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Pop music

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Pop music
Stylistic originsA variety of influences, especially rock and roll, R&B and dance
Cultural origins1950s United States / 1950s Britain
Typical instrumentsElectric guitar, Bass guitar, Drums, Keyboard, Synthesizers
Subgenres
Bubblegum pop - Traditional pop music
Fusion genres
Pop punk - Pop rap - Power pop
Regional scenes
Asia: Cantopop, Mandarin pop, Indi-pop, J-pop, K-pop, String (Thai pop) - Europe: Europop, Austropop, Britpop, Nederpop - Americas: United States, Música Popular Brasileira
Other topics
Pop culture - Boy band - Girl group
For popular music (music produced commercially rather than art or folk music), see Popular music. For the 1979 song by "M", see Pop Muzik.

Pop music is a genre of popular music distinguished from classical or art music and from folk music [1]. The term indicates specific stylistic traits, but the genre also includes elements of rock, hip hop, dance, and country, making it a flexible category. The expression "pop music" may also be used to refer to particular subgenres (within the pop music genre) that are in some cases referred to as soft rock and pop/rock. The pop music genre also often involves mass marketing and consumer-driven efforts by major record companies, which makes it an often scorned genre by non-mainstream musicians.

The average consumer of pop music is often understood to be in his or her teenage years, making it an important mediator of youth culture. Partly because youth culture itself is an object of social concern, pop music has historically been the source of numerous moral panics, especially as many of the styles that influence it trickle up from minority groups (racial, ethnic, sexual or class-based) about which the dominant class holds negative stereotypes. In addition, many parents view explicit lyrics as gateways to sin, blaming pop music for increases in drug use, teen pregnancy, and violence. As a result, some conservative groups forbid children from attending social gatherings in which pop music may be played.

In addition, pop music stars can be controversial role models for teens; older generations tend to over-emphasize the stars' influences on teens' lives and make unfounded generalizations about entire groups of people based on pop stars' behavior. For example, when Kurt Cobain (lead singer of Nirvana) committed suicide, he was widely portrayed as representative of the hopelessness of Generation X. Also, when Britney Spears and Madonna kissed on stage in concert, some people speculated that this behavior may cause an increase in lesbian experimentation among teenage girls. Such generalizations are fallacious both in terms of the general sphere of influence of a particular star and in terms of perceived causality for teen behavior and identities.


History of pop music

1890s through 1920s

The dance music element of pop music can be traced back to Ragtime, which was initially popular in African American communities, and mainly disseminated through sheet music and player pianos. Ragtime turned into Swing, an early form of Jazz that was enjoyed as much for its danceability as its musicality. Both these formats originated in African American communities, and spread to white communities especially through venues that would hire black performers. Like Rock’n’roll, widespread popularity in white communities to some extent did not take off until white performers could be found to perform it, and certain stylistic elements of it toned down. The crossing of race-based social boundaries around race, for ragtime, swing, and later Rock’n’Roll, was the source of many moral panics inspired by pop music.

1930s and 1940s

Styles influencing the later development of pop include the Blues, also originating in African-American communities, (for example, electric guitar Blues in Chicago), and Country coming also from "hillbilly music" of poor folk, white and black (Sun Records in Tennessee), which blended to become early Rock and Roll.

1950s

Early Pop music artists include Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin, Bobbejaan Schoepen, and Peggy Lee, but other artists like Bill Haley and his Comets, Fats Domino and Elvis Presley became popular with the younger generation.

1960s

Pop music teen idols of the 1960s included Cliff Richard, Sandy Shaw, Lulu, The Rolling Stones, The Small Faces, Gene Pitney, and The Shadows. Other pop musicians included Carole King, Neil Diamond, Burt Bacharach, Aretha Franklin, Isley Brothers, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan, and Simon and Garfunkel, and some of The Beatles' repertoire. Sonny Bono & Cher are considered the Hippie Icons of the 60's.

1970s

A proliferation of new sounds from the disco era included the BeeGees and ABBA, the piano-based pop of Billy Joel and Elton John, the country stylings of the Eagles, and the rock-influenced pop of Rod Stewart, Steely Dan, and Fleetwood Mac. Other important pop musicians include Cat Stevens, The Carpenters, Jackson Five, The Miracles, Roberta Flack, Carly Simon, Cher, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind and Fire, KC and the Sunshine Band and Donna Summer.

1980s

File:Madonnact.JPG
Famous dance pop singer Madonna.

Notable highlights for pop music in the 1980s are Michael Jackson's second Epic label release, Thriller, which went on to become the best-selling album of all time. Michael Jackson was sometimes referred to as "The King of Pop" and Madonna was considered "The Queen of Pop". Other top-selling artists included Cher, Prince, Gloria Estefan, Tiffany, Kylie Minogue, Janet Jackson, Olivia Newton-John, Duran Duran, The Go-Go's, The Police, Tears for Fears, Cyndi Lauper, Whitney Houston, Juice Newton, Phil Collins, Laura Branigan, Talking Heads, Eurythmics, The Bangles, Hall & Oates, George Michael, Rick Springfield and Culture Club.

1990s

Among the most successful pop acts of the 1990s were R&B-influenced pop acts such as Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, Celine Dion, Michael Bolton, En Vogue, Salt N Pepa, Brandy, and TLC. Non-R&B artists such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Sheryl Crow, Eric Clapton, Jewel, and Tori Amos were also phenomenonally successful during that decade. Eric Clapton was old, but massive hits like Change The World and Tears In Heaven, made him even more famous.

The 1990s and 21st century were marked by a resurgence of boy band and girl group trends. The U.S. had New Edition, New Kids on the Block (in the late '80s and early '90s), followed by the Backstreet Boys, Hanson and *NSYNC and, towards the turn of the millennium, "pop princesses" Willa Ford, Jessica Simpson, Robyn, Mandy Moore, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera. From the UK came the likes of Take That, Blue and Spice Girls, while Australia had Kylie Minogue and Savage Garden. Irish boy bands during this period included Boyzone and Westlife. 1999 saw the rise of the Latin pop explosion with Ricky Martin at the forefront, followed by Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Paulina Rubio, and Marc Anthony.

2000s

Probably the most famous pop singer of the 21st century, Britney Spears.

In the 2000s, hip-hop blended in with pop music, paving the way for the multi-platinum successes of artists like Nelly, Eminem, 50 Cent, Ludacris, Ciara, Beyoncé Knowles, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, the Pussycat Dolls, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani and especially Britney Spears are thought to be pop artists, but lack a key element, and therefore fall under the hip hop genre. Artists such as Mariah Carey and music queen, Madonna, presented comeback albums that continued to make them rule the music charts and keep their titles. Early in the decade Kylie Minogue had what was considered to be a comeback, with hits such as Spinning Around and Can't Get You Out Of My Head. Other trends included Teen pop acts such as Disney Channel star Hilary Duff and Lindsay Lohan, awesome dance/pop/rock group Jump 5 being featured in various Disney and non-disney movie soundtracks (eg. Ella Enchanted, Sleepover, The Lizzie McGuire Movie). Jump 5 have multi-platinum and gold record sales and nine albums currently released. Reggaeton style music such as Pitbull, and "pop punk" music, such as Avril Lavigne and Good Charlotte. A few winners of reality television shows such as Kelly Clarkson of American Idol and Will Young of Pop Idol had multi-platinum record sales.

In the Arab world, familiar pop stars include Cheb Khaled, Cheb Mami and Samira Said (famous for her 2003 album Youm Wara Youm).

Sound and themes

Pop music generally uses a simple, memorable melody and may use stripped-down rhythms. It is considered to be the "best music out today".

Music videos and live performances are often used for exposure in the media, and artists may have extravagant stage shows and use choreographed dancing.

See also

References

  1. ^ *Frith, Simon (2001). The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock, p.94. ISBN 0-521-55660-0 .
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