Questions arise in iTunes genre classification

What do Casting Crowns and cantor Gideon Zelermyer have in common?

On Sept. 18, the Jerusalem Post noted a development in the world of Apple Inc.: The songs of Jewish cantors and other Hasidic music were listed under the Christian and Gospel genre on iTunes.

Though listeners have to be looking for it to find it, the error was still there as of Sunday, despite reports and criticisms of the classification.

Some examples of Jewish artists found in the Christian and Gospel section include Mordechai ben David and Avraham Fried, musicians who are both popular in the Orthodox Jewish community.

But this classification is not universal. Other Jewish artists are classified in a variety of categories.

The musicians of pop-style band The Groggers are Orthodox Jews and sing primarily about Jewish culture, but the group is classified as rock. Relient K, a pop-style band with many secular tunes gracing the charts, is placed in the Christian and Gospel category.

Professor Judah M. Cohen of the Jewish Studies Program and the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology explained the classification of The Groggers as rock.
“Sometimes the musical genre determines the category, rather than the subject matter,” Cohen said. 

In other words, the musical style rather than lyrics and subject determined the classification of the music in question.

In the case of Relient K, who is very similar in sound to The Groggers, this is the case.
Though Relient K does not sing about predominantly religious topics, its style is reminiscent of other artists in the Gospel and Christian category.

“Gospel isn’t just a genre of Christian music. It can also be seen as a general type of spiritual music,” Cohen said. “iTunes probably just put it in there because it’s easier to find in that location.”

And though the title “Christian” doesn’t fit the Jewish artists listed, it could potentially lead those looking for Christian music into a whole new style.

“So, for example, what if a musician who considers themselves a Jewish artist was discovered by someone looking for Christian music?” Cohen asked.

He said the artist and the people behind iTunes have different perspectives about the subject, and the categorization isn’t necessarily as negative as it may seem.

“When you’re talking about things on the scale of Jewish music, there are two ways to look at it,” he said. “One is from the perspective of the artist, who would probably want their music represented in a Jewish category. But that category that would probably be really small. If there was a Jewish music category, people couldn’t stumble upon it as easily. It would be interesting to look at this from the perspective of popular music artists in the Muslim or Hindu world.”

Students, however, had clear ideas of where Jewish music should belong.
Junior Alex Fox said he understands iTunes’ logic, even if he doesn’t necessarily agree with it.

“I think in one respect I can understand why iTunes did it, just because of the amount of Jewish music out there,” he said. “I understand that it’s a practicality issue. But I don’t think Christian and Gospel is the right place for it. It should probably be under World Music.”

Senior Anthony Smith said he feels category size has little to do with the issue and was defiant in his opinion about making a space for a new genre on iTunes.

“I think Jewish music should have its own section in iTunes,” Smith said. “I mean, if Christianity gets one, Jewish music should. There are tons of categories that are extremely abstract. There’s even categories like Acid Jazz. Jewish music could have its own.”

As far as the classification as a whole, Cohen broadened the spectrum even further.
“It’s a really interesting question,” he said. “It leads to other interesting questions. What is really leading to this kind of classification? Is it the artists? Is it the market? Is it similar in other music services? What’s driving it?”