As ‘rock’ overtakes ‘pop’ in the charts, it's time to wave goodbye to pointless genre distinctions

Unfortunately, what such labels can do is fuel closed-mindedness

Marcus Mumford, lead singer of chart-topping Mumford and Sons (Getty Images)

Once upon a time, genre defined a music fan. Depending on the records you had spinning, you were either a mod or a rocker, a punk or a hippie.

People have always loved a good label - putting our likes and dislikes into pigeonholes help us keep up the pretence that we 'know ourselves'. But genre has little place in modern music.

Today, bands have such wide-ranging influences that their songs could fit into multiple 'genres'. It is rare to find a group who describe themselves with one term alone. Most are quick to say that their inspirations are eclectic and with such a rich musical history behind us, most will be telling the truth.

A BMI report published earlier this week showed that 'rock' has now toppled 'pop' as the UK's favourite genre, selling 2.8 per cent more albums in 2013. But is there really much point to such analysis, when anything from Mumford and Sons to Arctic Monkeys can be described as 'rock' (and for the purposes of said report, they were)? You can hear the reactions now - “But I thought Mumford and Sons were folk-pop? Are Arctic Monkeys not indie, whatever that now means?”

When used wisely, vague genre conventions can be helpful, if remembered that 'vague' is the keyword. Take Related Artists on Spotify or Genius on iTunes - both are there to help steer listeners towards artists they may not be familiar with but could be worth a try, based on their current choice of soundtrack.

Unfortunately, what such labels also do is fuel close-mindedness. Particularly among teenagers, when looking 'right' and feeling accepted are serious matters, coming out with the ground-breaking news that you aren't too adverse to the odd bit of Taylor Swift could quickly destroy your street-cred.

If you're in with the drumn'bass crowd or the hipster group who think the likes of Coldplay are nothing more than pathetic mainstream sell-outs, you're going to want to keep your private Spotify sessions as just that. God forbid anyone finds out that 'dad song' from the 80s is in your Top 25 most-played.

When it comes down to it, you aren't cooler than the kid who whacks on Kelly Clarkson every now and then, just because you're a fan of Skrillex. You're cool if you listen to what you want to listen to, when you want to listen to it, without judging others for doing likewise.

So let's wave goodbye to the pointless genre debacle and stop using it as something to hide behind.