Fixed.

Wow great thread GB, I really enjoyed reading through it. Was it soley for MB or school?

I agree with the points you made. At the end of the day, referring to a specific genre can help others understand what main sounds you like. But on the other hand it does limit your tastes if you don't branch out of genres to check out other artists. I started listening to music at 9 years old and stuck to only 60's and 90's pop, classic rock and trance. Luckily I joined a music form around 14 and realised there was more to check out beyond these genres.

I abhor genre classifications with Metal and Electronica being the worst culprits for endless sub genres BUT it is an easy way to describe a certain musical style by shorthand as it were to many people.

They will never go away and there will always be new genres being described every other week .

My latest favourite sub genre : jump step. WTF is that?

i get what your saying Gb and really for the most part agree 100%.....i try my hardest to look at it like this.....there are two types of music out there.....the music i like and the music i do not like.....and really for the most part when i'm trying to describe a new band to someone i try to compare them to other bands that are similar rather than sub insane dragged out sub sub sub genre.....

but at the end of the day i also feel that some form of classification and organization is needed and is helpful....but i agree some of these sub genre are just ridiculous

The human mind demands categorization and organization, so it's not really false for argument's sake.

Categorization is one thing, nitpicking is something else entirely.
The amount of genres of rock is ridiculous.
I mean I get Metal and **** like that but it gets to a point where people are just making genres up and you hope they don't catch on.

I meant overall genres, not the subsects of subgenres. Even so, as people become less committed and willing to devote focus to information, they demand quicker synopsis of types of music. For argument's sake.

Right, that makes sense.
I guess the other end of it is not saying it's not true or that people don't do it, but rather that some of us wish it didn't have to be done at all.

Well, I think you've (the OP) pretty much stated the reasons as to why I use genres - mostly for convenience sake and a short-form to describe the sound I'm listening to to another person. Of course, you've pointed out the shortcomings and how inaccurate it can be whilst doing so, and I'm more than delighted to elaborate if anyone so wishes (which rarely is the case with my friends for example).

Does it restrict what I listen to? I would like to think no, although this may not be the case on all occasions. Does it restrict the musicians themselves? Well, amongst the one's who are still making music, I've got a fairly high opinion of those whom I like to think so otherwise.

Also, I've rarely noticed Jimi Hendrix being labelled as heavy metal.