Commercial Pop
Origins
Despite bands being manufactured as early as the 1960s, pop has its roots in the 1980s, which is when record labels began to pair artists with producers to create music that was designed to apply to the mass market and be as commercially popular as possible. The musical style originally took inspiration from new wave, RnB and disco, and has gone on to influence and overlap with hip-hop and dance music. Commercial pop is responsible for the development of the boy/girl band and has a significant influence over what technology/sound becomes popular and what doesn’t.
Musical Fingerprints
Instrumentation: Vocals; synths, drum machines, electric guitars, bass guitar and drums from upbeat songs; piano and acoustic instruments for ballads.
Harmony: Very simple harmony; diatonic, 4-chord sequence (I, V, vi, IV)
Melody: Simple vocal melodies. Rapping common is pop-RnB fusion.
Lyrical content: Aimed at teenagers, so mostly about love and emotions.
Technological Fingerprints
Takes advantage of latest technology and relies heavily on it.
Clean, polished production.
Heavy use of compression and EQ.
The use of synths and drum machines allows producers to have control over music rather then the musicians/band in order to save time, space and money.
Artists
Madonna, ABBA, Spice Girls, Take That