Pop music originated in the 1950s and 1960s in the Western world, borrowing from various genres like rock, country, and gospel. It is characterized by catchy melodies and hooks, songs that are 2-3 minutes long, and lyrics focused on simple themes like love. Though aimed mostly at teenagers, pop music has a wide audience and includes subgenres like bubblegum pop and electropop. Music videos for pop songs typically feature bright colors, choreography, and close-ups of the artist to complement the upbeat music and appeal to youth.

2. POP MUSIC
Pop music is a term that derives from ‘Popular music’.
As a genre it is extremely eclectic and borrows elements from other
music styles such as dance, rock and country.
There are however some elements that are specific to the Pop genre,
such as melodic tunes, hooks, a repeated chorus, and often a verse-
chorus structure.

3. HISTORY
Pop music originated in the western world during the 1950s and 1960s,
however the term ‘pop song’ is first recorded as being used in the
1920s.
Through its development, pop music was influenced by many other
genres of music. Early pop music used sentimental ballad for its
form, and through the genre’s developed borrowed elements from
gospel music, soul, jazz, country, rock, hip-hop, and more recently
rap music.
The term ‘Pop music’ however, was coined in Britain in the mid 1950’s,
describing rock and roll with new youth styles. This form of pop
music as we know it today was performed by artists such as The
Beatles and ABBA.

4. MUSIC CHARACTERISTICS
Pop music as a genre has many defining characteristics:
• A catchy melody, or hook
• Reflects existing trends rather than progressive developments
• A focus on production and recording, rather than live performance
• Songs between 2.30 and 3.30 minutes in length
• A chorus that contrasts with the verse (rhythmically and melodically)
• Lyrics tend to focus on simple and recurring themes, eg love

5. AUDIENCE
Pop music has a conventionally wide audience, and appeals to a
general audience, rather than to a specific sub-culture, yet tends to
target a young teenage audience more than an older audience.
There are, however, sub-genres deriving from the pop genre. For
example bubble-gum pop, electropop, K-pop, and Europop.
SUB GENRES
Bubble-gum
Pop K-pop
Electropo
p

7. BRIGHT COLOURS AND LIGHTING
Music videos for the pop genre often have bright colours and lighting to
reflect the often upbeat melodies of pop music, and to help appeal to
a youthful audience. Using bright colours also helps the video to
stand out, and reflects positive messages often featured in the lyrics
of pop songs.

8. A LINK BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS
There is often a link between the visuals of the of the music video and
the lyrics of the song, to make both the video and song more
memorable for the audience, whilst reiterating the song’s key themes
and messages through the music video.
‘Man on a
Wire’
‘Telephone
’

9. CHOREOGRAPHY
Pop music videos usually feature choreographed dancing due to the
upbeat melodic tunes of the song, as well to make the video more
visually dynamic and positive.

10. CLOSE UPS OF THE ARTISTS’ FACE
Pop music videos also often feature close-up shots of the artists’ face,
as in the genre there is emphasis on the creation and the artist of the
music.