It is traditional in the SF industry to moan about the way publishers categorize books, but browsing through record stores in London on Wednesday got me thinking that we don’t have it so bad after all.

Fopp, for example, has separate categories for “Alternative”, “Classic Rock”, “Metal” and “Pop”. The Alternative category seems particularly odd, because it is essentially the equivalent of having a separate set of shelves for small press books. I think we should be grateful that our major publishers haven’t yet got so obsessed with best-sellers that we need such a thing.

Then there is “Urban”, which might once have meant Rap and Hip-Hop but seems to have morphed into meaning “Music by Black People (that isn’t Jazz)”. Not good.

Oh, and don’t forget “Dance”. That’s different from “Pop”, even though most pop music is essentially dance music. You won’t find the very wonderful Ladytron in Rock, Pop or Alternative, they are Dance (or in some stores “Electronica”).

My efforts to buy Koop records were a dismal failure. The chap in the HMV jazz department informed me that Koop were “Dance” because they used some electronic instruments, which proper jazz musicians never did. I guess that just goes to show that the music industry has learned nothing from the Bob Dylan Goes Electric fiasco. Well, Waltz for Koop did have an electronic edge to it, but is any self-respecting Dance department stocking Koop Islands? Of course not. It would die on a disco floor. -sigh-

Ah well, back to the US, and the Tower Records web site. The good thing about web sites is that they allow you to search by band name.