2. The History of Pop
“Pop” is short for “Popular” meaning that the music genre’s name in a long term is called
“Popular music”.
The reason for this is because it has a catchy rhythm and beat so that it’s more memorable thus
appealing to almost, all of the music listeners and the public.
Pop music was started in the 1930-40s by the first major pop stars in history, The Crooners. This
fashion was then followed by solo artists such as Frank Sinatra who was seen as to be the first
modern pop star.
Pop music is believed to have only started to be acknowledged in the 1950s where the genre has
been derived from rock and roll.
However, pop music charts didn’t exist until 1952. Its been said that the time period pop music
came to existence, was when there were loads of “teenagers” about after the WW2.
The Beatles are known to have revolutionized pop by writing their own songs and music. As well
as giving it a particular fashion which still remains followed through ‘til today. Thanks to them,
they inspired a generation to write their own material and to follow the genre of pop.
Boy bands started to form due to their good looks and were given catchy songs to sing to which
lead them to fame and fortune.
After the era of the forming of boy bands, female pop stars started to emerge onto the pop
music charts such as Britney Spears and Mariah Carey.
3. Key artists in the development of pop / at the
moment (who has the biggest profile?)
There are a few artists that are still around ever since the development of pop such as Mariah
Carey who started her career in 1988. Another pop sensation is Britney Spears who started her
career in the music industry in 1992. These girls were around when pop was still being recognized
as a music genre and have continued to carry on creating their own material of pop music into
the new millennium.
There are quite a few solo pop artists that are quite known in the music industry such as Justin
Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift. There are also some pop groups such
as The Saturdays, Girls Aloud, Spice Girls, One Direction and JLS.
I would say that the pop artist that currently has the biggest profile in the music industry is Katy
Perry due to the fact that her music can apply to almost everyone even if they are children or
grown ups. At the moment, she has just made a massive come back into the music charts with
her latest single “Roar” and her latest album release “Prism”. She is also preparing for a
worldwide tour next year.
4. Audience / fans – who are they? Demographic?
I think that pop music is aimed at straight/bisexual/homosexual girls (mainly from
ages 9 to 15) and bisexual or homosexual males (mainly from ages 17 and 24), from a
white background (E.g. British white),who are middle class. The reason why I believe
that most of them are girls is due to the large amount of boy bands that exist in the
pop industry such as One Direction and JLS.
Their fans mainly consist of girls who are fans of their music as well as their looks. I
think that most of them are from a white background, due to the number of pictures
of crowds outside gig venues that the majority consist of white girls who are most
likely to be fans of the pop artist performing at the gig. The fans will also consist of
them preferring pop music above all other genres.
5. Sub genres of Pop
There are different sub genres that can be influenced by pop music.
Some of these sub genres are:
•Bubblegum pop (Upbeat sound which appeals mainly to teens)
•Christian pop (Lyrics focus mainly on the matters of faith in God)
•Dance-pop (Up-tempo pop music, used in night clubs)
•Teen pop (Pop music that is orientated towards preteens and teenagers)
•Soundtrack (Music that accompanies motion pictures)
•Traditional (AKA classical) pop (Consists of western pop music)
6. Public perception of the genre
I believe that pop is a popular genre that has mainstream appeal meaning
that most of the majority of the public are more keen to listening to pop
music as it is catchy and has a memorable beat to it.
Pop music has a mainstream appeal to teenagers because most of the pop
artists are young looking and their songs are quite rhythmic so that they can
remember the songs easily. Plus, most of it is enjoyable and happy which
could influence a positive attitude on teenagers.
However, if the song is catchy and is played constantly on music channels.
The public might grow to enjoy the song more and even feel younger due to
the young pop artists singing the song and the catchy beat that comes along
with it, so that they’d end up remembering it and singing along to it.
7. Record labels / key industry figures?
There are some records can work with pop artists so they’d sign artists that
work in pop music.
Some of these record labels include:
•Capitol Music Group – Signed Katy Perry
•Fascination Records – Signed The Saturdays
•Island Records – Signed Justin Bieber
•Polydor Records – Signed Lady Gaga
8. Competition – what are the other magazines covering the
genre? How many do they sell each issue? How often do
they come out? What sort of features do they contain?
‘We love pop’ is an magazine that is mainly related to
pop artists.
Their average number of sales for each issue is about
42,864.
The magazine comes out on a monthly basis.
Their magazine contains features such as interviews,
fashion advice, music reviews and information on the
pop artist.
‘Top of the pops’ is another magazine that is also
dedicated to the what goes on in the pop music
industry.
The average number of sales for each issue is about
63,483.
The magazine releases a new issue every month.
They include a variety of features such as
interviews, celebrity gossip, fashion, competitions,
information on the music artist and music reviews
9. Cross media – what other media covers that genre?
TV stations / shows? Radio stations / shows?
Websites?
There’s also other types of media that covers Pop music.
Some of them are:
•Music Channels
•Radio stations
•Music TV Stations
•Online streaming (Such as Youtube)
•T.V Shows
•Posters
10. Predictions for the future? How might the genre
develop? What direction does it appear to be heading in?
I think the genre might develop in a more urban genre meaning that more of the pop music will start
to apply other music genres into it, such as R‘n’B. Fusing together R‘n’B music with pop is called
urban pop. I believe that the genre might lose its touch of being fun, positive and dance-able. This is
due to the young artists of pop such as Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus who are currently two of the
biggest pop icons that have a target audience of teenage girls. However, Justin Bieber is also aimed
at children from as young as 6 years old which could affect how the children of the younger
generation will start to see pop as it changes during developing.
Pop appears to be heading into the direction of still continuing on but losing a bit of its original roots
ever since it started. By this, I mean that since R‘n’B is now one of the most used genres that is being
applied to pop, it might lose its touch of being fun and influencing a positive attitude as well as
people not writing their own material anymore since there a loads of song-writers that will whip up a
catchy song and they’ll sing it. Also, I believe pop will not be about the music anymore. As there are
now more and more boy bands being formed in the genre of pop, that it’s now all relying on looks to
earn them fame, not the music. The part of them singing is all just to make them look ‘talented’ so
that girls will find them more attractive and thus will buy their music whether they can sing or not. I
don’t think pop music at the moment seems to be developing on a original matter due to the young
pop artists of today but they could always still follow the original roots of the genre and continue on
the legacy of pop.
