Thursday, November 21, 2013
Popular Music Again, Maybe
This essay topic is very broad so I'm not sure if this really applies or not, but I'm thinking of a question something along the lines of “Here in the West, how do we define pop music and how do other genres of music bleed into that genre?” or something of that sort. Popular music obviously has a link to popular culture because it's... well, popular. I feel like I know enough about pop music, but more importantly I want to focus on other music that is not considered pop, but it popular anyway (which I know a bit about as well). If I had to respond to this question right now, I suppose I would delve into catchy song structures, choruses, and melodies the way I meant to in my previous presentation for the class concerning popular music. I would say that as long as a song has a catchy chorus it has potential to become popular. However, what is it about some non-pop artists that allows them to rank high in the top 100? I have more rock/metal/grunge artists in mind, but I could be even more specific and mention all genres of artists that aren't classified as pop. I would definitely need to do more research on that.
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This research paper will be a great reflection of the passion you have for music! I like your idea of narrowing your subject down to music that has its own subculture—music that is not popular with the mainstream culture. You can use the theme of the catchy chorus to prove your point that even in subculture “pop music” there is a key element of a successful refrain.
ReplyDeleteI would be careful about mentioning “all genres of artists not classified as pop,” since we must narrow our topics. Additionally, I think it would be difficult to limit pop music to one geographic location (the west) of the U. S. because the billboard would be argued as the chart that represents popular music for America.
Hello, Ray! I agree with you that popular music obviously has a link to popular culture, because it is a big part of popular culture. It is very good you know enough about pop music, and it is great that you are going to research. You can concentrate on some specific research questions. You can formulate your research question for better focus on the topic.
ReplyDeleteI wish you good luck in this final project!
I like your research question. Are you saying the West in comparing pop music within the United States or other countries? Though, I think it’ll be a little hard to find scholarly articles on the subject. I do like how you’re going to research how a song becomes popular. In your essay you can describe how the genres you want to write about are different from each other and how there’s more of a presence to different parts of the world.
ReplyDeleteYour research question is interesting. I've never really understood what "pop" music was (a vague and probably wrong idea that it was happy, jumpy music, but no real clue). On the occassions I listen to the radio I hear music that is popular playing over and over again, but they come from a variety of genres. For your question on how other genres bleed into the "pop" genre maybe you could find an example of a song that isn't in that genre being redone so it has a more pop genre feel? I'm not sure if there are any out there but it's worth a shot. Since the research essay has to be focused I don't think you should include all genres that aren't pop because that could make your essay too broad. The same goes for "here in the West." Is the West you're referring to the western United States or the Western hemisphere of the world? Good luck on narrowing your topic and conducting your research!
ReplyDeleteCool topic and interesting question to research on and answer. I think it might be cool to somehow incorporate why music is popular, not just because of the catchy chorus' or melodies, but because it provides an escape, pumps our adrenaline, sparks memory, or encourages creativity. It wouldn't be the main topic of your essay, but I think by incorporating this it might help strengthen some of the points that you will make.
ReplyDeleteAlso, super funny, I never thought about "pop music" meaning "popular music". I just thought of pop as upbeat, and sort of peppy. Thanks for that.