PopPop music, in popular and contemporary parlance, is a subgenre of popular music. Since the term spans many rock, hip hop, rhythm and blues (R&B), country, dance and operatic pop acts, it is reasonable to say that "pop music" is a loosely defined category. The term is also used in a derogatory manner by those who feel that pop acts lack any musically artistic meaning, or in lack of better terminology, represent a "betrayal" away from the traditional sound of either the act themselves or the specific genre to which the act belongs.
Characteristics as a subgenrePop music is generally described as very commercial friendly, marketable and memorable, with either vocals, lyrics, instruments, or a combination of all three creating catchy choruses or verses. Pop music is also known for its ability to attract listeners through its versatile sound since it pulls from a plethora of musical influences. It can be also fair to say that pop music is predominantly image driven, especially through the subject matter of the lyrics, live performances, music videos, and other forms of exposure which makes it favourable and unfavourable to whoever is the listener.In modern times (increasingly over the last half-century; most notably since the start of the 2000s), this genre's immense success as a commercial product has, ironically, led to even more commercialization within the music itself, with "artists" being drawn in by companies for their appearance, dancing ability and vocal competence; and being provided with an image, choreography, and most importantly complete songs by veterans working for the record company. Some notable examples include Swedish songwriter Max Martin's having crafted most hit songs by pop acts such as Britney Spears and The Backstreet Boys, and the pop boy band O-Town having been created as an MTV show. This technique for creating music is massively effective commercially for several apparent reasons. It is adept at targeting specific demographics among young people, since songs are written with that purpose in mind by talented professionals, and images crafted similarly. Also, by sticking to a straightforward formula and format, it is able to produce a consistent, predictable, and marketable product. That ability is only aided, naturally, by the vastly reduced output of the artists preventing companies' dependency on their eccentricities and whims. On the other hand, that reduced role for the artist, especially in the creative area, has always drawn harsh criticism from music fans who are painfully aware of its lack of substance. A music production method completely opposite to that of pop music is that of indie music, where record labels are small, vastly dependent on their few artists, and run by young entrepreneurs rather than corporate veterans. Indie artists, in turn, are in no way image driven, not widely marketed (often because of the label's financial constraints), and are almost universally of organic origins rather than having been assembled by their label. Many new artists turn to small indie labels since their reduced marketability makes them an unpopular choice with major labels.
Sound and themesPop in whatever influence form that it takes is done with simpler songwriting and arrangement. It takes from numerous influences but generally the focus is on the predominance of a simple melody, which makes the songs memorable; stripped down rhythms, which attributes to the less complex songwriting and sound arrangement; and the combination of the states of the melody and the rhythm allows for harmony to actually be a driving force of the song, which makes it more pleasing to the listener's ear. Themes are definitely varied ranging from personal songs to vivacious party jams. However, the most common theme deals with the wide range of emotions stemming from physical or emotional love. Music videos and live performances are mainly for exposure purposes, thus artists usually have extravagant stage shows and antics such as choreographed dancing, which is usually common amongst female musicians.
History and successPop music is far too ambiguous and far too diverse to say that it has a real concrete history as to when it began or so to speak. It can be said, however, that pop music serves now as to what folk music did in the early 20th century, which was to appeal to wide audiences of listeners. It has continued to evolve in that role. Therefore, the evolution of pop music can be discussed. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, pop music served as an umbrella term to the music that got the most exposure rock 'n' roll, soul, and country amongst others. Yet, going into the 1970s when those three genres became more textured and deep in musical composition, the simpler forms of musicianship started to take the form of pop music as the subgenre. shape their sound instead of relying on actual instruments.In the 1990s, the advent of boy bands such as the Backstreet Boys and girl groups such as the Spice Girls solidified pop as its own subgenre. Many solo artists labeled as pop (at times incorrectly) continue the evolution of the subgenre as a whole through not only their music, but their popularity themselves.As for success, pop music's wide marketing and general massive appeal has made it exponentially successful in record sales, airplay, and ticket sales. It has been the case ever since its evolution began. The music can be also credited for spurring subcultures amongst subcultures by those who identify with the music and/or the artist in general. In addition, the same characteristics also allow for many new artists to enter the pop music realm.
Taken from: http://tags.lyricsfreak.com/Pop/Terminology
The term "pop song" is first recorded as being used in 1926 in the sense of a piece of music "having popular appeal". Starting in the 1950s the term "pop music" has been used to describe a distinct genre, aimed at a youth market, often characterized as a softer alternative to rock and roll. In the aftermath of the British Invasion, from about 1967, it was increasingly used in opposition to the term rock music, to describe a form that was more commercial, ephemeral and accessible. Although pop music is often seen as oriented towards the singles charts, as a genre it is not the sum of all chart music, which have always contained songs from a variety of sources, including classical, jazz, rock, and novelty songs, while pop music as a genre is usually seen as existing and developing separately.
Characteristics
Musicologists often identify the following characteristics as typical of the pop music genre:
-a focus on the individual song or singles, rather than on extended works or albums
-an aim of appealing to a general audience, rather than to a particular sub-culture or ideology
-an emphasis on craftsmanship rather than formal "artistic" qualities
-an emphasis on recording, production, and technology, over live performance
-a tendency to reflect existing trends rather than progressive developments
The main medium of pop music is the song, often between two and a half and three and a half minutes in length, generally marked by a consistent and noticeable rhythmic element, a mainstream style and a simple traditional structure. Common variants include the versechorus form and the thirty-two-bar form, with a focus on melodies and catchy hooks, and a chorus that contrasts melodically, rhythmically and harmonically with the verse. The beat and the melodies tend to be simple, with limited harmonic accompaniment. The lyrics of modern pop songs typically focus on simple themes – often love and romantic relationships – although there are notable exceptions
.According to Simon Frith pop music is produced "as a matter of enterprise not art...is designed to appeal to everyone" and "doesn't come from any particular place or mark off any particular taste." It is "not driven by any significant ambition except profit and commercial reward...and, in musical terms, it is essentially conservative." It is "provided from on high (by record companies, radio programmers and concert promoters) rather than being made from below...Pop is not a do-it-yourself music but is professionally produced and packaged."
Influences and developmentThroughout its development, pop music has absorbed influences from most other genres of popular music. Early pop music drew on the sentimental ballad for its form, gained its use of vocal harmonies from gospel and soul music, instrumentation from jazz and rock music, orchestration from classical music, tempo from dance music, backing from electronic music and has recently appropriated spoken passages from rap. It has also made use of technological innovation, being itself made possible by the invention of the electronic microphone and the vinyl record, and adopting multi-track recording and digital sampling as methods for the creation and elaboration of pop music. Pop music was also communicated largely through the mass media, including radio, film, TV and, particularly since the 1980s, video. Pop music has been dominated by the American (and from the mid-1960s British) music industries, whose influence has made pop music something of an international monoculture, but most regions and countries have their own form of pop music, sometimes producing local versions of wider trends, and lending them local characteristics. Some of these trends (for example Europop) have had a significant impact of the development of the genre.
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_music
