Pop music

From Free net encyclopedia

For the 1979 song by "M", see Pop Muzik.

Popular music (or more commonly abbreviated to "Pop Music") is a subgenre of popular music. Popular music may be distinguished from classical or art music and from folk music Template:Ref but 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. It may also be classed as soft rock or pop/rock.

1 Characteristics as a subgenre
2 History of pop music
- 2.1 The Beatles
3 Sound and themes
4 Effects beyond music
5 See also
6 External links
7 References

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Characteristics as a subgenre

Pop music is often defined as music produced commercially, for profit, or "as a matter of enterprise not art" though it may more usefully be defined by market, ideology, production, and aesthetics. Pop "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." Frith 2001, p.95-96)

Pop music is a music genre which began in the 1950s, and is music that is generally popular to a wide range of people. With the introduction of vinyl records in the 1930s, and later CDs (Compact Discs) in the 80s, recorded music became more widely available, as opposed to live music. Pop songs often make use of the 3-minute song to create hit records in the Pop Singles Charts (Billboard Hot 100). It uses melodies that are usually easily listenable, and therefore appeal to many. Pop music is characterised by a heavy rhythmic element, and often with the use of electronic amplification, while the melody line may also be dominant. It also refers to popular songs that people generally enjoy singing. It is commercially and radio friendly, readily accessible, memorable and easily marketable, often with a catchy chorus. It draws from a wide range of musical influences from pop/rock, R&B, country, soul, rock, jazz, folk and more.

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History of pop music

Pop music grew out of the sounds of the Swingbands of the 30s, the Blues of Chicago, and Country music from Tennessee. In the 50s there were mainstream vocalists like Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, and Peggy Lee.

In the 60s there were four main developments for Pop music. The New York DooWop girl groups whose song writers went on to be famous in the 70s, such as Carole King, Neil Diamond, Burt Bacharach. There was the Soul scene - Aretha Franklin, Isley brothers, Ray Charles; and the more mainstream Motown sound in Detroit – Stevie Wonder, the Supremes, Marvin Gaye ( who was the first to take artistic control). Also the California Surf sound of the Beach Boys.

The electric guitar and amplification has had a big impact on modern music. In the 30s and 40s amplified instruments became necessary to compete with the loud volumes in the Big Swing bands of the era. Gibson introduced the first Gibson Les Paul solid body guitar in 1952. In the 1960s, the tonal palette of the electric guitar was further modified by introducing an effects box in its signal path, the wah-wah pedal.

In 1963 the Beatles revolutionized pop music. At one point they had the 5 top selling records in the US Charts. Then the folk singers went electric too; Dylan, Simon and Garfunkle and the Byrds. Many bands followed; the Stones, the Kinks, the Yardbirds and more. By 1966 the Beatles decided to focus on studio recordings, rather than live gigs. It was a time of much social upheaval and change too, with marches for racial equality, Kennedy and Vietnam. In 1967 the Beatles released their famous Sgt Peppers album. It was the ‘summer of love’, flower power, hippies and protest marches.

In the 70s the Beatles broke up and Pop Music drifted into a variety of noises. In the early 70s singer-songwriters and pop dominated the charts. From the disco of the BeeGees, the piano sounds of Billy Joel and Elton John, the country of the Eagles, to the soft sounds of the Carpenters, Neil Diamond, Carole King, Simon and Garfunkle. There was also the rockier pop of artists like Rod Stewart, Steely Dan, and Fleetwood Mac. Rock music took off in a big way too, with bands like Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd and Queen. Pop branched into Disco, which was hugely popular, and was the first genre to use electronic instruments for commercial, mass-scale music.

80s pop, saw the arrival of the punk rock bands. There was also Duran Duran, The Police, Madonna, Abba, Phil Collins, Michael Jackson( Plastic Surgery, and Culture Club.

Michael Jackson, who defined the music video, created Thriller, a 14 minute music video that broke ground all over the world in 1983. One of the biggest highlights for pop music in the 1980's was his second solo album, Thriller, from Michael Jackson which has become the largest selling album of all time. Thriller confirmed Michael as the "King Of Pop".

In the 90s, the ‘pop ballad’ got diluted by business guys hungry to make a quick buck out of such a successful formula. They lined up young attractive boys and girls with X appeal and good voices, and the age of the 'Boy and Girl band’s were born. They sang a similar brand of ballads. In the UK there was Take That, Westlife, Blue, the Spice Girls and more, and it was a highly successful formula. The first successful creation in the U.S. was New Kids On The Block followed by the Backstreet Boys. But all this ‘diluted’ the pop ballad for the present generation of young people, as they grew up hearing these groups on Tv shows and radio.

By the early 00s there was the new ‘coffee table pop/rock’ of bands like Coldplay, Keane, Embrace. Pop music’s definitions are very broad–ranging, with overlaps to many other genres of music. In particular pop/rock and rock music genres.

While there are still several pop artists in the charts, in the past few years rock music has over-taken pop music in popularity with young people. With the advent of downloading music from the Internet, and the resulting ease of access to more music, musical tastes in popular music have become broader, and has caused the sales of Pop singles to decline rapidly. Meanwhile Album sales have increased and were higher than ever in 2005, with singer-songwriters and rock bands dominating the Album Charts. Artists now make their money through live gigs rather than through Album sales, and rock bands are in high demand for the many Music festivals and live tours.

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The Beatles

The Beatles, four untrained young men from Liverpool, England, had a huge impact on Pop Music in the 1960s, and a string of number one hits in both Britain and America. Before the Beatles, popular music only used 3 chords which the Beatles copied with their first singles. But by the time they wrote Strawberry Fields Forever they were using 13-chord progressions. When they went to Hamburg they played for 13 hour sessions in a variety of styles, from folk, jazz, blues for the changing audience's tastes. From there they learnt to play a much wider selection of chords, rhthyms and melodies. The Beatles used perfect cadences; there were no cadences in rock.

This was an innovative merging of urban music with archaic forms, both enriching our experiences, and expanding our expectations. Their early songs were quite static with interesting chord changes underneath. They also fused eastern and western music, using Indian music as layers in their music for exotic colours. Lennon’s "Jealous Guy" used pentatonic scales to shape the melody; only using the black keys. They broke the mould, and explored the interplay between illusion and reality to portray a dreamlike world; a standard of imagination and invention that few have matched. They healed the rift between popular music and classical. Many thought if music has mass appeal it can’t also be music of depth or great significance - this is wrong. Few music has profoundly changed all music that came after it, and the Beatles had one of the biggest influences on 20th century music.

Their earliest songs, such as "She Loves You" were fun and fairly simple pop songs, and they were a mod band then rather than a rocker one. Their early stage shows also included some Carl Perkins songs. At this time teenagers were either mods or rockers. Their music developed and drew on many influences. They each brought their own distinctive style. George Harrison his rockabilly guitar, John Lennon was influenced by the rock n’ roll of artists like Chuck Berry, Roy Orbison and Bob Dylan. Paul McCartney (bassist) wrote strong melodies and the most covered song in history " Yesterday" and also "Eleanor Rigby", "Hey Jude", and " Let It Be."

Their music was mainly R&B-rooted pop songs, and rock n’ roll, with the occasional ballad, but had their own very original sound of strong melodies and harmonies. Their music is best defined as pop/rock. However they grew increasingly eclectic as composers, arrangers and performers over the years. Their influences ranged from folk, country, rockabilly, blues, and soul. They were also fashion as well as musical trend setters, with their hairstyles and clothes. They pioneered many innovative production techniques and new musical directions such as psychedelia (with "Strawberry Fields Forever"). Also George Martin’s chamber and baroque orchestrations on songs such as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Paul McCartney wrote several memorable ballads that are some of the most popular songs of the 20th century.

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Sound and themes

Pop music, in whatever musical influence form that it derives from, may be produced by a more basic songwriting approach and arrangement. The emphasis is often on a simpler melody, which makes the songs more memorable, and may use stripped-down rhythms. The combination of the melody and the rhythm allows for harmony to be a driving force of the song, which can make it more pleasing to the listener's ear. Themes range 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 often used for exposure in the media, and artists may have extravagant stage shows and use choreographed dancing. Many pop tunes are used in both Dance clubs and Sport clubs

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Effects beyond music

The friendliness and the appeal of pop music makes the subgenre prized by record companies, radio stations, and music television stations thanks to sales and ratings. The relative ease of the draw generates billions and billions of dollars into the entertainment industry. The wide canvas of artists benefit from sales, airplay, shows, and endorsements.

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