Industry Usage Keywords: Earthy and Organic

Industry Usage Keywords: Earthy and Organic

The terms “Earthy” and “Organic” are used to describe music that creates a bright and warm feel and usually found on commercial spots that create an outdoorsy image.  Imagine a scene in a golden field or a flowing river with sunshine, sunset or sunrise.  The mood is often characterized as happy, carefree, lighthearted, bright, cheerful, feel-good, satisfied, breezy, and sometimes even lazy.

Genre associated with Earthy and Organic:

Folk, Americana, Country-Folk
(Sub-Genres:  Singer-Songwriter, Indie)

Instrumentation:

Acoustic guitar, mandolin, light acoustic piano, bright tempos, vocal background oohs and aahs and smooth whistling, fiddle, and occasional light strings.

Rhythm and Tempo:

BPM: 98-108
Brightly strummed acoustic guitar.
The rhythms are light and usually lack drums or percussion grooves.
Light and smooth string textures

Additional descriptors:

Bright, Breezy, Warm, Gentle, Sunrise, Dawn, Sunset, Scenic, Acoustic, Joyful, Satisfied, Lighthearted, Carefree, Cheerful, Feel-Good, Lazy, Happy, Playful, Bouncy, Easy, Family, Home, Human, Laidback, Pulsing, Natural, Nature.

Musical Development:

The musical form usually starts with a light acoustic strumming guitar introduction that builds with more instrumentation creating full and lush textures, sometimes with light and bouncy rhythms that usually end with a sense of resolution.

Check out some of these samples: