by exploited » Tue Aug 19, 2014 4:21 pm
I find genres are helpful assuming they aren't too convoluted. If my buddy suggests a band and I ask what genre it is, and he says "power metal," I know to ignore his suggestion. If he says just "metal," that is essentially a useless piece of information, because it represents such a huge swath of music.
Generally, the more knowledgeable about music you are, the more genres you recognize. Comrade and Darkhorse can probably name like a thousand genres if they tried really hard. Whereas I could suggest fifty or a hundred, and probably be pointed out wrong when I gave some examples.