If you are a music fan who watches music channels such as MTV or listens to radio stations such as Radio 1, chances are you have come across a style of music which is slowly taking the world by storm – ‘pop-rock’. Pop-rock is a blend of two of the world’s most popular music genres, rock (derived from rock and roll) and pop (which had it’s beginnings in the 1950s and 1960s). Taking the best from both worlds, pop-rock has led to the success of hundreds of artists and bands over the years, allowing their music to appeal to a large and diverse set of music fans all over the world.
Although musicians, scholars and fans alike disagree on the very definition of ‘pop-rock’, it can be described as a softer, more melodic version of rock; or conversely, a harder, edgier version of pop. With the success of music television, the internet, and mp3 downloads, it is little surprise that pop-rock has become a force to be reckoned with. Bands everywhere are trying to make themselves appealing to as large an audience as possible, and in doing so have mixed and matched their genres. Downloadable mp3’s have also made it possible for fans to hear a wider variety of music and to gain access to band’s back-catalogues and unreleased album-tracks, and as such music fans can now hear songs which may not have initially fit the band’s stereotypical ‘rock’ or ‘pop’ classification due to their ‘pop-rock’ leanings.
Far from being a passing trend, pop-rock is proving so successful in the Top 40 singles charts and in gaining radio airplay that it appears that the genre is set to stay!
Although musicians, scholars and fans alike disagree on the very definition of ‘pop-rock’, it can be described as a softer, more melodic version of rock; or conversely, a harder, edgier version of pop. With the success of music television, the internet, and mp3 downloads, it is little surprise that pop-rock has become a force to be reckoned with. Bands everywhere are trying to make themselves appealing to as large an audience as possible, and in doing so have mixed and matched their genres. Downloadable mp3’s have also made it possible for fans to hear a wider variety of music and to gain access to band’s back-catalogues and unreleased album-tracks, and as such music fans can now hear songs which may not have initially fit the band’s stereotypical ‘rock’ or ‘pop’ classification due to their ‘pop-rock’ leanings.
Far from being a passing trend, pop-rock is proving so successful in the Top 40 singles charts and in gaining radio airplay that it appears that the genre is set to stay!