How Record Labels Invented Musical Race Categories

In this episode, we uncover how the recording industry didn't just document American music — it constructed the racial categories we still use today. From Ralph Peer coining "race records" at OKeh Records in 1920 to the parallel invention of "hillbilly music," we trace how corporate filing systems became cultural identities that shaped everything from radio formatting to the Grammy Awards. 00:00:00 - Introduction and the illusion of natural music categories 00:01:15 - Mamie Smith's Crazy Blues and the birth of race records 00:03:00 - Ralph Peer and the OKeh Records 8000 series 00:05:00 - The parallel construction of hillbilly music as a white category 00:07:30 - How radio formatting reinforced racial genre boundaries 00:09:45 - Artists who defied the categories and were sorted anyway 00:12:00 - The lasting legacy of invented genres on modern music 00:14:00 - Wrap-up and final thoughts This podcast episode was fully generated by AI — research, script, voices, and production. Built with Claude, Piper TTS, and automated pipeline tooling.