I would like to request the addition of several established Bengali musical genres/traditions that are currently missing from the MusicBrainz genre list.

These are widely used classifications of Bengali music and are not simply arbitrary tags based on an artist's name. In particular, an official Gauhati University curriculum has an open elective titled “Bengali Song Genre”, whose stated learning objective is to identify and differentiate genres of Bengali songs associated with Rabindranath Tagore, Dwijendralal Roy, Rajanikanta Sen, Atulprasad Sen and Kazi Nazrul Islam. This provides academic evidence that these composer-associated bodies of music are treated as distinct Bengali song genres. 

I propose the following additions:

1. Rabindra Sangeet

Bengali: রবীন্দ্রসঙ্গীত
Suggested MusicBrainz genre: rabindra sangeet

Also known as Rabindrasangeet or Tagore songs, Rabindra Sangeet is the body of songs written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore and constitutes one of the principal traditions of Bengali music.

West Bengal State University has a dedicated music course titled “Knowledge of Rabindra Sangeet including Folk Song”, with the curriculum specifically studying the varieties and characteristics of Rabindra Sangeet. 

2. Nazrul Geeti

Bengali: নজরুলগীতি / নজরুল সঙ্গীত
Suggested MusicBrainz genre: nazrul geeti

Also known as Nazrul Sangeet, this is the body of songs written and composed by Kazi Nazrul Islam and is a distinct tradition of Bengali music.

The Gauhati University curriculum explicitly includes the songs of Kazi Nazrul Islam among the genres of Bengali songs to be identified and differentiated. 

3. Atulprasadi

Bengali: অতুলপ্রসাদী
Suggested MusicBrainz genre: atulprasadi

Atulprasadi refers to the Bengali songs written and composed by Atul Prasad Sen and is traditionally treated as a distinct body of Bengali music.

The Gauhati University “Bengali Song Genre” curriculum explicitly includes the songs of Atulprasad Sen among the Bengali song genres studied and differentiated. 

4. Dwijendrageeti

Bengali: দ্বিজেন্দ্রগীতি
Suggested MusicBrainz genre: dwijendrageeti

Dwijendrageeti refers to the songs of Dwijendralal Ray. His songs form a substantial and recognisable tradition within Bengali music.

The Gauhati University curriculum explicitly includes the songs of Dwijendralal Roy among the Bengali song genres studied. 

The term Dwijendrageeti is also specifically used to describe Ray's songs as a separate subgenre of Bengali music. 

5. Ramprasadi

Bengali: রামপ্রসাদী
Suggested MusicBrainz genre: ramprasadi

Ramprasadi refers to the Bengali devotional songs written and composed by the eighteenth-century Bengali saint-poet Ramprasad Sen, particularly songs devoted to the goddess Kali.

An academic article in the Journal of Asian Arts, Culture and Literature explicitly describes the Bengali devotional songs written and composed by Ramprasad Sen as Ramprasadi.

West Bengal State University also includes “Shaktageeti (Ramprasadi / Kamalakanta / Ramlal Dutta)” in its undergraduate music syllabus and lists Brihat Ramprasadi Sangeet among its suggested readings. 

6. Kantageeti

Bengali: কান্তগীতি
Suggested MusicBrainz genre: kantageeti

Kantageeti refers to the songs of Rajanikanta Sen.

The Gauhati University curriculum explicitly includes the songs of Rajanikanta Sen among the genres of Bengali songs to be identified and differentiated. 

The term Kantageeti is also specifically used for Rajanikanta's songs, and his repertoire is treated separately from other major Bengali song traditions. 

 

7. Shyama Sangeet

Bengali: শ্যামাসঙ্গীত
Suggested MusicBrainz genre: shyama sangeet

Shyama Sangeet is a genre of Bengali devotional music dedicated primarily to the Hindu goddess Kali (Shyama). It is an established tradition of Bengali devotional music, particularly associated with the songs of poets and composers such as Ramprasad Sen and Kamalakanta Bhattacharya.

Shyama Sangeet is distinct from the broader category of Bengali devotional music and has its own established repertoire and musical tradition.

West Bengal State University's undergraduate music syllabus explicitly identifies Shyama Sangeet as a category of Bengali devotional music and includes it within its study of Bengali musical forms.

The Government of West Bengal also identifies Shyama Sangeet among the established forms of Bengali music and discusses its association with Kali worship. 

Suggested aliases:

• shyama sangeet
• shyamasangeet
• শ্যামাসঙ্গীত
• শ্যামা সঙ্গীত

Why these should be added

These traditions have established names, identifiable repertoires, and distinct historical and musical identities. They are commonly used to classify Bengali music and are sufficiently established to be useful as MusicBrainz genres.

There is also a practical metadata benefit. A large amount of Bengali music is conventionally identified through these traditions rather than only through broad categories such as “Bengali music”, “folk”, “devotional” or “Indian classical”. Having these genres available in MusicBrainz would allow releases and recordings to be described more accurately and consistently.

I am not suggesting that every song by these composers should automatically receive the corresponding genre tag in every context; rather, I am requesting that these established musical categories be available as MusicBrainz genres where appropriate.

Sources:

Banglapedia – Pankaj Kumar Mallick:
https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Mallick%2C_Pankaj_Kumar

Banglapedia – Firoza Begum:
https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Begum%2C_Firoza

Banglapedia – Sudhin Das:
https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Das%2C_Sudhin

Banglapedia – Abdush Shakur:
https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Shakur%2C_Abdush

Banglapedia – Karunamay Goswami:
https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Goswami%2C_Karunamay

https://srijon.co.in/ this website proves rabindrasangeet as a genre

https://wbpolice.gov.in/wbp/Common/ArtsCulture.aspx this govt website sites all the genres 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_West_Bengal this page has all the types of the music genres mentioned

Journal of Asian Arts, Culture and Literature — Ramprasadi
Academic article explicitly defining the Bengali devotional songs written and composed by Ramprasad Sen as Ramprasadi.
https://alsphere.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/14.pdf