Post 4: The pop music genre

The Chainsmokers

Ed Sheeran

Pop music is defined as music which is appealing to a general audience, as opposed to music that targets a specific demographic. This is due to the general short nature of the songs, often 2 and a half to 3 and a half minutes long, with consistent rhythmic themes throughout. Through the use of a mainstream style and a traditional structure, complete with melodies, a chorus and catchy hooks, this genre of music is currently one of the most popular genres that exist complete with these codes and conventions. Goodwin theorised genre codes and conventions for music videos, being the relationship between the lyrics, music and iconography. There are many different ways that an artist can construct this relationship, however, I chose to take inspiration from the video 'Shape of You' by

'Shape of You' music video

Ed Sheeran, for using an amplificatory narrative. The lyrics entail a very basic love story, however, the visuals add a new layer of meaning to it by have Ed Sheeran and the girl meet and form a bond over the sport of boxing. In my video, I then planned to include an amplificatory narrative through the use of an ex-girlfriend running after her boyfriend in a variety of scenarios. This was in order to provide pleasure to the viewer and encourage repeat viewings, which will increase the chances of Venture becoming a commercial success. The genre of pop was first used in 1926 to describe music with a broad appeal, however, first gained widespread use in Britain in the mid-1950s, but was instead used to describe the rock and roll music genre. From 1967 onwards, the term pop music was becoming separated from rock music and was forming its own musical genre. Over the years, the hybrid-nature of pop has grown, with early pop music having use of gospel and soul vocal harmonies. Recently, the genre of dance and EDM has been a large influence for pop music, with songs such as Closer by The Chainsmokers and Shape of You by Ed Sheeran exhibiting such features. Shape of You features a catchy chorus repeated, along with a consistent melody throughout. Through using these codes and conventions this song falls into the pop music category. This has influenced my initial ideas through my song choice of R U Crazy by Conor Maynard. A repeated chorus is featured, along with a hook of the word no repeated, all put over an EDM inspired backing melody consistent through the track. This results in the song being in the genre of pop, which allows me to stick to the brief.