What Is Pop?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 มิ.ย. 2020
- A video essay about what "pop" actually means.
Produced by Matt Beat. Music by Patrick Patrikios. All images and video found in the public domain or used under fair use guidelines.
My band: open.spotify.com/artist/62BsM...
My other channel: @iammrbeat
What is pop?
Well, the conventional wisdom tells us that it’s just whatever is popular.
As a younger man, I would smugly say “huh, ya know….pop is just short for popular, so if something enters the mainstream, it’s automatically pop.”
But I’ve been thinking a lot more about this lately, and I think I disagree with my younger self, as I often do.
Usually, the word “pop” describes not only art, but culture. More specifically, the practices and beliefs of society, and the people and objects dominant in that society. Pop culture refers to categories such as music, film and other mediums of video, video games, sports, politicians, technology, fashion, and even slang.
The Dictionary defines pop culture as “modern popular culture transmitted via the mass media and aimed particularly at younger people.”
Or here’s another one: “cultural activities or commercial products reflecting, suited to, or aimed at the tastes of the general masses of people.” Well, younger people are often the ones driving the masses of people since they are more open to new things and advertisers know they’ll often hold on to those things for the rest of their lives.
So according to both definitions I shared with you about what pop culture is, the PURPOSE of the creation is a part of the definition that needs to be emphasized.
To better understand this, let’s take music as an example. When music journalists first distinguished pop from rock in the 1960s, they classified it as music designed to appeal to everyone, as opposed to rock, which aspired to being authentic and creative, pushing the boundaries of music. But today, some of the most innovative music is classified to some degree as pop. Take Animal Collective, who are even often classified as “experimental pop.”
So let’s break this down. Say you have a musician. Often, a musician doesn’t set out to make “pop music.” They make music, and if they are so fortunate, it enters the mainstream and then becomes pop music.
When the English new wave band Japan released the song “Ghosts,” they were probably the most surprised that it was such a big hit. It is a ridiculously unconventional song. Everything about it is not what you would typically hear in a pop hit, and yet, it was popular. It was technically...pop.
Then you have another type of a musician- one who specifically is trying to make a song they know the most people will like. So what do most people like in a song? They like a song with a steady rhythm, a repetitive chord or note progression that fits that rhythm like a glove, a memorable melody that is easy to sing along to, a predictable verse-chorus-bridge structure, with the verse building up to a strong chorus, and that chorus better repeat at least 2-3 times in the song.
More often than not, this musician loves all of those elements in a song, so it doesn’t feel forced at all. But occasionally you do get a team of songwriters who might as well be a machine because they are pumping out a formula that is a much safer bet to be commercially successful.
Spotify adds at least 20,000 songs each day, and has more than 30 million songs in its entire catalog. I would argue the vast majority of these songs are wannabe pop songs. Yep, the musicians that make them strive to give them a steady rhythm, a repetitive chord or note progression that fits that rhythm like a glove, a memorable melody that is easy to sing along to, a predictable verse-chorus-bridge structure, with the verse building up to a strong chorus, and that chorus better repeat at least 2-3 times in the song. But only a fraction of those 20,000 songs released every day are actually classified “pop,” and even of those classified as “pop,” an even smaller fraction will enter the mainstream culture.
Which brings us to an interesting development- there are many, MANY subgenres of pop. There’s the aforementioned experimental pop, pop rock, power pop, synth pop, electropop, noise pop, teen pop, J pop, K pop, chamber pop, indie pop…..that’s a weird one. I would say there are 50 different definitions of what indie pop actually is. But anyway, yeah, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are lots of pops. Lots of pop subgenres.
So as a whole, pop just means stuff that lots of people just so happen to already like. It doesn’t mean it can’t push the boundaries of art and culture, but it does mean that it tends to be a safer bet to be accepted by the mainstream. Even when the mainstream ignores it, it can still be pop.
#popculture #videoessay #thebeatgoeson
What is your favorite pop song of all time?
What bands or artists should I do a brief history of next?
Stone Temple Pilots
You should do The Smashing Pumpkins!
@@maxwell9843 I definitely will at some point. :)
Tally Hall they are a very unknown rock band but also my favorite of all time
david bowie or fleetwood mac
in summary pop songs is
1). has a steady rythm
2). has a repetitive chord or note progression that fits that rythm like a glove
3). has a memorable melody that's easy to sing along to
4). has a predictable verse-chorus-bridge structure, with the verse building up to a strong chorus
5). and that chorus better repeat atleast 2-3 times in the song
No its popular music
So, "Not Pop" to this song?: th-cam.com/video/XV1AbomxueY/w-d-xo.html
How about this "Andy Dufresne"-like song?: th-cam.com/video/5-fcvnYDEJ0/w-d-xo.html
Or this "John McClane" going-to-California song?: th-cam.com/video/wYHleFFhlFk/w-d-xo.html
this comment did a better job that the video.
Pops songs are anything on the charts including most of the beatles top hits
So Super Mario Bros Overworld tune is pop..?
Pop ...corn
It's delicious and has so much variety
Cheese popcorn ftw
@@mattbeatgoeson frick yes!
Amusing enough, there's a song named Popcorn
Where'd this dude go? His videos are freaking amazing.
He's devoting more time to his main channel and probably his job teaching
He is Mr.Beat
This is a great video. Definitely do more genres.
I plan on it. Thank you!
@@mattbeatgoeson How about doing a video about Electronic Dance Music (EDM) and what is about?
Genres/sub-genres get so confusing sometimes and definitions can be so vague that it can apply to anything. I just like to keep it simple and listen to anything that sounds like rock or is just good lol. Also, love to see the Vampire Weekend representation. One of a kind band.
I'm a huuge Vampire Weekend fan.
This is such a great breakdown of pop.
I feel pop being used as a umbrella term for genres as well is something thats always fascinating to me. I mean like you got all those genres that you said but then you got stuff like Bedroom Pop, Dancehall Pop, Bubblegum Pop and so many others.
Video request on Electronic Music history would be pretty cool to see :) Evolution on genres from the USA like House & Techno or other stuff would be neat
"Pop" is just a marketing strategy from the music industry. Instead of having their mainstream arsist such as Michal Jackson, Prince, Madonna, etc saying that they make all types of music, they just label the music as "Pop" to avoid confusion and to say that their music appeals to everyone and no one in particular. When music is categorized based on the marketing appeal and not the music itself, we are not talking about a music genre but a music label.
This is great. I love your vids as I often come here for explanations in music or history of it. Please please do a history on, the band, Rush.
When I was a kid I didn't like Rush. As I've grown older I've really learned to appreciate their genius.
The Beat Goes On, yah I especially like the 2112 album because of the story that the 20 min song has behind it. And of course the other songs are awesome. I can see why you didn’t like some of their music.
Could you do a brief HIStory of Michael Jackson? That would be awesome.
^^ I’d love to see a video about him
I love how you said HIStory❣️
actually there channels entirely dedicated to him. checkout there. Like the DETAIL
I think the term pop has gone through the transference that Indi is going through. When you categorized something as…bubblegum pop (Tiffany, Britney ) or electro pop (Feist, ) . And whereas pop meant popular and indi meant indi….indi bands are no longer indi but signed to one. Indie darling Phoebe Bridgers is basically signed to a major but through an indi. It’s very hush hushed . But after strangers in the alp, they basically farmed her out to Sony and they helped her market Punisher which basically was a slam dunk. And the producers who took her sad melancholy and turned it into a rock smash like in Kyoto. You can tell by the lyrics she was going for sadness like Funeral but got a rocker one. I forget what I was saying- just really love PHoebe lol
Can you do a brief history on Jimi Hendrix?/Psychedelic rock?
I know that a lot of people dislike Bono, but he said it best (and I'm paraphrasing). «Pop music tells you that everything is alright. It lulls you. Whereas rock music tells you that nothing is alright - but you can do something about it!»
I love that quote. Thanks for sharing it!
I was like "I recognize this voice from somewhere", I looked in the description to see who the voice was and if this was a channel that had guest narrators, but it didn't click. The visual and editing style felt so similar. And then I was like "no, is it?!?" And it is! It's fuckin' Mr. Beat. Wowie.
Please do a brief on the Band Queen!
they already did that, actually! and is a good video 👍
@@victorr7275 yep watched it a while ago
I love this channel it's great
Thanks Michael! :D
@@mattbeatgoeson Your Welcome I love your voice too
Brief history of Black Sabbath?
Great suggestion!
Another good way of looking at it is as contemporary, kind of like contemporary houses or contemporary interior design style
I think I agree with your assessment of pop. A similar debacle that you could cover in a video is how music gets classified as "progressive." The term "progressive rock" generally refers to music that pushed the boundaries of rock in the late '60s and early '70s. But now it is generally used to refer to music that sounds similar or takes elements from that era of prog-rock. Should "experimental" rock nowadays be considered a new type of progressive rock, even though the genres may sound different? Related to this, King Crimson may be a good band for a brief history, (though with the long discography and a lot of lineup changes, a "brief history" may still be a long video).
Great video!
"Pop" is just a marketing strategy from the music industry. Instead of having their mainstream arsist such as Michal Jackson, Prince, Madonna, etc saying that they make all types of music, they just label the music as "Pop" to avoid confusion and to say that their music appeals to everyone and no one in particular. When music is categorized based on the marketing appeal and not the music itself, we are not talking about a music genre but a music label.
Hey, Mr. Beat! You should definitely do a video on the brief history of Mariah Carey. Seriously! Her singing voice is so angelic!
Puke
thankyou for this video it helped me in by assignment
Woah you serious? 😳
Hey man what about a video for the king of pop?? ❤️
You should do a brief history of Death Grips :) good video
My dogs called Indy. She kept jumping up every time you said “Indie Pop” 😂
I would love to see a brief history of The Gorillaz
I want a description of pop sound and the creations
You should do a brief history of the ink spots
"Pop" is shorthand for popular music but its also a genre. There are artists who aren't very "popular" who make pop music
"Pop" is just a marketing strategy from the music industry. Instead of having their mainstream arsist such as Michal Jackson, Prince, Madonna, etc saying that they make all types of music, they just label the music as "Pop" to avoid confusion and to say that their music appeals to everyone and no one in particular. When music is categorized based on the marketing appeal and not the music itself, we are not talking about a music genre but a music label.
You should do more videos on rock bands the Beatles one was great
Matt, I had no idea you had a second channel!
Prime example of experimental pop would be Silver Apples. They were just as experimental, as they were pop.
Brief history of Oasis please!!!!!
For me when I think of pop I think of a steady kick drum and a certain type of snare it’s hard to explain but the drums almost make the genre but not really…
Please Do an Oasis Brief History!!!
instructions unclear:
my 14 year old cousin's favorite song is Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict
"Pop" is just a marketing strategy from the music industry. Instead of having their mainstream arsist such as Michal Jackson, Prince, Madonna, etc saying that they make all types of music, they just label the music as "Pop" to avoid confusion and to say that their music appeals to everyone and no one in particular. When music is categorized based on the marketing appeal and not the music itself, we are not talking about a music genre but a music label.
Pop is it's own genre with it's own characteristics.
Very accurate in what people like in a pop song nowadays 😂
Also if they use a guitar there's like 4 open chords for the songs
The magic formula :D
When will we have a video about Kansas....... the band?
I was listening to them just this morning.
@@mattbeatgoeson You should call that Mr. Beat guy, he seems to know about all types of Kansases
@ I call him all the time. Sometimes he even answers.
@@mattbeatgoeson So, you call yourself?
What happened bro I love your videos come back
Do a brief history of pearl jam or alice in chain
Anything in the charts but it’s never always the main genre like the beatles singles are pop but are also their respective genre
Pop music is the stuff that comes out of your butt into the toilet bowl every morning.
Tyler 💛
I have come up with a new style of music where I strum A E and D and sing slightly out of tuner and out of time- oh wait Bob Dylan already did that.
That's pop
When I'm trying to figure out what genre of music this is and I get pop, I say, "heh, okay, very funny, but really?" i.e. If the piece wasn't popular, where would it be classified?
What is pop really? Is pop a separate genre with its own sound, or is pop any genre that rises to high popularity surpassing its genre on the top 200 billboards overall charts? I believe pop can be any genre, not specifically a genre on its own with its own original formula and sound elements. Is pop just radio-friendly records that can easily cross over fanbase genres or target and hit large or multiple fanbases? what is pop really? make a video and explain to me what makes pop pop. Cause every genre seems to have a pop song? I'm confused now, been thinking about this for a while now. I need some answers.
Show less
Hey make vid on Oasis
What about a 2pac doc?
If there are distinctions between types of pop then why is pop treated like an umbrella term
I see taylor I click
Brief history of green day
Do history of Stone Temple Pilots next!
Such a great band.
@@mattbeatgoeson favorite band of all time can't belive they were hated in the beginning
@@mattbeatgoeson I'd be interested in this one. :-)
wall of voodoo
To me pop culture is the dumming down of culture to make it more palatable for a mainstream massive audience. This is why you never hear bands like Big Black on commercial radio.
At 14 years old I was listening to things like fIREHOSE, PiL and early Sonic Youth. None of which was pop music in 1986.
...or maybe those artists simply suit a niche audience?
What if your fourteen year old cousin is a wannabe hipster who only likes things that are weird, obscure, difficult, and inaccessible?
Direct definition of pop: Jump to 5:13
What if my 14 year old cousin likes heavy metal
So is that pop
The pop subgenre that seems the most contradictory to me is punk pop.
But isn't punk just pop basically?
My girlfriend made me watch this
I feel bad for u
Pop is shit
Trust me leave her its better u cant trust these people
Correction: It is called Soda, not Pop.
But pop cant just be popular music since indie music is more "cool" than pop these days
Mr. Beat, I have some suggestions you should cover in future videos.
Brief histories:
Queen
Katy Perry
Aerosmith
Selena Quintanilla
The Chainsmokers
Calvin Harris
Miley Cyrus
Demi Lovato
Selena Gomez
Metallica
Maroon 5
Lady Gaga
Avril Lavigne
Movies:
Mean Girls
Grease
Toy Story
The Lion King (1994)
RoboCop
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Friday
Wow, what a list. Thank you!
ABBA
shake that hind make it pop pop pop
I should have said this in the video.
*"Younger people hold on to stuff they know for the rest of their life"*
Keep than in mind while listening to pop!!
P.S. But when you say Pop music its better to think of songs that have constant quantized beat (usually the hi hat rolls), falsetto singing, basic singing melody........
While rock has that distorted guitar etc
And country is you know country!!!
For example, (I'm a huge Linkin park fan and this is just for example purposes) LP's old song sounds *rock*, while their latest songs mainly in Heavy you van see the difference!!!
I know little of music but it seems to me that for something to be popular by young people, it has to come from a younger artist. If Taylor Swift released her music when she was 70, I think it would automatically be rejected by the same young people who liked her music. It seems like kids will almost dislike music BECAUSE their parents like it. I could be wrong but it always shocks me how rappers today are more popular than amzing bands from the past like Queen or the Eagles.
So heavy metal was 70's pop?
Why not? Its newer than Bach
Pop Music means Music that is Popular like Rock,Rap etc
Pop Artists are Artists that are Popular like The Beatles,MJ,Madonna etc
Pop is short for Popular
Pop is not a Genre
I wouldn’t count Pop Music as a Music Genre it’s all Genres
People need to stop calling Pop Music a Genre
@Donjanay550 yes but it’s all genres
Main stream=Sheep policy 🙊🙊
HEE HEE
Is Nirvana Pop?
Bleach= no. Nevermind= somehow yep.
@@mattbeatgoeson In Utero?
@@myless.5493 In Utero was not supposed to become pop, but it also became it lol
I thought pop was a different word for R&B lol
Depends. Much of contemporary R&B is very much pop.
Quick answer ?, SHIT ! .🤣
You're sht, Jazz and classical are sht
@@Miist3rDuce1 🤣
@@technomad1770 🤣 to you
5:16 not true. i love rocknroll and im 14 years old.
Pop rock, as the name suggests, is a rock subgenre. So it shouldn't be on that list. The same also goes for power pop and noise pop.
Miley cyrus and selena gomez made songs that are pop rock so can some of their catalog be rock music
i wish he had make a continuty to this with "what is progressive music" or something like that smh
amogus
Please don't let these bands slip you by.
The Edgar Broughton Band ( BEST UNDERGROUND BAND EVER)
BLACK SABBATH
RAINBOW ( Richie Blackmore)
KISS
GUNS & ROSES
FREE
AC/DC
Pixies
BOX TOPS
American Breed
The Troggs
Dave Clark 5
The Shadows
The Venture
Manowar
Iced Earth ====SOLID
Soundgarden
The 69 Eyes ==== SOLID
Jefferson Airplane / Starship
CREAM
YARDBIRDS
LED ZEPPELIN
DEEP PURPLE
URIAH HEEP
CACTUS
BLUE CHEER
APRIL WINE
ATOMIC ROOSTER
POCO
C S N & Y
MOTORHEAD
VANILLA FUDGE
Paul Revere & The Raiders ( Mark Lindsey)
SPENCER DAVIS GROUP ( Stevie Winwood)
GRAND FUNK RAILROAD
JESUS AND MARY CAIN
TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS
STP
CLASH
SEX PISTOLS
FRANK ZAPP
DOORS ( & JIM MORRISON)
LIVE
JOHN MAYALL BLUESBREAKERS
BAD COMPANY
FAT MATTRESS (Noel Redding ex-Jimi Hendrix)
ALICE COOPER
STEPPENWOLF
THE WHO
COUNTRY JOE & THE FISH
GRATEFUL DEAD
MANFRED MANN / EARTHBAND
BYRDS
MARC BOLAN/ T.REX
THE MOVE
SMOKIE
ELO
ELP
SEETHER
TRAVELLING WILBURYS
I AM RUNNING SHORT OF SPACE HERE.>>>>>>>////
Eva Cassidy, during her time as a signed Blue Note artist famously said: "I won't do that Pop crap." Eventually, she was let go, "did her day job" and played what she liked at Blues Alley in the evening. In time, Blix Street Records began to record her covers, and the locals began to take notice. I wonder if the A&R people at Blue Note had treated her differently, she might have had the career of, say, Norah Jones?
Brief history of Alt - J ??
If you call pop “stuff you’re 14 year old cousin like” does that mean Radiohead is pop? If so then 😭😭😭
I do not understand.
Well dangit.
ahaha I don't listen to Pop, I'm so qUiRKy ahaha
Haha same who would listen to pop when you have prog rock
I try to be quirky but always come back to pop.
@@mattbeatgoeson you quirky if you listen to somebody that i used to know tho
im 13 yrs old and i love rock ,i dont think that pop is for 14 ir olds
What was the point of this video?
Idk
14 year old cousins like pop?
Too confused 😬😬
so...today I learned that this kind of music always was as horrible as it is today.
Try again
Short Answer: Cancer
You're cancer
I appreciate this video, it will help me in my journey through life 🫡
Then why isn’t hip-hop pop
Because it is not. The style is different.
@@cedriclhomosapienfunky9160 yeah but if pop just references what ever is popular then why is hip-hop not considered pop
@@ernestobetisto2322 that would make Eminem and Tupac pop stars
@@codeblack423 Which they kind of are.
cool
Your younger self was right
lol the last statement......
Sir I am 15 but am already a man of culture that loves his polyphia and your statement is very wrong.
Chillax ppl i know its not a serious statement.
First
YAS. Welcome.
trash?
pop? more like- poop
Yeah current pop, definitely!
No need to have a 5 minute video explaining what it is because I can tell you in one word: bad