Styles of pop music: Difference between revisions

Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.^[1] The terms popular music and pop music are often used interchangeably, although the former describes all music that is popular and includes many disparate styles. During the 1950s and 1960s, pop music encompassed rock and roll and the youth-oriented styles it influenced. Rock and pop music remained roughly synonymous until the late 1960s, after which pop became associated with music that was more commercial, ephemeral, and accessible.

Although much of the music that appears on record charts is seen as pop music, the genre is distinguished from chart music. Identifying factors usually include repeated choruses and hooks, short to medium-length songs written in a basic format (often the verse-chorus structure), and rhythms or tempos that can be easily danced to. Much pop music also borrows elements from other styles such as rock, urban, dance, Latin, and country.

Below is a list of styles of pop music.

Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western popular music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards or American standards. The works of these songwriters and composers are usually considered part of the canon known as the "Great American Songbook". More generally, the term "standard" can be applied to any popular song that has become very widely known within mainstream culture.

AllMusic defines traditional pop as "post-big band and pre-rock & roll pop music".^[2]

Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s.^[3] It originated from black American music such as gospel, jump blues, jazz, boogie woogie, rhythm and blues,^[4] as well as country music.^[5] While rock and roll's formative elements can be heard in blues records from the 1920s^[6] and in country records of the 1930s,^[5] the genre did not acquire its name until 1954.^[7]

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 and rock music, orchestration from classical music, tempo from dance music, backing from electronic music, rhythmic elements from hip-hop music, and spoken passages from rap.^{[1][verification needed]}

Below are genres that exclusively considered as subgenres of pop.

Note that music styles like dance, electronic, opera, and orchestra are not considered as standalone genres.

Below are styles of pop music that mixed with other standalone genres.

The mentions of the fusion of disco with pop music under the term "disco-pop" can be traced back to the late 1970s, during the peak of the disco's popularity, where the 1976–1979 works of Michael Jackson^[8], ABBA^[9], Elton John^[10], Boney M.,^[11] the Salsoul Orchestra^[12] are all referred to as "disco pop". By 1979, the dominance of high-pitched, mainstream disco-pop on the charts and the increasingly exclusive and individualistic nature of the dance scene caused many recent disco enthusiasts to reevaluate their connection to the disco genre.^[13]

In the 2000s, a number of disco-pop hits, such as "Sing It Back" by Moloko^[14] or "Murder on the Dancefloor" by Sophie Ellis-Bextor^[15][16], have achieved high positions in the international charts.

During the late 2010s and early 2020s, the genre experienced a significant resurgence,^[17][18] when artists like Dua Lipa and Jessie Ware, among others,^[19][20][21] released albums that garnered high chart positions and critical acclaim.^[22]

House-pop (sometimes also called "pop-house")^[23] is a crossover of house and dance-pop music that emerged in early '90s.^[24] The genre was created for make house music more radio friendly.^[25] The characteristic of house-pop is similar to diva house music, like over-the-top vocal acrobatics, bubbly synth riffs, and four-on-the-floor rhythm. House-pop also has hip-hop influence.^[24]

Pop soul / Motown is a genre of soul music that has upbeat tempo and given a commercially viable, crossover production.^[27] The vocals are still raw, but the material and the sound of the record could easily fit onto pop radio stations' playlists. Motown was the pioneering label of pop soul, and through much of the 1960s, it was one of the most popular pop music genres. In the 1970s, pop soul became slicker, and it eventually metamorphosed into disco.^[28] Luther Vandross is an example of pop soul musician.^[29]

Street pop, or street hop, is an experimental, hybrid rap genre that blends Nigerian street music, Nigerian hip hop, Afrobeats and pop with African and Western electronic dance music elements like gqom. It features uptempo beats, including slower-paced beats and variation styles. The genre combines Western and Nigerian pop influences to create a distinctive, evolving sound. Key musical artists like Olamide, Asake, Zinoleesky, Naira Marley and Seyi Vibez, highlight its fusion of traditional and modern elements.^[30][31][32]

Below are pop music that related to avant-garde culture.

Below are 'pop' genres that are not considered as pop musics.