Video:Matthew Koma: Mixing Genres

Transcript:Matthew Koma: Mixing Genres

You've collaborated with artists doing hip hop, R&B -- you're remixing a Springsteen song right now.  How do you feel about people who insist on making genre distinctions in music? Do you think it's helpful or even relevant at this point?

Mixing Genres Versus Music Scenes

I don’t think it’s relevant anymore, because I think music fans listen to Adele and they listen to David Guetta and they listen to Arctic Monkeys and I don't think it's necessarily placed where you have to be genre specific. I mean, I still think there's a huge value to scenes -- and when I was growing up it was punk rock scenes or hardcore bands and there was a dedication to those scenes where you'd be able to trust the brand, "so, okay cool, if this band's kind of tight with this band, I can check it out." But now more so than ever, I feel the lines are so blurred and you're allowed to be a fan of great songs or great artists and it doesn't have to be that they're all EDM artists or all pop artists or all indie bands that will never get played on the radio.

Genre Mixing More Prevalent Today

With the accessibility to all of that and the ability to check out music that quickly on the Internet or Youtube something and check out a new band and quickly become obsessed, I think less than ever there's genre-specific tendencies. There’s no need for it. And I don’t think people care as much -- like why not, you know? Why can't you listen to three different kinds of records? It's always been that way to a certain degree, I guess, but no more so than ever because you're immediately able to tap into listening to a Springsteen or a James Taylor song then listening to a Zedd song and you can do that all on the same playlist now within two minutes without having to change a record or a CD -- it's just there. It's exciting, I think it's really great in some ways, because you're able to cross genres and not be as put in a box.