Where starts hip hop and ends R&B? What are the differences between pop and electronic? Where are the boundaries between the different genres?
If I would do the genre maths in the Music Moves Europe Artist Chart, I count 28 pop artists, 25 electronic artists, 15 rock artists, 13 R&B artists, 10 singer-songwriters and 9 hip hop artists. All European artists who celebrate success outside their home country.
But another journalist might come to a different conclusion in terms of genres. That’s why an international jury will discuss the nominees for the Music Moves Europe Talent Awards, to pick the four nominations in the six different genres. That is also what makes it so interesting, because if you’re an artist not coming from the UK – who dominates this month’s chart with 41 artists – you still have a chance to be nominated.
Let’s have a look at the five new contenders this month for a Music Moves Europe Talent Awards nomination. First up at #58 is Belgian artist Charlotte Adigéry, who is also known under the moniker Wwwater. At the moment she has an alternative airplay hit in Poland, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK with her song High Lights (PIAS). She was discovered by the Belgian electronic rock band Soul Wax and you could categorize her genre-crossing music as eh…electronic R&B.
Moldavian born pop singer Irina Rimes enters at #71 thanks to her massive hit in Romania called Nu Stii Tu Sa Fii Barbat (Global), which translates to ‘You Don’t Know How To Be A Man’. Rimes is a superstar in Romania, who is also one of the judges in the Romanian version of the tv contest The Voice and she also writes songs for that other Romanian artist you could have heard of: INNA.
At #89 British rock band Sports Team enters via The Netherlands, Slovakia and Belgium. After scoring rave live reviews at the ESNS Festival, they are booked for some summer festivals now, you could check that in the latest ETEP results. The band from Cambridge enjoys airplay with their single M5 (Holm Front).
Swedish pop production duo Decco puts itself in the picture at #93. Joacim Persson and Sebastian Arman already wrote and produced many tracks for artists ranging from soul singer John Legend to indie singer-songwriter Ry X. Now they’ve asked British singer Alex Clare (known for his single Too Close) to sing Crazy To Love You (Sony) with positive results in Austria and Germany. And Dramas, in at #98, is an electronic art-pop duo from Austria, who have success on Polish radio with their alternative pop track Comfort Zone/Robot (Fabrique).
February was also a great month for British singer-songwriters Declan J. Donovan at #10 and HRVY at #31, Lithuanian electronic dance producer Gaullin at #40, Irish rock band Fontaines D.C. at #50, German rapper Mero at #61, Irish female rapper Biig Piig at #79 and Norwegian electronic producer Otha at #85. Meanwhile, British-American production duo Silk City is still the most popular border-breaking act in Europe, with Electricity (Sony) still riding high. But is that song electronic, pop or even electropop?
Menno Visser
Music journalist and radio professional from The Netherlands
