The definition of pop music is purposefully flexible as the music that is identified as pop is constantly changing. At any particular point in time it may be easiest to identify pop music as that which is successful on the pop music charts.
For the past 50 years the most successful musical styles on the pop charts have continually changed and evolved. However, there are some consistent patterns in what is identified as pop music.
Pop music (a term that originally derives from an abbreviation of "popular") is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented towards a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.
Pop music has absorbed influences from most other forms of popular music, but as a genre is particularly associated with the rock and roll and later rock style
In the history of music, the term 'pop music' was first used in 1926. It was used to describe 'a piece of music having popular appeal'. Commercially recorded music, consisting of relatively short and simple love songs is known as 'pop music'.
It is associated with the 'rock and roll' style, often tailored for the youth market, which utilizes technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.
Pop music history states that the term 'pop music' originated in Britain in the mid-1950s which implied 'concerts appealing to a wide audience' or 'the non classical music, usually in the form of songs', performed by such artists as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Abba, etc.
If you go through 80's pop music history, you will notice that pop music, throughout its development has been influenced by most other genres of popular music.
Pop music picked up instrumentation from jazz and rock music, vocal harmonies from gospel music and soul music, formed from the sentimental ballads, tempo from dance music, support from electronic music and spoken passages from rap.
In 1950s television was introduced and visual presence of pop stars helped to gain more popularity. In 1960s, cheap portable transistor radios were introduced, which helped the teenagers to listen to music outside of the home.
By 1980s MTV favored the artists such as Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna who had a strong visual appeal. Widespread use of the microphone, multi-track recording, and digital sampling were the other technological innovations which were responsible for the increasing popularity of pop music.
Though pop music had been dominated by the American music industry, most regions and countries have their own form of pop music. In 1980s video technique was introduced and pop albums became still more popular.
The American pop music history provides us information about the fact that the 1960s and '70s saw a number of important changes in American popular music, for instance, the development of a number of new styles, including heavy metal, punk, soul and hip hop.
1. Pop Music History Timeline:
1964
Apr 4, 1964 - During the week of April 4, 1964, two months after their arrival in the US, the Beatles set a record that is likely never to be broken when they occupied all five of the top positions on Billboard's Top Pop Singles chart, with "Can't Buy Me Love?
1967
Jun 1, 1967 - June 1, 1967, is arguably the most important landmark in the history of pop music. The Rock'n'roll era commenced with 'Rock Around the Clock', with its opening up of the whole world of African tribal music and the unfettered emotion that went with it.
1970
Mar 27, 1970 - She was born Mariah Angela Carey on Long Island, New York, on March 27, 1970. Her mother, an Irish-American opera singer and vocal coach, Patricia Hickey, named her after the song "They Call the Wind Mariah" from the Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon.
1981
Aug 1, 1981 - MTV went on the air on August 1, 1981, and produced its first Video Music Awards just three years later. That makes for almost three decades of marrying the most popular pop music with televised spectacle.
1984
Nov 30, 1984 - Gergana was born in 30th of November, 1984 in Dimitrovgrad. In fact Dimitrovgrad is the house of Payner Music, and the place where producer made its first steps. This helped for the singer to realize her dream and to sing pop-folk music.
1995
Aug 1995 - single "You Are Not Alone", released in August 1995, is the second single from Michael Jackson's album History. The song was the singer's final Number 1 single of his career. The song was a significant success.
1998
Jul 15, 1998 - Both quoted in N. Strauss, "Japan's Pop Music Scene: Tomorrow, the World?"
2006
Aug 14, 2006 - It was said that on the 14 August 2006 Ryan would release "Je t'adore" in the UK for which exclusive mixes by Credheadz were commissioned, but the release was shelved, close to the release date. It did however enjoy heavy rotation on the UK's music channels ...
2007
Jun 7, 2007 - The Italian singer Adamo mainly made his career in Belgium. 2010
Mar 9, 2010 - "Pop", The Oxford Dictionary of Music. Accessed online on March 9, 2010.
Article about: History of Pop music, Timeline of pop music history events
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