Music Banter - View Single Post - Pop a watered-down version of other genres? Unfair generalization, I say.

Rainard Jalen · 03-26-2007, 10:50 AM

Regarding the common tendency to address "pop" as simply a watered down version of "the real thing", so to speak... I find this to be among the grossest of over-generalizations.

I think an important distinction ought to be made. You have, on the one hand, chart pop music, which covers pretty much any really widely listened to (as in, top 30 material) commercial format (with obvious exceptions here and there), such as the usual adult-alternative radio pop-rock stuff you find, most urban-contemporary music, mainstream rap and so on. Generally it is true that this sort of music tends to be pretty simple in terms of song-structure, and pretty unadventurous, derivative even, in terms of melody, chord progressions, sound/instrumental arrangements and lyrical content. It's designed, for the most part, for the consumption of a mass audience and had that in mind from its inception, so creative concerns naturally come in second place to commercial motivations. In that sense, one could say of it that it is, in quite a few ways, a watered down version of something else.

But pop music has another completely different meaning entirely, at the same time. Pop, and various forms that fall under its banner, may also refer to the more fun, lighter, happier side of alternative rock music. That is to say, music that tends to use rock's instruments, but relies more on bouncy, sugary melodies; quirky, perhaps even jocose and playful instrumental ideas; more humor-based lyrical themes; and the like. This sort of music rarely has much in terms of commercial motivations, and isn't even marketed in a way such that it would end up producing chart hits. It can be just as creative and experimental as alternative rock music. It would be wrong to call it a "watered-down" version of alternative rock, because it's not attempting to imitate that - it's something completely different, a unique entity in its own right. A different sort of music. In fact, it could be said that SOME chart pop is a watered down version of the type of music I describe in this paragraph.

Many rock fans tend to scorn at any mention of even so much as the word "pop". My feeling is that this attitude is born as a result of failing to make the distinction between chart "pop", and the pop side of experimental rock.

What do others think on this matter?

03-26-2007, 10:50 AM	#1 (permalink)
Rainard Jalen Music Addict Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 2,221	Pop a watered-down version of other genres? Unfair generalization, I say. Regarding the common tendency to address "pop" as simply a watered down version of "the real thing", so to speak... I find this to be among the grossest of over-generalizations. I think an important distinction ought to be made. You have, on the one hand, chart pop music, which covers pretty much any really widely listened to (as in, top 30 material) commercial format (with obvious exceptions here and there), such as the usual adult-alternative radio pop-rock stuff you find, most urban-contemporary music, mainstream rap and so on. Generally it is true that this sort of music tends to be pretty simple in terms of song-structure, and pretty unadventurous, derivative even, in terms of melody, chord progressions, sound/instrumental arrangements and lyrical content. It's designed, for the most part, for the consumption of a mass audience and had that in mind from its inception, so creative concerns naturally come in second place to commercial motivations. In that sense, one could say of it that it is, in quite a few ways, a watered down version of something else. But pop music has another completely different meaning entirely, at the same time. Pop, and various forms that fall under its banner, may also refer to the more fun, lighter, happier side of alternative rock music. That is to say, music that tends to use rock's instruments, but relies more on bouncy, sugary melodies; quirky, perhaps even jocose and playful instrumental ideas; more humor-based lyrical themes; and the like. This sort of music rarely has much in terms of commercial motivations, and isn't even marketed in a way such that it would end up producing chart hits. It can be just as creative and experimental as alternative rock music. It would be wrong to call it a "watered-down" version of alternative rock, because it's not attempting to imitate that - it's something completely different, a unique entity in its own right. A different sort of music. In fact, it could be said that SOME chart pop is a watered down version of the type of music I describe in this paragraph. Many rock fans tend to scorn at any mention of even so much as the word "pop". My feeling is that this attitude is born as a result of failing to make the distinction between chart "pop", and the pop side of experimental rock. What do others think on this matter?