Is Pop Music Really So Simple?

Spectralmusic · 04-27-2017, 04:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tore

I think sometimes, it's simple and sometimes it could be hard.

Let's say you have a great composer and their task is to make a hit pop song. In other words, the task is to make a song which should be popular with a lot of people, most of which know little about music or are not really serious music consumers. Obviously, the song should be in traditional time, or else these people will get confused. It needs a few hooks - some simple melody that gets stuck in your head. It needs to be familiar so as to not throw people off - probably the standard verse, bridge, chorus setup. But, a really good pop song also has a slight edge - something new, like a new sound, something that will pique people's interest and make it stand out (but again not enough to confuse them).

All of these things could come together relatively easy because the composer just happens to get a great idea. Or it could not. But even though it could be hard to make these things come together, it's pretty clear that there are some constraints you need to keep in mind when making pop music. It has to be catchy, it currently has to be in traditional time and you basically can't stretch the formula too much. So, pop music is not necessarily simple to make, but the musical toolbox that you can use to make it is certainly smaller.

I agree, pop music is so constrained that once you go out of those parameters it becomes something else almost entirely. These parameters despite being very derivative, are what people have come to expect from this style of music.

This makes pop music very fascinating to me, when it comes to innovating. The area to work is so constricted that I sort of admire anyone that is able to innovate and be effective (and marketable) with those restrictions.

In a way, it's a similar conceptual idea (on the surface) to Webern or jingles (yes).

This all said, I'm not a fan of "pop music" (in the genre/style sense), I talk from a background in contemporary/modernist classical and the avant garde (metal, rock and jazz)

jaw123 · 04-27-2017, 02:50 PM

there is definitely a pop music template that i see as less of a constraint and more of a guideline. there is a time and a place.

The Batlord · 04-27-2017, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pansy gayboy 69

riri > abba

.

**Goofle** · 04-27-2017, 04:01 PM

Obvs.

derek · 05-07-2017, 05:49 PM

Kpop fuses different genres... a lot of times one song feels like several different songs all in one which is what i like about it. I look at these songs having different 'twists'as examples. They are changing the game really.

derek · 05-09-2017, 05:47 PM

another surprise around the 1:00 mark , they were able to pull it off musically... american pop needs to do it like kpop...

op
another thing i would like pop artists to do is make songs from different genres or concepts...this group here can do bubbly pop catchy songs while also doing R&B/pop too...the beauty is not knowing what to expect.

just totally different song from the one above.

derek · 05-19-2017, 11:11 PM

making the rock vibe in kpop still amazes me...

derek · 06-16-2017, 11:01 PM

oh the twist....surprise surprise

Dylstew · 06-17-2017, 05:06 PM

Pop music isn't really a genre on its own, it's kind of an adjective genre where it changes the kind of sound of another genre into something more accessible, digestible and catchy. You can turn edm into pop, hip hop into pop, r&b into pop, rock into pop, punk into pop , post-punk into pop (new wave), jazz into pop, ska into pop, etc. And then you can also take a middle route and mix the two. Plus ofc sounds change over decades.

I believe there is some music we just deem 'pop" but I deem that as something that is poppy but lacks an existing genre tag so we call it pop.

The Batlord · 06-17-2017, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dylstew

Pop music isn't really a genre on its own, it's kind of an adjective genre where it changes the kind of sound of another genre into something more accessible, digestible and catchy. You can turn edm into pop, hip hop into pop, r&b into pop, rock into pop, punk into pop , post-punk into pop (new wave), jazz into pop, ska into pop, etc. And then you can also take a middle route and mix the two. Plus ofc sounds change over decades.

I believe there is some music we just deem 'pop" but I deem that as something that is poppy but lacks an existing genre tag so we call it pop.

Dude, "pop" is just Madonna and her descendants.

05-07-2017, 05:49 PM	#105 (permalink)
derek Music Addict Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 778	Kpop fuses different genres... a lot of times one song feels like several different songs all in one which is what i like about it. I look at these songs having different 'twists'as examples. They are changing the game really. __________________ ------------------- WARNING: DONT WATCH IF YOU'RE A PRUDE Stellar...."Vibrato" music video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOmTdFpIDX8 Last edited by derek; 06-22-2017 at 08:33 PM.

05-09-2017, 05:47 PM	#106 (permalink)
derek Music Addict Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 778	another surprise around the 1:00 mark , they were able to pull it off musically... american pop needs to do it like kpop... op another thing i would like pop artists to do is make songs from different genres or concepts...this group here can do bubbly pop catchy songs while also doing R&B/pop too...the beauty is not knowing what to expect. just totally different song from the one above. __________________ ------------------- WARNING: DONT WATCH IF YOU'RE A PRUDE Stellar...."Vibrato" music video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOmTdFpIDX8 Last edited by derek; 05-10-2017 at 08:47 PM.

05-19-2017, 11:11 PM	#107 (permalink)
derek Music Addict Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 778	making the rock vibe in kpop still amazes me... __________________ ------------------- WARNING: DONT WATCH IF YOU'RE A PRUDE Stellar...."Vibrato" music video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOmTdFpIDX8

06-16-2017, 11:01 PM	#108 (permalink)
derek Music Addict Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 778	oh the twist....surprise surprise __________________ ------------------- WARNING: DONT WATCH IF YOU'RE A PRUDE Stellar...."Vibrato" music video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOmTdFpIDX8

04-27-2017, 02:50 PM	#102 (permalink)
jaw123 Groupie Join Date: Apr 2017 Posts: 16	there is definitely a pop music template that i see as less of a constraint and more of a guideline. there is a time and a place.

06-17-2017, 05:06 PM	#109 (permalink)
Dylstew Music Addict Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 1,366	Pop music isn't really a genre on its own, it's kind of an adjective genre where it changes the kind of sound of another genre into something more accessible, digestible and catchy. You can turn edm into pop, hip hop into pop, r&b into pop, rock into pop, punk into pop , post-punk into pop (new wave), jazz into pop, ska into pop, etc. And then you can also take a middle route and mix the two. Plus ofc sounds change over decades. I believe there is some music we just deem 'pop" but I deem that as something that is poppy but lacks an existing genre tag so we call it pop.