Pop music is a broad term which has been used to describe a number of popular and commercially viable musical styles over the last 70 or so years. While ‘pop music’ may now be considered a genre in its own right, the term was first used in 1926 to describe all music that had a popular appeal. Some of the musical genres that have reached large scale popular appeal over the years include rock and roll, folk, jazz, hip hop, Reggae music, RNB, and electronic dance music. Many of the acts that have become part of the pop music industry initially started out in their garages and their bedrooms, only to hit the big time years later.
The standard format of all pop music is the song, which is normally between 3 and 5 minutes in length and includes a vocalist along with other instrumentation. While there are some modern electronic dance pop songs that are longer than 5 minutes and do not feature a vocalist, these are still few and far between compared to those that do follow these ‘rules’. Pop music is also recognisable by its rhythmic structure, its verse and chorus interplay, and its focus on a melodic hook. While there are a number of stylistic differences in the musical genres that contribute to pop music industry and culture, all pop songs feature at least some of these elements.
Early pop music was based around big bands and lone crooners, with rock music coming along in the late 1950s to stir things up a bit. Rock and roll has played a large part in pop music’s history, and even today there are heaps of rock songs in the commercial charts. The 1970s and 80s saw a rise in ‘black’ music, including motown, disco, and hip hop. Synth pop came along in the 1980s, and electronic dance music was soon to follow in the late 80s and 90s. Over all of these years we have also seen a rise in the pure pop song, and the pure pop genre – which is influenced by many other genres of music, but is unmistakable ‘pop’ in nature.
An identifiable pop culture and industry have sprung up over the last few decades, with many people arguing that what was once an individual pop aesthetic has turned into a recognisable pop music genre of its own. Many of the pop songs that you can hear on the radio today are ‘pop music’ in style only, and do not relate to any other specific musical genre. Other pop songs however, are simply the more popular elements of another musical genre that has been accepted by the pop culture and industry. It is some of this genre based music, that may have started off in carports and garages around the world, which has had the most impact on popular music over the decades.
Underground music styles like grunge rock and hip hop have come from specific geographical areas and groups of people and managed to influence global pop culture in a big way. From the Rap garages (Garagen) at the beginning of the 80s to international stadium domination in the new millennium – rap and hip hop music is one of the best examples of how a small and underground musical genre has come along and taken over the world of pop music. Many genre based musicians who started out in their garages and bedrooms not even thinking about commercial success are now those people who are dominating the entire industry of pop music.