one of the founding fathers of the genre, is himself abandoning Eurobeat and moving to other styles, along with the ''Manga/InitialD'' anime adaptation ending in 2014 (probably one of the reasons why one would know about the genre) and phasing it out in favor of J-rock in the newer Legend movies (big-screen remakes of First Stage), there's no sense in [[{{Pun}} Eurobeating a dead horse]].

It's been produced for more than 20 years, but it looks like its number is almost up, it's fallen out of popularity even in its main market, Japan. Para Para dancing, its raison d'etre, has also mostly gone out of style and is largely considered a passing fad. Dave Rodgers (Giancarlo Pasquini), one of the founding fathers of the genre, is himself abandoning Eurobeat and moving to other styles, along with the ''Manga/InitialD'' anime adaptation ending in 2014 (probably one of the reasons why one would know about the genre) and phasing it out in favor of J-rock in the newer Legend movies (big-screen remakes of First Stage), there's no sense in [[{{Pun}} Eurobeating a dead horse]].

Kenny G and all that. It's often the only jazz you'll hear on the radio unless you listen to NPR at 1:00 AM Saturday morning, or as non-offensive background music for the local forecast on The Weather Channel (which has actually issued compilations of smooth jazz in the past). It's also the one form of jazz critics feel free to trash. It probably doesn't help that most porn now uses smooth jazz for the "action" scenes.

!!Singer-Songwriter Style (aka [[WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows "White Guy With Acoustic Guitar"]])

The complaint here is that a single guy on a guitar or piano is, in essence, the simplest setup you can possibly have, bar a single singer singing acapella. While useful for demos, and songs that require that kind of simplicity (for example, a song clearly intended to show off the singer's raw singing ability), most songs using such a minimal setup do nothing to "earn" the usage of such minimalism, and instead convey the feeling that the artist only put in the bare minimum amount of effort necessary to release the song.

!!Political Rap

Lounge Music has always earned the loathing of critics even in heyday of the mid-1960s and early 1970s, being typified as the musical equivalent of Valium. 'Easy Listening' derivatives of Jazz especially earn the enmity of rock critics -- even those unfamiliar with jazz in general -- because it is seen as a neutered form of a real genre. Popular acts such as Music/BarryManilow in the 1970s and Kenny G. in the 1990s are especially reviled for being both banal and successful -- Manilow especially for admitting to doing the most soulless of music before turning to pop: commercial {{jingle}}s. New Age/Worldbeat music, like Yanni or Enigma's output, is usually lumped into this category.

As noted above, many critics generally don't hate manufactured artists as much as one would think. Music/BritneySpears? ''Oops!... I Did It Again'', ''Britney'', ''In The Zone'', ''Circus'' and ''Blackout'' have all averaged around three stars or more in reviews. Music/TheMonkees have also been somewhat VindicatedByHistory lately. Music/JustinBieber and Music/TheJonasBrothers also don't receive, for the most part, overly negative reviews on their albums. Indifference moreso than dislike is probably the most common critical reaction.

Some critics may admit to liking a few disco acts - Music/TheBeeGees, Music/{{Abba}}, Music/{{Blondie}}, and Music/{{Chic}} still maintain good critical reputations. Of course, some of these acts long predated disco and others didn't perform the style exclusively. It was also a fairly major influence on early hip-hop and was also one of the more prominent genres in the musical potpourri that was post-punk and New Wave.

As with arena rock above, a few bands did manage to escape the critical pasting associated with nu metal, such as Music/DirEnGrey and Music/SystemOfADown (of course, there are plenty of people who'll insist neither act was ever a nu metal band). Again, this is likely due to their [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly diverse]], [[GenreRoulette experimental]] [[GenreBusting sound]].

Also, starting in TheNewTens there is a small boy band resurgence in the Britain (Like Music/OneDirection, 5 Seconds of Summer, TheWanted and The Vamps; although the former two would eventually blow up internationally) but girl groups are still out of the question as groups like Girlicous and Music/PussycatDolls fell by the wayside.

So why kick a genre until it's a dead horse? Because critics regard what they do as SeriousBusiness. They're trying to calculate the canon of Great Works here, and there's no room for anything less. They seem to think that [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans if enough people consume good works]], people will start giving out flowers and candy and overthrow TheMan and cure cancer, but if they consume bad works, people will have their souls crushed and vote to establish fascism. Some music critics with strong political beliefs go further -- some are still angry that the decline of music in the late 60s prevented the revolution that was so, so close at hand! (They seem to forget, or never even realized, that so many of these works were brought to us by - and perhaps never would have been without - [[TheManIsStickingItToTheMan corporate entities]].)

{{Deathcore}} is a genre that was developed in the 2000s which combines the extreme technicality of DeathMetal with the mosh pit-inducing energy of HardcorePunk / {{Metalcore}}. The genre rose to popularity in 2006/2007 with bands such as Music/BringMeTheHorizon and Music/SuicideSilence. The genre at the time was considered a commercially viable form of DeathMetal and was popular from 2006 to 2012. In spite of its commercial success, deathcore is often frowned upon by critics and metalheads alike. Many critics call the style "ugly", "disgusting" and other related names. Critics will often pan albums in this genre due to the practicing bands' inability to evolve the genre in any way, as many of the artists in the deathcore genre will [[ItsTheSameSoItSucks copy a style from one of their peers, rinse-repeat]]. In fact, many people consider deathcore to be a "dirty word" in the heavy metal community and is often labelled as the SpiritualSuccessor to NuMetal in terms of genres being TheScrappy of the heavy metal world. Funnily enough, deathcore artists will often cite EnsembleDarkhorse nu metal bands such as Music/{{Korn}} or Music/{{Deftones}} as stylistic influences even though the former genre is hardly influenced by the latter in any way.

{{Deathcore}} is a genre that was developed in the 2000s which combines the extreme technicality of DeathMetal with the mosh pit-inducing energy of HardcorePunk / {{Metalcore}}. The genre rose to popularity in 2006/2007 with bands such as Music/BringMeTheHorizon and Music/SuicideSilence. The genre at the time was considered a commercially viable form of DeathMetal and was popular from 2006 to 2012. In spite of its commercial success, deathcore is often frowned upon by critics and metalheads alike. Many critics call the style "ugly", "disgusting" and other related names. Critics will often pan albums in this genre due to the practicing bands' inability to evolve the genre in any way, as many of the artists in the deathcore genre will [[ItsTheSameSoItSucks copy a style from one of their peers, rinse-repeat]]. In fact, many people consider deathcore to be a "dirty word" in the heavy metal community and is often labelled as the SpiritualSuccessor to NuMetal in terms of genres being TheScrappy of the heavy metal world. Funnily enough, deathcore artists will often site EnsembleDarkhorse nu metal bands such as Music/{{Korn}} or Music/{{Deftones}} as stylistic influences even though the former genre is hardly influenced by the latter in any way.

As far as the fandom went, ska punk occupied an uncomfortable position; it was simultaneously seen as geekish (many ska groups were former band geeks, and there's a curious tendency towards ska musicians being OneOfUs) and [[JerkJock fratboyish]] (due to the party anthems many groups became known for and the inclusion of ska songs in late nineties comedy movie soundtracks). Further, third wave ska was often criticised for straying too far from the original Jamaican style (and even the British revivalists who'd been popular in the eighties), hence the derogatory "punk with horns" nickname.

!!New Jack Swing

In the words of Music/{{Pink}} (whose first album was R&B) ''"Nobody wants to hear a love song that you don't mean"''. Not just the genre itself but arguably the love and romance of Contemporary R&B is dead. Replaced by songs dealing with trashy soap opera, Jerry Springer topics. With more vocal gymnastics and some vague, treacly high-pitched sound in the background. The fusion of modern R&B to hip-hop tends to dilute both these Genres. Interestingly enough Contemporary R&B pushed soul music off the charts.

!! Super Eurobeat

In Asia, there appears to be somewhat less resistance in accepting Boy Bands/Girl Bands; groups like Big Bang and the HelloProject still sell in Korea and Japan. It likely helps that they're generally willing to mock themselves relentlessly. Furthermore, J-Pop singers often have other people write and/or compose their songs (Music/YokoKanno partnering with Creator/MaayaSakamoto on numerous albums, for example). It's not really a negative, nor is it decried as "manufactured" (at least not over and above what American critics think of the dancy, peppy J-pop genre as it is).

For about two years between the start of 1996 and the end of 1997, third wave ska was pretty big in America, propelled into the charts by multi-platinum albums like ''[[Music/NoDoubt Tragic Kingdom]]'' and ''Music/{{Sublime}}''. However, after its brief time in the limelight third wave ska basically disappeared, and many bands (including No Doubt and TheAquabats) changed their sound.

In some cases, if a manufactured band breaks up then regroups a few years later when they're a bit older and wiser, there's sometimes a good chance that they will manage to win the favour of critics and the public. Music/TakeThat is a pretty good example.

Albums by the likes of Music/FleetwoodMac or Music/{{Eagles}} -- which seem to consist of the same song repeated for seven tracks or more -- send a shiver down the spine of many a critic. After all, it's produced by {{The Man|IsStickingItToTheMan}}, who is the root of all evil (but not [[RootOfAllEvil that one]]); and it probably got played due to payola anyway. The fact that lots of people love it is only proof that it's bad -- what do the proles know, anyway? Also currently applies to bands such as Music/{{Nickelback}} which have the "sold 10 million albums but I don't know anyone who owns one" type of fanbase.

Some critics may admit to liking a few disco acts - Music/TheBeeGees, Music/{{Abba}}, Music/{{Blondie}}, and Music/{{Chic}} still maintain good critical reputations. Of course, some of these acts long predated disco and others didn't perform the style exclusively.

NuMetal is an umbrella term coined in the mid-1990s to refer to music that blends heavy metal elements with other styles, typically {{Industrial}} and AlternativeMetal. NuMetal is hated by many metalheads, who stereotype it as commercial and musically simple. It's also hated by many non-metalheads, who view it as crass, misogynistic and pointlessly obnoxious - a bunch of {{Jerk Jock}}s "stealing" the clothes of the weird kids. In fact, there are many that argue NuMetal isn't even a subgenre of metal, but rather a fusion genre that happens to have noticeable elements of metal in it. Some music critics argue that it is an experimental and diverse genre, which it very well could have been if the more commercially viable elements hadn't been milked to death. The original concept lives on as AvantGardeMetal to some degree, but outside of a few acts that either abandoned the more disliked aspects of the genre or simply got too big to die, the genre of nu metal itself is still largely viewed as a punchline for jokes about late-Nineties suburban excess.