The Unfan

This is still the catchiest pop song ever written.

OOS

To me, pop is any music with a focus on vocals and rythym, which uses relatively simple arrangment and statements to make a point. Although, to be honest, music defined as "pop" is so varied that there really isnt a set definition.

ikvat

Pop or not?


Sebastien Tellier - La Ritournelle

Farfisa

60's pop ftw

MSPaintClock

Pop is the third elf of the Rice Krispie elf family, you know they are not Rice Krispie when you do not hear the Pop.

Astronomer

Ugh this question has been asked and attempted to be answered so, so many times.

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euphoria z

In a broad sense, pop is any music based on memorable melodies, repeated sections (usually, but not always, verses and choruses), and a tight, concise structure that keeps the listener's focus on those elements. Pop as a musical style, however, began in the late '90s and early 2000s, when a pair of major forces began narrowing and focusing commercial tastes. First, the heavy influence of rap and R&B made the pop singles charts more homogeneous than ever. Then, the advent of the television contest American Idol further centralized what people agreed on as pop music. As such, Pop is primarily influenced by the time's two most broadly popular styles: R&B and adult contemporary. The sound of Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears in the mid-to-late '90s was of prime importance to the genesis of Pop, as were R&B superstars Aaliyah and R. Kelly, both of whom had a heavy adult contemporary angle to their material. By the 2000s, a parade of varying artists were catering to the mainstream with a similar type of pop music — artists as diverse as Destiny's Child, Black Eyed Peas, Faith Hill, Maroon 5, Keith Urban, and AmIdol alums like Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken. Not everything they recorded was Pop, but in varying degrees they included several bids to the mainstream each year and on each album. Although the essentials of songcraft were still much in abundance, their songs were as much about production as performance.

mr dave

copying and pasting from allmusic.com doesn't make you look smart.

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i am the universe

euphoria z

Why bother posting the source when you insist on doing it for me anyway?

Mojo

Because if you don't people will rightly think that they are your own words.