Pop music
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
| Pop music | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins: | A variety of influences, especially Rock and Roll |
| Cultural origins: | 1950s United States |
| Typical instruments: | Electric guitar, Electric bass guitar, Drums, |
| Mainstream popularity: | From 1960s to present - United States, Europe, and Asia |
| Derivative forms: | |
| Subgenres | |
| Bubblegum pop - Traditional pop music - Teen pop | |
| Fusion genres | |
| Pop punk - Pop rock - Pop rap - Power pop | |
| Regional scenes | |
| Asia: C-pop (Cantopop, Mandarin pop) - Indian pop - J-pop - K-pop - Europe: Europop (Britpop - Nederpop) - Americas: United States - Música Popular Brasileira | |
| Other topics | |
| Pop culture - Boy band - Girl group - Pop princess | |
- This article mainly describes "pop" as used in its more recent sense, as a subgenre of popular music.
Pop music is a common part of popular music, sometimes regarded as a subgenre of its own, generally featuring memorable melodies with strong recognizable rhythms and catchy refrains. Often regarded as the most mainstream form of popular music now, it has been around at least since the 1950s and is especially popular in the last three decades, owing to its commercial viability and successes of its many recording artistes. Pop songs' popularity can be explained by its 'hook': they often have one or more musical ideas intended to gain a listener's interest. A hook can be any part of the song: the music, the vocals, the lyrics, or, as is often the case, a combination of all of these. Pop is usually written directly and explicitly for the sole sake of selling an album; sometimes it is composed from the most mainstream-friendly, or "poppy", form of another popular music genre (such as rock or hip hop) toned down for accessibility, just as many other popular genres often incorporate elements of the pop mainstream into their music.
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Etymology and origins
'Pop music', in its more general and older (but also now rarer) sense is a very broad umbrella term. It was created as a synonym of "rock 'n' roll" during the birth of the rock era in the 1950s, in order to separate the then new and controversial form of music from the jazz, gospel, big band music, and classical music that had come before it. Eventually "pop" or "rock 'n' roll" would branch out into many subgenres, subcultures and movements, including progressive rock, punk, disco, hip hop, funk, metal, alternative rock, New Wave, techno, New Age, and soul, and the pop music subgenre primarily discussed in this article.
Production
The production techniques of pop music generally follow the prevailing musical fashions. Generally, underground, non-mainstream music sub-genres have the biggest influence on mainstream pop production. The most sought-after producers of today are quite often those at the forefront of very left-field culture. Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and other pop artists from recent years have strong hip hop and R&B influences, which further gave way to urban pop. One current underground influence at present is the re-emergence of synthesizers.
Themes
The most popular subject for pop music is love; almost exclusively, heterosexual love. Typically, many pop songs express one person's love for another person, or show the artist's sorrow or sadness at losing a loved one or breaking up with a lover. Some other pop songs send a message of defiance to those who disapprove of the singer's affection for another. Still others project a lack of regret for a breakup or argument. Some more "raunchy" themes involve sex, sometimes expressing one person's desire to have sex with another (A typical example is "Bad Touch" by "The Bloodhound Gang"). A very popular form of pop song, known as the ballad, comprised of slower-paced songs sung to the theme of romanticized love.
Modern-day success of pop music
Successful pop music may be measured in terms of its commercial success. As a result, it is often performed by charismatic performers who look attractive, are fashionable, and are able to dance well. Songwriting and arranging is sometimes done by professional songwriters rather than the performers themselves, (although it should be noted that the performers just as often do their own writing and arranging) and some producers have influence in the production and presentation of the final product.
The image of pop performers is often regarded as being as important as (or, some would say, more important than) their music. Consequently, many pop performers and their managers make elaborate efforts to project a desired image through their clothing, music video clips, the press, and similar methods. Recent boy bands and girl groups have been especially skillful in this regard, with members often chosen and tailored to certain roles and to appeal to different fan bases. Normally, in boys bands each 'boy' is assigned a certain role, like 'the rebel' or 'young one', and these roles determine how they are seen in the media. For example, the rebel will normally do anything that makes him stand out from the group, like wear shirts with rock bands on them or have many tattoos. As for the female's the groups tend to work the same as the boy bands only less extreme. Solo females tend to be dancers and wear shirts that show off their toned stomachs. They are usually innocent about their image at first and as they age become more of a sex symbol.
Criticisms of pop music
Musical value
Perhaps due to its increasing commercialization, pop music is often criticized for being entertaining while lacking serious musical value and artistic significance. It is more possible for pop songs to be a passing fad than most other popular music genres. This is typically attributed by detractors to record companies' financial considerations being placed above artistic considerations, by hand-picking the artists and songs that will have a broad appeal and maximise profits. Sometimes - in the case of the British pop group Hear'Say, for example - young and fashionable people who have little or no prior knowledge of the music industry are transformed into a band that sells music and related merchandise to a preteen or teenage audience. A consequence of this commercialization is that genres which attain credibility as styles in their own right are often no longer considered 'pop'; artists within that genre, as well as their fans, sometimes strive to separate themselves from the commercial aspect of current pop music.
Lip-synching
Lip-synching is a particular target of criticism from pop detractors. The performers often argue that it is not an issue of them lacking singing talent. Rather, they say, it is difficult to dance, perform, and sing simultaneously and satisfactorily, so they play recorded music in the background in order to ensure that the performance is aurally consistent. However, some critics maintain that, in a live performance, the creation of music (be it sung, instrumental, or both) should receive precedence over other factors, such as dancing or theatrics. One singing Group often criticised for the lip-synch approach is Milli Vanilli, which was one of the most famous lip-synching scandals ever. in 1980, when Frank Farian experimented with having one group of people sing the songs, and another, more telegenic, group perform at concerts and advertise the band. The result, Milli Vanilli, was very popular until it was revealed that the band did not actually sing on their stage performances or recordings. Several notable allegations of lip-synching have been recently targeted at Ashlee Simpson (due to her poor performances on Saturday Night Live and the 2005 Orange Bowl), Eminem (accused of lip-synching on SNL the week after Simpson's performance), and Lindsay Lohan (who was booed off a karaoke stage while singing her hit single "Rumors").
Well-known artists
Well-known pop musicians include Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Britney Spears, Cher, Kylie Minogue, Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey and from earlier days Barry Manilow, Barbra Streisand, Paul Whiteman, and Rudy Vallee. Many of today's pop stars have either modeled themselves or been modeled after these famous and successful stars due to their commercial popularity.
There has also been a strong tendency among specific genres in different time periods to have artists "cross over" into the mainstream (i.e. CCM in the 80s and country music in the 90s). Crossover artists who have enjoyed mainstream success include Amy Grant, Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and Sam Cooke. Still other artists are able to enjoy mainstream success without deliberately trying to cross over.
Now, many teenage artists, like Hilary Duff and Lindsay Lohan have emerged in the music scene, and are well-received by teenage girls. Televised singing competitions like Pop Idol and American Idol are also well-received.
See also
External links
- Pakistani Pop Music
- Launch.com - a variety of pop videos especially those popular in the United States.
- Popjustice.com - coverage of pop music in the United Kingdom.
- Music Lyrics - growing database of pop music lyrics
- Pop and Rock - an analysis of pop and rock music forms and techniques.
- Tunecaster Online Pop And Rock Music Encyclopedia - United States music charts and popular artists pages.
- Radio And Records Pop Charts Archives
- Pop top 10 music albums
