View source for Wiki:Genre warrior

{{essay|WP:GWAR|WP:GENREWAR|WP:GWARRIOR|WP:GENREWARRIOR}}
{{nutshell|Don't alter genres without specifying a reason why, try not to base your arguments on personal beliefs or feelings, ensure that your claims are verified by [[Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources|reliable sources]], and seek consensus on the talk page before making controversial edits.}}
[[Image:Trak peltasta.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Look out! It's a dreaded genre warrior!]]

A '''genre warrior''' is an editor with a [[WP:Single-purpose account|single-purpose account]] (or IP with no account) that spends most of their time on Wikipedia altering the genre field of music [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Infoboxes|infoboxes]], changing genre [[WP:Categorization|categories]], or changing genre-related prose. In more involved cases, these editors can be blocked for their disregard for or ignorance of the community's policies regarding [[Wikipedia:No original research|no original research]] and [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|neutral point-of-view]]. Sometimes when a source is provided, the cited genre can still be challenged as original research or [[WP:SYNTH|synthesis]] depending on how the original source itself is worded.

Genre warring is disruptive to articles, because the changes have to be reverted. Warriors waste the time of other editors, because it must be spent reverting these edits and some then feel obligated to add the affected articles to their watchlist, thus adding to their workload.

'''If a disagreement arises over how a source categorizes an artist, album or song, do not [[WP:EDITWAR|edit war]] over it. Instead, take the issue to the talk page, and start an [[WP:Requests for Comment|RfC]], if needed.'''

==Official standards and guidelines==
===No original research or synthesized claims===
Any genre description must be sourced. Wikipedia prohibits [[Wikipedia:No original research|original research]], [[Wikipedia:Verifiability|unverifiable claims]], and [[WP:SYNTH|conclusions that are not explicitly stated by the sources]]. Even if you're sure something is true, it must be ''verifiable'' before you can add it. 

That said, a genre description should reflect the consensus of music writers and fans, rather than giving [[WP:UNDUE|undue weight]] to any particular journalist or review. Just because music journalist [[Chuck Eddy]] included [[Teena Marie]]'s ''[[Emerald City (Teena Marie album)|Emerald City]]'' in his book of the ''500 Best Heavy Metal Albums in The Universe'' doesn't mean it's appropriate to add "heavy metal" to the genre description in that album's infobox.

{{anchor|Explicit}}

{{Main|Wikipedia:No original research}}
{{further|Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources}}

===Examples of synthesized claims===
====Partial attributions====
{{shortcut|WP:EXPLICITGENRE|WP:EXPLICITGENRES}}
{{Further|WP:SYNTH}}

When classifying music, sources must '''explicitly attribute the genre to the work or artist as a whole'''. One may sometimes encounter non-definitive language like
* {{cross}} ... ''balances the line between indie pop and electronica''  ...
* {{cross}} ... ''antecedent to the later noise pop of Sonic Youth'' ...
* {{cross}} ... ''nearly proto-punk in its harsh vocals'' ...
* {{cross}} ... ''combines elements of folk, jazz, and hip hop'' ...
When you see a source mention a genre, it must use '''direct''' language. Like so:

* {{tick}} ... ''the album is a quintessential example of avant-rock'' ...
* {{tick}} ... ''a successful fusion of [[jazz rap]]'' ...

Descriptors should also not be combined with styles (i.e. "[[gothic pop]]" should not be attributed to a source who writes that a "gothic" song is pop; the phrase "gothic pop" must be unambiguously referenced as the kind of song it is).

====Presuming synonyms====
{{Further|WP:NOTBROKEN|WP:OVERSIMPLIFY}}
Editors should not attempt to "correct" sourced genres that redirect to a seemingly synonymous term (such as "[[classical rock]]" to "[[progressive rock]]" or "[[bedroom pop]]" to "[[lo-fi music|lo-fi]]"). In most cases, it would be a [[WP:STICKTOSOURCE|misrepresentation of the cited material]]. Just because Wikipedia might state that "[[baroque rock]]" and "[[baroque pop]]" are equivalent terms doesn't mean the author of the cited source would also agree to that claim.

====Red flags====
{{Further|WP:CONTEXTMATTERS|WP:EXTRAORDINARY}}
Attributions that are not as obviously explicit depend on the context of the claim. One "grey-area" case would be if a source merely observes a potential or reputed attribution, such as "''has been called [genre]''" or "''could be classified as [genre]''". It must be considered whether the genre may be a "red flag". For example, even though ''[[Pet Sounds]]'' is sometimes advanced as an early [[emo]] album,<ref>See
* {{cite web|last1=Simpson|first1=Ernest|title=The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds|url=http://www.treblezine.com/reviews/the-beach-boys-pet-sounds/|website=Treblezine|date=September 20, 2004}}
* {{cite web|last1=Hart|first1=Ron|title=The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds Celebrates its 50th Anniversary: Artists Pay Tribute to the Eternal Teenage Symphony|url=http://pitchfork.com/features/article/9870-the-beach-boys-pet-sounds-celebrates-its-50th-anniversary-artists-pay-tribute-to-the-eternal-teenage-symphony/|work=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|date=April 12, 2016}}
*{{cite web|last1=Cureton|first1=Sean K.|title=Brian Wilson Alone: The Beach Boys&#039; Pet Sounds 50 Years Later|url=http://www.audienceseverywhere.net/brian-wilson-alone-pet-sounds-50-years-later/|website=Audiences Everywhere|date=May 16, 2016}}</ref> including "emo" in the album's infobox might not be seen as the best idea.

==In case of dispute==
* Adding references to reliable sources will usually result in a total cure of the disease, especially if the inline citations are included in the infobox. See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Albums/Sources]] for a list of some good sources to cite for genres.
* If the above does not work, discussing the matter on the talk page should help remedy it.
* Ban all mention of genres in the infobox. (This was proposed and implemented for several weeks in late 2008, but the community "[[Love–hate relationship|loves to hate]]" a good genre warrior, thus the decision was reversed.<ref>See [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Music]] archives [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Music/Archive 9|9]], [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Music/Archive 10|10]], [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Music/Archive 11|11]], [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Music/Archive 12|12]], [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Music/Archive 13|13]], and [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Music/Archive 14|14]].</ref>)

===If symptoms persist===
Use a (specialized) warning template to tell genre warriors that their behavior is a problem.
*{{{icon|[[Image:Information.svg|25px|alt=Information icon]]}}} [[Template:Uw-genre1]]
*{{{icon|[[File:Information orange.svg|25px|alt=Information icon]]}}} [[Template:Uw-genre2]]
*{{{icon|[[File:Nuvola apps important.svg|25px|alt=Information icon]]}}} [[Template:Uw-genre3]]
*{{{icon|[[File:Stop hand nuvola.svg|25px|alt=Information icon]]}}} [[Template:Uw-genre4]]

If a warrior continues reverting to their bad edit after being told to stop, then their actions can be considered disruptive. It is not a form of [[WP:VANDALISM|vandalism]], and '''''should not''''' be reported to [[WP:AIV]]. If the problem becomes disruptive enough and the editor has not engaged in conversation on the topic, you may consider reporting them to [[WP:ANI]]. A genre-warring-specific block message template exists at {{tl|uw-gwblock}}.

==Behavior pattern and motivations==
Although there is no scientific explanation for this odd behavior, experts in the field have offered ideas. These include:
===Professed expertise===
Genre warriors almost '''never''' provide sources beyond [[Wikipedia:No original research|their own knowledge]], blogs, [[YouTube]] and [[social media]]. [[Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources|Reliable sources]] and [[Wikipedia:Consensus|consensus]] are alien concepts to them. They are determined that their favorite group should be characterized according to their opinion and take it as an insult if any other suggestions are made.<ref name="behavior">[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Realist2/Genre_Warrior&diff=247397834&oldid=247374419 Suggestion 1 for behavior]</ref> According to some genre warriors, reliable sources are wrong and professional music journalists know nothing about music compared to them and hold 'grudges' or are 'out to get' a particular artist.

===Laziness===
Genre warriors are often too lazy to [[Wikipedia:Verifiability#Responsibility for providing citations|prove their claims with reliable sources]]. This also means they usually stick to editing the infobox, rarely digging into the meaty text of the article. It is possible that such warriors are [[Western jackdaw|attracted to the bright colors]] of the infobox itself. Large quantities of text might be confusing or intimidating to some warriors.

Even if the infobox contains an editors' note advising of current [[Wikipedia:Consensus|consensus]] amongst editors (sometimes following much metaphorical bloodshed) and to discuss change on the article's Talk page, the genre warrior will almost always [[Wikipedia:Disruptive editing#IDHT|ignore the note]]  and change the genre anyway, because [[Wikipedia:Verifiability, not truth|they know better]].

===Personal feelings===
Genre warriors enjoy the music of a particular group but would feel (choose one: ashamed, emasculated, belittled) to have the music—and by extension, themselves—categorized in a ''usually'' undesirable genre (for example: [[bubblegum pop]], [[glam rock|glitter rock]], [[glam metal|hair metal]], [[show tune]]s, [[nu metal]], [[emo]], etc.).

Conversely, they may often ''dislike'' a band, and so they change their genre to one of the aforementioned undesirable genres.

A special brand of genre warrior, the religious warrior, can spend all their time editing articles to add or remove references to religion from a band's genre as the genre may clash with their personal religious beliefs.

===Desire for inclusiveness===
Genre warriors tend to either: 
# prefer monolithic labels rather than subtlety, e.g. by reducing one band's output to a single genre, e.g. "[[Metallica]] = [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]]". Heavy metal is a wide-ranging genre that can be narrowed down to more specific sub-genres like [[thrash metal]] that describe Metallica by the consensus of the music community. But on the other hand...
# insist on applying every genre they can think of to an infobox, possibly for the avoidance of doubt, e.g. "[[The Beatles]] = [[skiffle]], [[pop music]], [[country music]], [[psychedelia]], [[progressive rock]], [[Beat music|Merseybeat]], [[rock music]], [[baroque pop]], [[folk rock]]..." Just because the Beatles, a consensus rock and pop band, did a few songs that briefly experimented with country sounds does not mean that they should be labeled as a country band forever.

==The [[spawn (biology)|spawn]] of the warrior?==
*"Genre Fiddlers" - These make small, minor edits, to genres that are so insignificant that they seem pointless.<ref name="behavior"/>

==Userbox==
{{usbktop}}
{{usbk|User:UBX/GENRE WARRIOR}}
{{usbkbottom}}

==See also==
*[[User:Utan Vax/Genre troll IPs]] 
*[[User:Scarian/Genre trolls]]
*[[User:Mungo Kitsch/Essays/Genre warring and genre warriors]]
*[[Wikipedia:Ideology warrior]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:WikiProject Albums]]
[[Category:WikiProject Songs]]