Genres

Audiences

select texts on basis of genre, often because texts are arranged at retail outlets by genre (just pop along to HMV). Also, certain genres are considered appropriate to certain ages/genders in society, and choices are made accordingly eg teen movie, ‘chick flicks’ have systems of expectations about the content and style of a text, according to its genre. This enables them to take particular pleasures in the text, those of repetition, and of predicted resolution. Pleasure may also be drawn from differences. identify with repeated elements in generic texts and may shape their own identity in response (eg fans of a particular genre of music dress in a specific way – metalheads in their band t-shirts, for instance)

Producers

market texts according to genre because a niche audience has already been identified as taking pleasure in that type of text standardise production practices according to genre conventions, thus cutting costs subscribe to established conventions of versimilitude, thus reinforcing genre conventions, but also allowing creativity within a given format eg) it is an accepted convention in science fiction that spaceships make noises, which helps create excitement in battle scenes, but it is a scientific fact that no sound travels through the vacuum that is space.

http://mediaknowall.com/alevkeyconcepts/genre.html

A genre is useful to both audiences, so that they know what they are going to watch, read or hear and media producers so that they know what audiences they are trying to appeal to.

There are many different Genres for each type of media here are some of the most common for each