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?