Mainstream Pop!
Cole Supple
What are the most significant factors in the
progression of mainstream pop music since the late
1950s?
The Matter
● Music industry jobs getting slim
● What factors have changed? What will change?
● Impacts on my work and other music industry
professionals
Interviews
● Interviews with longtime industry professionals ○ Mitch Holder - Popular Veteran LA Studio guitarist○ Matt Malley - Bass player of The Counting Crows, Read Road Records, Songwriter○ Tim Godwin - Guitar player of Air Supply and Farmer, LA Studio guitarist
● Interviews with more recent industry professionals○ Phil Blackman - Professor of Entertainment Law, Ithaca College NY,
■ Producer/recording tech/mixing-mastering technician for Stevie Wonder, The Fugees○ Bjorn Englen - Popular Veteran Studio Bassist (1990s-Present)○ Austin Uphill - LA Studio Bassist (2000s)
#1s
● American Billboard Hot 100 #1 Songs● 1958-2017● Observational Elements:
○ Tempo○ Mood○ Subgenres○ Theme/Meaning○ Instrumentation○ Length○ Solos
Late 1950s - Setting the scene
● Out of Jazz era: Mainstream-Pop begins
● First pop stars emerge (ex. Elvis, Chuck Berry)
● Jazz, Vocal Ballad, Blues, Rock ‘n’ Roll
● Pop band setting established
● Average Length 2:43
1950s
● Primarily male artists
● Authentic love vs “Bad Boy” lifestyle
● Instrument solos start to emerge, mainly electric guitar
1960sPop music settles in, time for advancement
● Large infusion new sub genres
● Electric bass, Horn sections (No more big bands),
Distorted electric guitar
● Average length increases 2:50
1960s
● More diversity in late 60’s (Darker ballads, powerful rock)
● Solos starting to emerge heavily, guitar and keyboards
● Themes based on genuine love, starts to cheapen
● Music workforce thriving
TRANDAFIR, R. (2010). Time and Music. Philobiblon: Transylvanian Journal Of Multidisciplinary Research In Humanities, 1563-91.
1970s
● Addition of Soul, Funk, Disco● Same instruments start to become more diverse in effects
and production○ Innovative technology within studios and instruments
1970s
● Love!● Lyrics and mood - more physically descriptive● Fun and upbeat with wholesome deep ballads● Average song length 3:40● Solos diversify
1980sDIGITAL ERA
Everything has changed!!
10 New instruments: Digital Synth, electronic drums, electronic orchestra
20 Ballads, Techno, Rock, Ambient music, experimental
30 Studio musician necessity declining
40 Song length narrowing towards “The 3:30”, still ranges appropriately
1980s● Fun, spontaneous love, colorful, genuine love in ballads,
● Fast/Dark/Serious sounding instrumentation with positive
connotations and vocal melodies
● New wave of writing on unity, world peace
● Synth and electric guitar solos thrive
1990’s
● Everything heads to R&B and Rap/Hip-Hop begins
● Songwriting extends
● Song average to 4:15
● Electric/computerized percussion and beats, backing
vocalsSchäfer, T. (2016). The Goals and Effects of Music Listening and Their Relationship
to the Strength of Music Preference. Plos ONE, 11(3), 1-15. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0151634
1990s
● Language very obvious and sexually
suggestive/descriptive
● Instrumental solos on major decline
● Rap replacing instrument solos
2000s trails off 90s, ends in the 80s
● Trending off 90s, more upbeat
● Rap starts to take over, ballads fall away
● Late 00’s - use of electronic/computerized synth and bass
explodes
● Song length decreasing
2000s
● Love, it's mature, it's not, all of the above
● Human power, woman power, individuality
● Rarely solos after 03’ other than rap
2010s
● Mix between upbeat catchy pop/ballads/electronic● More and more piling of electronic instrumentation● “The 3:30”● Themes
○ Empowerment/Love Songs○ Expression of hard work
Lyric Intelligence Comparison
Andrew Morse - Seat Smart (Music Distribution service)
2010s
● Mix between upbeat catchy pop/ballads/electronic● More and more piling of electronic instrumentation● “The 3:30”● Themes
○ Empowerment/Love Songs○ Expression of hard work
Results: Musicians/Technology
● Technology heavily impacts each generation
○ 80s was most impactful shift
● Contributes to lower use of studio musicians
● Increased competition and struggle
Results: Songwriting/Production
● Consistency: Love is a popular topic
● Basic songwriting 1950s-early 1960s
● In-depth, innovative, late 1960s-late 1980s
● Simplified in last 30 years, uniform, especially last 10 years
● A good song is a good song
Song Length Graph
Results: Songwriting/Production
● Consistency: Love is a popular topic
● Basic songwriting 1950s-early 1960s
● In-depth innovative late 1960s-late 1980s
● Simplified in last 30 years, uniform, especially last 10 years
● A good song is a good song
Results: Artist/Image
● Picked for talent, equally for beauty
● Gradual increase in sexual emphasis on artist-image and
lyrics
● Artist has become more than just music, an entire entity
Limitations
● Contacting famous mainstream artists/managers/agents
● Culture- broad and complex effects on music industry
Mainstream Pop!
Cole Supple
What are the most significant factors in the
progression of mainstream pop music since the late
1950s?
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