Hmmn. As I said, the 'child note' route is the only one available - you could call the parent note 'Media' or some such, and have a 'favourite' saved search to jump straight to it, then choose your preferred genre from there.
As to backups - if you read the links I sent you, the 100 limit does not apply. You can export all the notes in one notebook and/ or automate the process if you wish.