Microgenres: Memory, Community, and Preserving the Present

This presentation will give a brief overview of microgenres as a cultural phenomenon, and challenges that catalogers and their institutions encounter with acquiring, cataloging, and circulating these materials. Three case-studies will be presented: Chopped and Screwed (Music), Vaporwave music, and Ambient music (Electronica). Each case study will provide background on its respective microgenre; its cultural significance; and issues/lessons-learned from acquiring, cataloging, and circulating microgenre sound recordings.