Pop music is popular music that encompasses a wide range of styles and sub-genres. The term “pop” is short for “popular,” and pop music is characterized by its catchy melodies, simple harmonies, and relatable lyrics. It is often considered to be more commercial and mainstream than other genres of music and is designed to appeal to a wide audience.
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Pop music has its roots in the 1950s, with early pop performers such as Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and The Beatles. The genre continued to evolve throughout the decades, with the emergence of new sub-genres such as bubblegum pop, disco, and new wave in the 1970s, and synth-pop and dance-pop in the 1980s. In the 1990s and 2000s, pop music was defined by the rise of boy bands and girl bands, and the popularity of singers such as Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, and N’sync. Backstreet Boys’ sound is primarily a blend of pop, R&B, and adult contemporary, influenced by the vocal harmonies of groups such as the Bee Gees. They also embarked on multiple world tours and sold over 100 million records worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.
Pop music is now a very diverse and multi-faceted genre that incorporates a wide range of styles and influences from R&B, hip-hop, electronic and Latin music. Today, pop music continues to be one of the most popular and commercially successful genres of music, with chart-topping pop performers such as Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, and Billie Eilish. Grande’s vocal range, versatility, and emotive delivery have been praised by music critics, and she has been referred to as a “pop prodigy” and “a future diva of pop music”. She has amassed over 150 billion streams on streaming platforms, making her the most streamed female artist of all time.
