Let’s Talk About Genres

When it comes to metadata management and supporting the needs of video delivery platforms, genres are always top of mind. Why?  Genres are essential because they help consumers quickly identify the type of content they might enjoy and guide creators in aligning their work with audience expectations. They also play a key role in marketing and distributing media content, allowing for more effective targeting and promotion.

What is a genre? A genre is a category or classification of artistic works, such as literature, film, music, or other forms of media, that share similar styles, themes, or content. Genres are a preferred method of grouping programmes or movies with common characteristics, facilitating content discovery or recommendations. For example, animated programmes and films are often designed to appeal to children, while dramas might target an adult audience. Typical Film and TV genres include Action, Comedy, Drama, Horror, Thriller, Documentary, and Animation.

Genres often have recurring themes or motifs. For example, science fiction often explores futuristic technology, while romance focuses on relationships and love.

A genre can also be defined by the style in which the content is presented (e.g., tone, pacing, or visual style). For instance, horror films often use suspenseful music and dark visuals to create a sense of fear. 

Genre classification is a vital data field in any content record. However, our experience shows that genres require a defined structure and taxonomy to provide value and avoid confusion. For example, imagine a studio with the goal of licensing content suitable for families with children. The potential genres could include children, kids, kidz, and family. If the organisation doesn’t have a pre-defined taxonomy, the sales team must search for content using genres associated with children and families. Using an agreed taxonomy also enables genres to be classified consistently by all users.

The consultancy, Altman Solon shared their insights about genres and content strategy earlier this year. With the understanding that genre preferences vary significantly by consumer segment, content owners and distributors can leverage genres in defining their content strategies as follows: 

• Using current audience versus prospective audience demographics and genre preferences to strike a balance between providing more of what current audience members want and expanding into new sub-genres to attract new consumer segments
• Monetizing impact by sub-genre to factor in differences by sub-genre with regard to advertising potential, subscriber/viewer acquisition, and churn reduction
• Analyzing per episode and per movie by sub-genre as part of developing an overall ROI assessment
• Determining industry “oversupply” and “undersupply” by genre, including which sub-genres have opportunities for growth or for pruning by monitoring inventory of competitors’ catalogs
• Understanding competitors’ audiences and their preferences to determine where to compete and where to differentiate by sub-genre
• Designing a distribution strategy that outlines how to license or window content to other platforms depending on genre and audience

MetaBroadcast’s team has deep experience collaborating with customers to ensure consistent genre classification. This expertise is the basis for the Atlas Genre Tree, an optional workflow that uses boolean logic to guide users through the genre definition. If a programme is missing a genre or the user feels it is incorrect, the decision tree presents a series of questions and information to help them assign a genre.

The Atlas genre tree currently reflects 16 primary genres and 200 sub-genres. 

The represented genres reflect extensive research and engagement with existing customers to clearly define each genre and sub-genre category. For example, the genre of ‘drama’ with the sub-genre ‘soap’ is defined as a continuing serial drama (i.e., not split into story arcs by self-contained series) that examines the lives of many characters and includes telenovelas. The tree is reviewed regularly to ensure content categories remain relevant and aligned with what audiences are currently interested in or reflect the emergence of new sub-genres (e.g., mockumentary or docudrama).

A BBC Maestro article states it best. “Genre isn’t just about classification—it’s a powerful tool that shapes cultural and societal narratives.” Whether genres facilitate content discovery by consumers, inspire content creation, or enhance marketing, they provide insight into audience likes, dislikes, and trends.

Interested in learning more about Atlas and the Atlas Genre Tree? Contact us at hello@metabroadcast.com  to schedule a meeting.