Pop Rock

Pop rock is a hybrid of pop music and rock music that uses catchy pop style, with light lyrics over top of guitar-based songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from it being classed as an "upbeat variety of rock music" to a subgenre of pop music. Scholars have noted that pop and rock are usually depicted as opposites; the detractors of pop often deride it as a slick, commercial product, whereas advocates of rock claim that rock music is a more authentic, sincere form of music.


The textbook American Popular Music defines pop rock as an "upbeat variety of rock music represented by artists such as Elton John, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, Chicago, and Peter Frampton."In contrast, music reviewer George Starostin defines it as a subgenre of pop music that uses catchy pop songs that are mostly guitar-based. Starostin argues that most of what is traditionally called 'power pop' falls into the pop rock subgenre. He claims that the lyrical content of pop rock is "normally secondary to the music." Critic Philip Auslander argues that the distinction between pop and rock is more pronounced in the US than in the UK. He claims in the US, pop has roots in white crooners such as Perry Como, whereas rock is rooted in African-American-influenced forms such as Rock and Roll. Auslander points out that the concept of pop rock, which blends pop and rock is at odds with the typical conception of pop and rock as opposites. Auslander and several other scholars such as Simon Frith and Grossberg argue that pop music is often depicted as an inauthentic, cynical, "slickly commercial" and formulaic form of entertainment. In contrast, rock music is often heralded as an authentic, sincere, and anti-commercial form of music, which emphasizes songwriting by the singers and bands, instrumental virtuosity, and a "real connection with the audience".Simon Frith's analysis of the history of popular music from the 1950s to the 1980s has been criticized by B. J. Moore-Gilbert, who argues that Frith and other scholars have over-emphasized the role of "rock" in the history of popular music by naming every new genre using the "rock" suffix. Thus when a folk-oriented style of music developed in the 1960s, Frith terms it "folk rock", and the pop-infused styles of the 1970s were called "pop rock." Moore-Gilbert claims that this approach unfairly puts rock at the apex, and makes every other influence become an add-on to the central core of rock. Examples: The categorization of groups as "pop rock" is subjective, and music critics and journalists have differing opinions on which category a band should be placed in. Billboard magazine provides one perspective on how to categorize "pop rock" groups from the 1970s to the 2000s. Other perspectives from other magazines and individual music journalists and critics are also provided.

1970s Billboard magazine considers the pop/rock performers or groups from this era to include The Jackson 5, Three Dog Night, Elton John, Diana Ross, Bee Gees, Fleetwood Mac, Donna Summer, Billy Joel, and Olivia Newton-John, among others. The Encyclopedia Britannica calls the Bee-Gees an "English-Australian pop-rock band that embodied the disco era of the late 1970s." A university course on the history of popular music claims that Three Dog Night were "one of the most popular bands of the late Sixties early Seventies; pop rock, singles-oriented sound with soul-influences.

2000s Billboard magazine considers the pop/rock performers or groups from this era to include singers such as Kelly Clarkson, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, and Nelly Furtado, pop punkers Blink-182, and ska rockers No Doubt. Other groups include U2, Backstreet Boys, TLC, 'N Sync, Nickelback, Paramore, hip-hop artist Eminem, and Creed, among others.



2010: Articles MUSIC