This document provides information about pop music, including its history, key artists, genres, and conventions. It notes that pop music originated in the 1950s from rock and roll and is generally very commercial, memorable, and uses catchy choruses/verses. Key historic artists mentioned include Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Britney Spears. The document also discusses genres like teen pop, pop rap, and how hybrid genres are formed through combinations. Finally, it outlines conventional features of pop music, such as its structure, promotion methods, visual styles in music videos, and characteristics of the teen pop and pop rap subgenres.
2. Features Of Pop Music.
The most significant feature of the pop music
industry of the late 18th and early 19th centuries
was the extent of its focus on the commodity form
of sheet music. Pop 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. The goal is to automatically
create visual content in responses to the feature
extracted from the music. To give a visually
coherent representation of the sound.
History
Pop music is a genre of popular music which
originated in its modern form in the 1950s,
deriving from rock and roll.
The terms popular music and pop music are
often used interchangeably, even though the
former is a description of music which is
popular while the latter is a specific genre
containing qualities of mass appeal.
The phrase “pop music” was first coined
around the middle of the 1920′s, it meant a
piece of music had “popular” appeal.
Numerous things that took place during the
recordings of the 20′s could be seen as being
the start of the modern day pop music
industry, which includes rhythm and blues
music, as well as, country, folk, and others
3. Key Artists
50’s: 1956: Elvis Presley emerges as one of the
worlds first rock stars. With so many hit songs, he
was referred to as the king of rock n roll. He is one of
the best-selling solo artist in the history of popular
music.
1957: John Lennon meets Paul McCartney in March
1957 and formed a skiffle group called The
Quarrymen. McCartney met Lennon on 6 July 1957,
and agreed to join the group a few days later.
Late 1950s: The English rock music group Beatles
was formed. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George
Harrison, Ringo Starr were the members of the
group.
60;s: 1960: Pete Best joins the Beatles; the group
invited Pete Best to be their drummer on 12 August
1960. Four days after hiring Best, the group left for
Hamburg. The Beatles began a 48-night residency in
Hamburg at Bruno Koschmiders Indra Club.
1961: American country singer Patsy Cline becomes a
mainstream pop music hit. Cline was the first female
vocalist who adapted to the change and became a
successful pop singer.
4. 80’s: 1983: The red hot chilli
peppers were formed.1983:
Michael Jackson popularizes the
moonwalk. The moonwalk or
backslide is a dance technique that
presents the illusion that the dancer
is stepping forward while actually
moving backward.
1985: Michael Jackson releases
"Thriller“ and the video becomes a
classic, and is still one of the most
notable videos to date now.
1985: Britney Spears emerges as a
star of the music world. At age 8,
she made her musical television
debut on Star Search. In 1999, over
1 million copies of "...Baby One
More Time" were sold in the first
week after release.
90’s: 1990s: Various famous
groups made pop music more
popular Grunge rock was formed
in Seattle, Backstreet Boys were
formed. As well as this, the movie
"Titanic" and the song “My Heart
Will Go On," became popular.
1992: Radiohead releases their
first single, "Creep“.
2000’s: 2002: Increased impact
of television shows, Kelly
Clarkson becomes the first
American Idol.
2003: Marshall Mathers, known
as Eminem, rapper of the
evergreen "The Slim Shady LP“
gained popularity. Eminem was a
radio and video superstar. In
2003, he won an Oscar for the
song "Lose Yourself," from "8
Mile". He was the first rapper to
win an Oscar.
2009 June 25: Death of Michael
Jackson. American singer
Michael Jackson died after he
suffered cardiac arrest at his
home in the Holmby Hills
neighbourhood in Los Angeles.
5. Hybridisation
Hybridisation in the terms of genre is the process of combining different
varieties of genres to create a hybrid (mixture/fusion). This is used a lot
within the music industry as some songs cannot be categorised under just
one genre, so they create a sub genre through hybridisation.
Examples within the genre pop include:
• Pop punk: e.g. Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
and Paramore.
• Pop rock: e.g. The Beatles, Elton John and Paul McCartney,.
• Pop-folk.
• Pop-rap: e.g. Drake, Wiz Khalifa and Nicki Minaj.
• Progressive pop: e.g. City Boy and Hawkwind.
• Teen pop: e.g. Justin Bieber, Jordin Sparks and Taylor Swift
• Brit Pop: e.g. Oasis and Blur.
6. Conventional
Features
Within the music industry, pop tends to follow current trends rather than
being independent and making something new, unique and different to
hear. Songs usually follow a form of a verse-chorus-verse structure and
uses hook lines which are catchy therefore, stays in the audiences mind.
Pop music promotion is via radio stations and magazines. In the UK Pop
songs are guaranteed to be heard everyday on well known radio stations.
Artists are clothed in fashionable,
stylish and mainstream outfits. In the
current day hair and makeup is used
in music videos to commutate the
artist feeling, views and express a
message; it plays a major role in pop
music videos.
Mis-en-Scene
• Bright colours and
lighting
• Lots of makeup and
fashion accessories.
• Set in a range of places
including studios,
school lockers, walking
down the street etc.
Editing
• Photo-shopped artists to create a flawless appearance.
• Tints and filters to boost colours.
• Different shots of artists in different outfits.
Camera
• Many close ups of artists
face.
• Long shots of
partying/scenes.
• Mid shots emphasising their
outfits/makeup.
7. Conventional Features of Sub Genre
Teen Pop
Teen pop is a subgenre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards
preteens and teenagers. It copies genres and styles such as pop, dance, R&B, hip hop,
country and rock. Typical characteristics of teen pop music include: auto-tuned vocals,
choreographed dancing, emphasis on visual appeal, lyrics focused on teenage issues
such as love/relationships, finding yourself, friendships, coming of age, fitting in, and
growing up, regardless of the artists' age and repeated chorus lines.
Example: Christina Aquilera
Pop Rap
Pop-rap (also known as hip pop) is a genre of music fusing the rhythm-based
lyricism of hip hop music with pop music's preference for melodious vocals and
catchy tunes, which gained mainstream popularity during the 1990s. The lyrics
are often lighthearted, with choruses similar to those heard in pop music. The
influences and roots of pop rap trace back to late 1980s hip hop artists, such as
Run DMC, LL Cool J, and Beastie Boys.
Examples: Wiz Khalifa, Snoop Dog, T-Pain
