The document provides an overview of popular music genres from the 1950s through the 2000s. In the 1950s, rock 'n' roll emerged alongside R&B and helped bridge racial tensions during the civil rights movement. The 1960s saw the British Invasion and the influence of genres like Motown. Progressive rock and punk rock rose to popularity in the 1970s. Hip hop became widely popular in the 1980s alongside other electronic genres. Rap experienced a "golden age" in the late 1980s. Teen pop and dance-pop continued in the 1990s alongside hip hop, R&B, and electronic genres like house and techno. Into the 2000s, teen pop acts dominated early on while hip hop, rock,

1. Mariya Ahmed
Media Studies AS Timeline
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
1950’s
In the 1950’s the music of the decade reflected the cultural changes that were happening at the time
but they still followed their norms and values from the past. Racial tensions were being strained with
the beginning of the civil rights movement and music reflected many of those tensions. A lot of
people believe that during the fifties many of the white artists stole music from African-Americans
and exploited on it for their own benefit in a way that the original artists could not. Some people
believe that the popularization of R&B and Rock 'n' Roll only helped to bridge the gap between
blacks and whites and further the civil rights movement.
There were many popular music genres in the 1950’s such as Rock ‘n’ Roll, the artist which were in
this category included Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and many more. Traditional Pop
was also popular, and the artists which were included in this category were; Dean Martin, Peggy Lee,
Pat Boone and many more. Country music was very popular and the artists which made country
music popular were Johnny Cash, Gene Autry, Conway Twitty and many more. Lastly, Rhythm and
Blues music was popular, the artists which were in this category included Little Richard, Frankie
Lymon & the Teenagers and many more.
1960’s
The 1960's were a time of upheaval in society, fashion, attitudes and especially music. Before 1963,
the music of the sixties still reflected the sound, style and beliefs of the previous decade and many
of the hit records were by artists who had found mainstream success in the 1950s, like Elvis Presley,
Ray Charles, Dion, and The Everly Brothers. In 1963 and the years to follow, a number of social
influences changed what popular music was and gave birth to the diversity that we experience with
music today. The "British Invasion" also began around 1963 with the arrival of The Beatles on the
music scene and the type of rabid fandom that followed them would change the way people would
view and interact with music and musicians forever.
The popular music genres in the 1960’s were British Invasion which included The Beatles, The Who,
and The Rolling Stone etc. Another example would be Motown/R&B which includes The Four Tops,
The Drifters, and The Miracles etc. Also, Surf Rock & Psychedelic Rock were popular, in this category
artist such as The Beach Boys, The Champs, The Kingsman were included. Roots Rock and Hard Rock
was also popular, the artist who were included were people such as Janis Joplin, Roy Orbison, The
Rolling Stone etc.
1970’s
Following the counterculture of the 60s, the 70s created a trend of relaxing music as well as dance
music. There were still the bands and artists that continued to speak of the ills of society, typically
characterized by the punk music in the latter part of the decade. The 1970's was not a unique
decade in terms of creating innovations in musical styles and genres, but it was unique in that it was
a musical bridge connecting the hippie lifestyle of the 1960s with the characteristic yuppie lifestyle
that was about to occur in the 1980s.
The popular music genres in the 1970’s were for example Disco/Club which included artist such as
The Bee Gees, ABBA and The Jacksons. Also, Progressive Rock was popular which included artist like
Kansas, Lake & Palmer and Rush. Also, Punk Rock/New Wave was popular, and the artists which
were in this category included people such as the New York Dolls, The Clash and The Misfits. Funk &
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2. Mariya Ahmed
Media Studies AS Timeline
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
Soul music was also popular in the 1970’s, and the artists which was included in this category were
for example; The Jackson 5, James Brown and Wink & Fire.
1980’s
The 1980s saw the development of pop, dance music and new wave. As the term disco fell out of
fashion in the decade's early years, genres such as post-disco, Italo disco, Euro disco and dance-pop
became more popular. Rock music continued to enjoy a wide audience; sub-genres such as new
wave, soft rock, and glam metal emerged and developed a significant following. Adult
contemporary, quiet storm, and smooth jazz gained popularity. During this decade, several major
electronic genres were developed, including electro, techno, house, freestyle and Eurodance, rising
in prominence during the 1990s and beyond. Throughout the decade, R&B, hip hop and urban music
in general were becoming common, particularly in the inner-city areas of large, metropolitan cities;
rap was especially successful in the latter part of the decade, with the advent of the golden age of
hip hop.
1990’s
Popular music in the 1990s saw the continuation of teen pop and dance-pop trends which had
occurred in the 1970s and 1980s. Furthermore, hip hop grew and continued to be highly successful
in the decade, with the maintenance of the genre's golden age. Aside from rap, contemporary R&B
and urban music in general remained extremely popular throughout the decade; urban music in the
late-1980s and 1990s often blended with styles such as soul, funk and jazz, resulting in fusion genres
such as new jack swing, neo-soul, hip hop soul and g-funk which were popular.
Similarly to the 1980s, rock music was also very popular in the 1990s. Electronic music, which had
risen in popularity in the 1980s, grew highly popular in the 1990s; house and techno from the 1980s
rose to international success in this decade, as well as new electronic dance music genres such as
trance, happy hardcore, drum and bass, intelligent dance and trip hop. The decade also featured the
rise of contemporary country music as a major genre, which had started in the 1980s.
2000’s
The popularity of teen pop carried over from the 1990s with acts such as Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC,
Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera dominating the charts in the earlier years of the decade.R&B,
which was very successful in the early years of the 2000s, saw a steep decline in popularity
throughout the decade. This was in part due to the rise of hip hop and subgenres such as crunk and
snap music, even though a fusion of these styles with R&B in crunk&B and snap&B saw success in
the mid-to-late 2000s.Despite the hip hop power, particularly Southern hip hop which lasted for
most of the decade (particularly the middle years), rock music was still popular, particularly
alternative rock, and especially genres such as post-grunge, post-Britpop, nu metal, pop punk, emo,
post-hardcore, metalcore and indie rock; the decade also saw the garage rock and post punk
revival.Despite a slight slip of popularity in the early part of the decade, adult contemporary and
country music were still able to find success throughout the 2000s.Electronic music was also highly
popular throughout the decade; at the beginning of the 2000s, genres such as trance, chillout,
house, indietronica, and Eurodance (in Europe) were popular, yet, by the end of the decade, danceoriented forms of electronic music, such as synthpop, electro pop, nu-disco and electro house had
become popular.
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