Post 4: The Pop Music Genre

Pop music is the most famous and popular genre of music we have today. Many artists/groups such as One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Khalid and One Direction. Have gone on to become global stars. The average pop song has a tempo of 116 beats per minute but happier songs will have a higher bpm and more sad song will have a lower one. However, there is a wide range as Perfect by Ed Sheeran only has a 63 bpm but Master of Puppets by Metallica has a bpm of 220.

History

Pop music started with the publishing of sheet music. During this period, many Americans turned to their pianos for entertainment. Families gathered during celebrations and let their children play their piano pieces. Hence, just as music sheets were transcribed for symphonies and orchestras, so too, sheet music for popular songs became a phenomenon throughout the country. Even those who did not have pianists within their families had the chance to listen to music by inviting friends who played into their homes.

In addition, to meet the demand for sheet music, publishers set up their own companies. They would look for talented composers, printing their music for sale, which was the start of the music publishing industry as we know it today.During this period, another music form started to make its way in America. Apart from “pop" music and surfacing through church hymns, ballads, and classical music, “jazz," the so-called new music of the times, was known to be “daring" and even “shocking" for many.This music genre has a unique African beat that was developed by Black musicians in the mid-west, south, and east. This, together with the “blues," another African-derived art form, helped transform music.

With the expansion of the music genres came diversity. Due to the popularity of jazz and blues with African Americans, these genres received the label of “race music." The genre “rhythm and blues" was later attributed to the Black community. Meanwhile, what was considered as “pop" was referenced to whites.Amid the roadblocks to pop music, the industry continued to grow and soon, the barriers between races blurred. Those considered as “pop" musicians started borrowing rhythms from jazz and blues musicians. By the early 1950s, this musical blend gave birth to “rock and roll."

Indeed, pop music as it is today would not be what it is today without that evolution. Pioneers of rock music include Muddy Waters, Ike Turner, Louis Jordan, Little Richard and Bo Diddley. They served as the role models of later artists such as Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Bill Haley, and lots more who made it big. From then on, more superstars rose through the ranks and made pop music like no other–superstars and worldwide icons like The Beatles, The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Manfred Mann, Cream, etc.During this era, pop music diversified into many other related genres such as Acid Rock, Disco, Techno, and Dance–and we can't forget Rap.

This graph shows how Pop has become the most popular music genre in recent years:

Rap music, part of the inner-city cultural move known as “Hip-Hop," started in the 1980s. During its birth, mainstream companies still did not accept it as just another trend. However, when America embraced Rap, it soon took over the scene.Since then, for more than 25 years already, this genre has outsold Gospel, Country, Rock, R&B, and even Jazz. Today, Rap ranks second to pop when it comes to appeal, marketability, and profits. This genre has produced such stars as Eminem, Pink, Beck, Rage against the Machine, and others.With the birth of lots more genres of pop music today–from Post-Grunge, Hard Rock and Heavy Metal, Pop Punk, Emo, Electronic Music, K-Pop, and others–pop music continues to be a huge part of culture. Although times have changed, the history of pop music has left its mark on generations of music lovers, with more generations to come.

Genre Hybridity 

Pop often crosses over into many other genres some the genres it's crossed over into are:

• Hip hop
• Dancehall
• Latin music
• Rock
• Counrty
• Jazz
• Rock n Roll

Despacito

This song is primarly a pop song however it is a good example of genre hybridity as it crosses over with latin music. As the majortiy of the song is in spanish.

It is a reggaeton and Latin pop song composed in common time with lyrics about having a sexual relationship, performed in a smooth and romantic way. Commercially, the song topped the charts of 47 countries and reached the top 10 of six others, making it both Fonsi's and Daddy Yankee's most successful single to date. In the United States, it became the first song primarily in Spanish to top the Billboard Hot 100 since "Macarena" (Bayside Boys Mix) in 1996, subsequently tying the longest-reigning number one on the Billboard Hot 100 at the time with 16 weeks, as well as becoming the longest-running number-one on the Hot Latin Songs chart with 56 weeks. It also became the first Latin song to receive a diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America. Internationally, it broke the record for most weeks at number one in Switzerland and Germany and became the longest-reigning foreign language number-one in the United Kingdom. In August 2017, the official music video for "Despacito" became the most-viewed YouTube video of all time after receiving its three billionth view. It became the first video on the site to reach the milestones of three, four, five, and six billion views.