Music Genre

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Pop musicIn general

Pop music is the abbreviation of popular music.Pop music is an ample and imprecise category of modern music notdefined by artistic considerations but by its potential audience orprospective market. Pop is music composed with deliberate intent toappeal to the majority of its contemporaries.In opposition to music that requires education or formation to appreciate,a defining characteristic of pop music is that anyone is able to enjoy it.Artistic concepts such as complex musical form and aesthetics are not aconcern in the writing of pop songs, the primary objectives being audienceenjoyment and commercial success.

History

In contrast to genres with clear origins and a traceable evolution, popdeveloped, and continues to expand, as a haphazard merging of styles.Pop is an amalgam of successive fashions, of elements of many differingstyles that have been successful over the years and have ended upincorporated into the genre. This section introduces the most significanttunes of each decade, and shows the progression of pop to its currentform.

1950s

The first songs to belong to the new category were crossover styles fromthe standard formats of the day. Incountry music, instrumental soloingwas de-emphasised and more prominent vocals added, commonly backedby a string section and vocal chorus. This was also the decade of the advent of rock and roll, a massivelyinfluential genre that spawned innumerable changes in the social andcultural fabric of the US, and subsequently the World. The convulsionbegan when "RockAround the Clock" (Bill Haley, 1955) crowned thecharts in the spring and summer of 1955.

1960s

The decade kicked off a style that is still recorded today, the novelty song,combining humorous or parodic lyrics and simple, catchy melodies. In1961 a new format arose around close vocal harmonies and lyricsreflecting the Californian relationship with surfing, girls and cars: Surf pop. This very successful style is epitomised by tunes like "Surfin' USA"(Beach Boys, 1963) or "Good Vibrations" (Beach Boys, 1966). Producers' involvement in the business reached new levels in 1965 whenRaybert Productions set out to create a pop band from scratch, selectingthe members by their looks, dancing ability and appeal to differentpersonalities of fan, rather than musical prowess. The company controlled

every aspect of the group, from choice of music to individual behaviours,and guided them to extraordinary success in music, television and cinema.This type of prefabricated band was termed manufactured pop and is theprecursor of boy bands and girl groups.

1970s

The main influence in the second half of the decade came fromdisco, adance-oriented style with soaring, reverberated vocals, a steady beat andprominent, syncopated electric bass lines. Country musicre-entered pop in 1973, whilst the African Americanrhythms that had so affected the genre in the previous decade were stillproducing hits and expanding limits in this one.

1980s

The mutual benefits the film and music industries could afford each otherwere evidenced in this decade by the songs from movie soundtracks thatbecame chart-toppers: "Eye of the Tiger", from 1982's Rocky III;"Flashdance... What a Feeling", from Flashdance (1983); or "Say You, SayMe", out of the 1985 blockbuster White Nights. The return influences of pop were having a greater impact in this decadethan ever before. Hits in the US charts came from the UK, "CarelessWhisper" (George Michael, 1984) or "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go"(Wham!, 1984). Therockgenre delivered a good number of pop hits this decade, withbands otherwise protective of their roots delving briefly intocommercialism. See "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (The Arrows, 1982) or "EveryBreath You Take" (The Police, 1983). A new kind of release debuted in this decade, the charity record, aimed atraising funds for a particular cause held dear by the performer(s). Thefirst of these came from the British Isles in 1984, "Do They Know It'sChristmas?", followed in 1985 by "We Are the World", and by "That's WhatFriends Are For" in 1986.

1990s

The nineties were clearly the decade of the female pop artist, theirsuccessful singles greatly outnumbering those of male performers. A fewof the most significant are "Nothing Compares 2 U" (Sinead O´Connor,1990), "Vogue" (Madonna, 1990), "Hero" (Mariah Carey, 1993),"Wannabe" (The SpiceGirls, 1996) and "...Baby One More Time" (BritneySpears, 1999). Pop became truly international in the nineties, with hits coming fromdiverse and distant locations:

• Germany: "The Power" (1990), "Rhythm Is a Dancer" (1992) and "MrVain" (1993)• UK: "The One and Only" (1991), Love Is All Around" (both 1994), “Candle in the Wind 1997"• Spain: "Macarena" (1996)• Italy: "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" (1998)• Netherlands: "Boom Boom Boom Boom" (1998)• Australia: "Truly Madly Deeply" (1998)

2000 to the Present Day

In a similar vein to the previous decade, female singers had a biginfluence on the pop genre in the noughties, with soulful ballads, hip hoppieces and dance tracks: "Fallin'" (Alicia Keys, 2001), "Whenever,Wherever" (Shakira, 2001), "White Flag" (Dido, 2003), "Since U BeenGone" (Avril Lavigne, 2005) and "Umbrella" (Rihanna, 2007). Once more, African Americans contributed heartily to pop with diversestyles. Some hits were hip hop-based, such as "Yeah!" (Usher, 2004),other chart-toppers were variations on reggae beats ("It Wasn't Me"(Shaggy, 2000). The international appeal of pop was evident in the new millennium, withartists from around the World influencing the genre and local variantsmerging with the mainstream. Latin pop was successful with songs fromSpain, "Hero" (Enrique Iglesias, 2002), "Whenever, Wherever" (Shakira,2002). Canada entered the charts with "That's the Way It Is" (Celine Dion,2000) and British artists did the same with "Feel" (Robbie Williams, 2003)or "You're Beautiful" (James Blunt, 2005). As of 2008, pop music is now currently the most popular style of music of youth culture, making competition with hip-hop,dance, andcountry.

Disco

In General Disco is a genre of dance-orientedpop music. Disco songs usually havesoaring, often reverberated vocals over a steady four-on-the-floor beat,an eighth note (quaver) or sixteenth note (semi-quaver) hi-hat patternwith an open hi-hat on the off-beat, and a prominent, syncopated electricbass line. Strings, horns, electric pianos, and electric guitars create a lushbackground sound. Orchestral instruments such as the flute are oftenused for solo melodies, and unlike in rock, lead guitar is rarely used. Well-known mid-1970s disco performers included Evelyn "Champagne"King, Tavares, Chic, Bee Gees, Donna Summer, Grace Jones, GloriaGaynor, Diana Ross, the Village People, Sylvester, the Jackson 5 andBarry White. While performers and singers garnered the lion's share of public attention, the behind-the-scenes producers played an equal, if notmore important role in disco, since they often wrote the songs and

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