Research Into The Pop Genre

History of the Pop Genre

•David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop music as "a body of music which is distinguishable from popular, jazz and folk music's". Although pop music is often seen as oriented towards the singles charts it is not the sum of all chart music, which has 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. Thus "pop music" may be used to describe a distinct genre, aimed at a youth market, often characterized as a softer alternative to rock and roll.

•The term "pop song" is first recorded as being used in 1926, in the sense of a piece of music "having popular appeal.” Hatch and Millward indicate that many events in the history of recording in the 1920s can be seen as the birth of the modern pop music industry, including in country, blues and hillbilly music.

•From about 1967 the term of ‘pop’ was increasingly used in opposition to the term rock music, a division that gave generic significance to both terms.

•Throughout 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, country, and rock music, orchestration from classical music, tempo from dance music, backing from electronic music, rhythmic elements from hip-hop music, and has recently appropriated spoken passages from rap.[3]

•The early 1980s, the promotion of pop music had been greatly affected by the rise of Music Television channels like MTV, which "favoured those artists such as Michael Jackson and Madonna who had a strong visual appeal".[

•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.[

•Characteristics of the typical pop music genre:

-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.

-much pop music is intended to encourage dancing, or it uses dance-oriented beats or rhythms.

Source- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_music

Pop Artists

The artists/bands associated with the pop genre are:

Best known previously for co-writing the massive Miley Cyrus hit "Party In the USA," 22 year old UK singer-songwriter Jessie J has tremendous buzz following her in the music industry. She is a recent winner of the annual BBC Sounds of 2011 poll as the most promising new artist of the year. Her single "Do It Like a Dude" has just surged into the top 5 in the UK and is available as a digital download in the US. The debut album Who You Are is expected to hit stores in the spring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOf3kYtwASo

Arguably the highlight artist of 2011 is Adele, a British pop singer who has won over fans internationally in recent months, has reportedly described her musical style as a “heartbroken soul.” Some of her latest hits are: “Someone Like You,” and “Rolling in the Deep.” Since the January release of her second album, 21, Adele has sold out her entire North American tour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLQl3WQQoQ0&ob=av2e

2010 is the year Bruno Mars exploded into public consciousness as songwriter, producer, featured singer, and solo artist in his own right. Early in the year he hit the top 5 twice as the featured vocalist on B.o.B.'s #1 debut "Nothin' On You" and Travie McCoy's big solo hit "Billionaire." By fall Bruno Mars was at Number 1 with "Just the Way You Are," the lead single from his debut album Doo-Wops and Hooligans. Bruno Mars' voice is one the key sounds of pop music in 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjhCEhWiKXk&ob=av2e

And many other artists like, Micheal Jackson, Lily Allen, JLS, Ellie Goulding, Kelly Clarkson, Pink and Lady Gaga.

Examples of a Pop Magazines

• Masthead is bold and outlined.

• House Style- Very bold, bright colours used like pink and yellow which ensures the readers will get attracted to from far away.

• Main Coverline is bold and is bigger than the other coverlines. Also in a bright colour so is eye-catching.

• Main Image- Famous artist, direct eye-contact for connection with audience and all of them are smiling which makes the reader feel invited.

• Most of the magazines use pink on the cover which connotes that the magazine is aimed at a female audience.

• Most coverlines are subjected on boys, fashion, beauty and pop artists.

Top of the Pops- Cover

• There is always one medium-close up of an famous artist on the covers. The images are of males which the audience or attracted to, or females who are inspirational to the female audience. This could reinforce the fact that the pop genre has diversity. The artist is always quite current in a music aspect, which creates an interest base for the readers.

• Furthermore the image is always against a plain background , in order for the dominant picture to stand out.

• The coverlines are placed all the way round the image in a rule of thirds layout, which reflects the magazine is clear, and well organised.

• The male pictures are shown to reflect attitude, which can refer to style of music, as it controversial and expresses the emotions towards life and to show there not afraid. It shows them to be quite powerful, and often jewellery is used to represent there status and wealth. However the males are represented as being quite attractive and seductive to show there masculinity, therefore appeals to the opposite sex and the female target audience.

• The images all have direct eye contact with the audience, making them feel invited. They are also always smiling to create a comfortable atmosphere for the readers. The imagery and connotations from the main image is bubbly, happy and happiness.

Typical Content/Articles in a Pop Magazine

‘We Love Boys’- latest, hottest male artists.

Horoscopes and ‘Your says’ which gets the reader involved.

Fashion related coverlines which fashion related images

Lures and Competitions

Image of Pop artists/bands.

Interview on famous celebrity who is featured on the cover.

Gossip and fashion ‘faux-pas’ on celebrities