Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR , contemporary hits , hit list , current hits , hit music , top 40 , or pop radio ) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts . There are several subcategories, dominantly focusing on rock , pop , or urban music . Used alone, CHR most often refers to the CHR-pop format. The term contemporary hit radio was coined in the early 1980s by Radio & Records magazine to designate Top 40 stations which continued to play hits from all musical genres as pop music splintered into Adult contemporary , Urban contemporary , Contemporary Christian and other formats.
68-495: The term "top 40" is also used to refer to the actual list of hit songs, and, by extension, to refer to pop music in general. The term has also been modified to describe top 50 ; top 30 ; top 20 ; top 10 ; hot 100 (each with its number of songs) and hot hits radio formats, but carrying more or less the same meaning and having the same creative point of origin with Todd Storz as further refined by Gordon McLendon as well as Bill Drake . The format became especially popular in
136-473: A chorus that contrasts melodically, rhythmically and harmonically with the verse . The beat and the melodies tend to be simple, with limited harmonic accompaniment. The lyrics of modern pop songs typically focus on simple themes – often love and romantic relationships – although there are notable exceptions. Harmony and chord progressions in pop music are often "that of classical European tonality , only more simple-minded." Clichés include
204-460: A basic format (often the verse–chorus structure ), and rhythms or tempos that can be easily danced to. Much of pop music also borrows elements from other styles such as rock, urban , dance , Latin , and country . The terms popular music and pop music are often used interchangeably, although the former more accurately describes all music that is targeted for mass appeal (compare art music ) and includes many disparate styles. Although much of
272-814: A consequence of the closure of stable-mate 3C by the station's then-owners, and resulted in UK-wide coverage until it was removed on 30 October 2008. Clyde 1 used to hold an event called Clyde 1 Live at the SECC in Glasgow . The event included some of the many artists which are broadcast on the station, past events have featured Calvin Harris , Labrinth , Jessie J , Olly Murs , The Sugababes , Amelia Lily , Pixie Lott , Mcfly , Lawson , Cover Drive , Matt Cardle , Gary Barlow , John Newman , The Vamps and also Dappy . The majority of programming - local and networked -
340-560: A dozen and a half AM, FM and TV stations at various times, experimenting with formats other than top 40 (including beautiful music and all-news). In the early 1960s Rick Sklar also developed the Top 40 format for radio station WABC in New York City which was then copied by stations in the eastern and mid-western United States such as WKBW and WLS . Bill Drake built upon the foundation established by Storz and McLendon to create
408-399: A light entertainment and easy listening tradition. Pop music is more conservative than other music genres such as folk, blues, country, and tradition. Many pop songs do not contain themes of resistance, opposition, or politics, rather focusing more on love and relationships. Therefore, pop music does not challenge its audiences socially, and does not cause political activism. Frith also said
476-768: A modernized Rock 40 format, are similar in some ways to the Adult CHR and Mainstream CHR/Pop formats, but also incorporate modern rock / alternative / active rock and modern AC titles in an upbeat presentation. Examples include KSXY in Santa Rosa, California, WDJQ in Canton, Ohio, WIXX in Green Bay, Wisconsin, KKCK in Marshall, Minnesota, and WMOM in Ludington, Michigan. An early version of rock-leaning CHR
544-792: A more limited base of currents and recurrents from the mainstream, rhythmic and/or adult CHR formats with a broader playlist of gold from the 2000s and 2010s. Stations from this format may also be called rhythmic hot AC if their library is particularly rhythmic-leaning. Examples include WPOW and WFLC in Miami, WKFS in Cincinnati, Ohio, WBBM-FM in Chicago, WMOV in Hampton Roads and WKTU in New York City. Playing dance remixes of popular songs with perhaps some current hits from
612-1092: A pioneer of the AOR format, Rock 40 was "too wimpy for the real rockers and too hard for the mainstream people". Stations that previously broadcast the format include KEGL in Dallas, KQLZ (Pirate Radio) in Los Angeles, KRZR in Fresno, California, KXXR in Kansas City, and WMMS in Cleveland. Rock 40 stations eventually segued to CHR or an AOR spinoff format such as active rock or modern rock . There are also variations targeting minority ethnic groups, such as CHR/español ( Latin pop ), and CHR/Tejano ( Tex-Mex and Tejano ) which are commonly found in Arizona , Texas , California , and Mexico . In Greater China (People's Republic of China , Taiwan , and Hong Kong ), there
680-498: A pop song is to them, songs from the 1960s turned out to be the most memorable, significantly more than songs from recent years 2000 to 2015. Before the progressive pop of the late 1960s, performers were typically unable to decide on the artistic content of their music. Assisted by the mid-1960s economic boom, record labels began investing in artists, giving them the freedom to experiment, and offering them limited control over their content and marketing. This situation declined after
748-460: A separation which was "also, broadly, one between boys and girls, middle-class and working-class." The latter half of the 20th century included a large-scale trend in American culture in which the boundaries between art and pop music were increasingly blurred. Between 1950 and 1970, there was a debate of pop versus art. Since then, certain music publications have embraced the music's legitimacy,
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#1732783301328816-946: A ship anchored off the coast of southern England in international waters. At that time there were no commercial radio stations in the UK , and BBC radio offered only sporadic top 40 programming. Other noteworthy North American top 40 stations that used the Drake approach included KFRC in San Francisco ; CKLW in Windsor, Ontario ; WRKO in Boston ; WHBQ in Memphis; WOLF in Syracuse, New York ; and WOR-FM in New York City . Most listeners identified Boss Radio with less talk, shorter jingles and more music. Mike Joseph's "hot hits" stations of
884-416: A tendency to reflect existing trends rather than progressive developments ; and seeks to encourage dancing or uses dance-oriented rhythms. The main medium of pop music is the song, often between two and a half and three and a half minutes in length, generally marked by a consistent and noticeable rhythmic element , a mainstream style and a simple traditional structure . The structure of many popular songs
952-475: A thriving pop music industry, most of which is devoted to Western-style pop. Japan has for several years produced a greater quantity of music than everywhere except the US. The spread of Western-style pop music has been interpreted variously as representing processes of Americanization, homogenization , modernization, creative appropriation, cultural imperialism , or a more general process of globalization . One of
1020-488: A trend referred to as " poptimism ". Throughout its development, pop music has absorbed influences from other genres of popular music. Early pop music drew on traditional pop , an American counterpart to German Schlager and French Chanson , however compared to the pop of European countries, traditional pop originally emphasized influences ranging from Tin Pan Alley songwriting, Broadway theatre , and show tunes . As
1088-663: A variation called " Boss Radio ". This format began in California in early 1961 at KSTN in Stockton, then expanded in 1962–63 to KYNO in Fresno, in 1964 to KGB in San Diego , and finally to KHJ in Los Angeles in May 1965; it was further adapted to stations across the western US. Boss Radio was later broadcast by American disc jockeys as a hybrid format on pirate radio station Swinging Radio England , broadcasting from on board
1156-533: A wide audience [...] since the late 1950s, however, pop has had the special meaning of non-classical mus[ic], usually in the form of songs, performed by such artists as The Beatles , The Rolling Stones , ABBA , etc." Grove Music Online also states that "[...] in the early 1960s, [the term] 'pop music' competed terminologically with beat music [in England], while in the US its coverage overlapped (as it still does) with that of 'rock and roll'". From about 1967,
1224-556: Is Rock 40 , which was popular in the late 1980s. This format, developed by Joint Communications who service marked the name in 1987, is a young-male-targeted hybrid of CHR and album-oriented rock (AOR) that combines the formatics of the former with the music mix of the latter. After a short period of successful ratings, the Rock 40 format began to decline because it was too similar to conventional AOR yet lacked appeal among CHR fans who desired less emphasis on rock. According to Lee Abrams ,
1292-417: Is "designed to appeal to everyone" but "doesn't come from any particular place or mark off any particular taste". Frith adds that it is "not driven by any significant ambition except profit and commercial reward [...] and, in musical terms, it is essentially conservative". It is, "provided from on high (by record companies, radio programmers, and concert promoters) rather than being made from below (...) Pop
1360-668: Is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. During the 1950s and 1960s, pop music encompassed rock and roll and the youth-oriented styles it influenced. Rock and pop music remained roughly synonymous until the late 1960s, after which pop became associated with music that was more commercial, ephemeral , and accessible. Identifying factors of pop music usually include repeated choruses and hooks , short to medium-length songs written in
1428-425: Is all the collective clubs around the world. Radio is just doing its best to keep up." Songs that talked of escapism through partying became the most popular, influenced by the impulse to forget the economic troubles that had taken over the world after the 2008 crash . Throughout the 2010s, a lot of pop music also began to take cues from Alternative pop . Popularized by artists such as Lana Del Rey and Lorde in
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#17327833013281496-510: Is also Mandopop and Cantopop which are the top 40 variants in that language. Credit for the format is widely given to Todd Storz , who was the director of radio station KOWH -AM in Omaha, Nebraska in 1951. At that time typical AM radio programming consisted largely of full-service " block programming ": pre-scheduled, sponsored programs of a wide variety, including radio dramas and variety shows. Local popular music hits, if they made it on
1564-526: Is just the singles charts and not the sum of all chart music. The music charts contain songs from a variety of sources, including classical , jazz , rock , and novelty songs . As a genre, pop music is seen to exist and develop separately. Therefore, the term "pop music" may be used to describe a distinct genre, designed to appeal to all, often characterized as "instant singles-based music aimed at teenagers" in contrast to rock music as "album-based music for adults". Pop music continuously evolves along with
1632-470: Is largely the story of the intertwining pop culture of the United States and the United Kingdom in the postwar era. — Bob Stanley According to Grove Music Online , "Western-derived pop styles, whether coexisting with or marginalizing distinctively local genres, have spread throughout the world and have come to constitute stylistic common denominators in global commercial music cultures". Some non-Western countries, such as Japan, have developed
1700-479: Is not a do-it-yourself music but is professionally produced and packaged". According to Frith, characteristics of pop music include an aim of appealing to a general audience, rather than to a particular sub-culture or ideology, and an emphasis on craftsmanship rather than formal "artistic" qualities. Besides, Frith also offers three identifying characteristics of pop music: light entertainment, commercial imperatives, and personal identification. Pop music grew out of
1768-914: Is produced and broadcast from Radio Clyde's studios in Clydebank , however some networked output originates from Forth 1 in Edinburgh, Tay FM in Dundee and sister station Hits Radio in Manchester. The station also opts out of some networked output to broadcast additional local programming, including sports coverage and specialist music shows. The station's local presenters include George Bowie ( Bowie at Breakfast / The GB Xperience ), Garry Spence, Steven Mill and Cassi Gillespie ( Bowie at Breakfast and Sunday afternoons ). Clyde 1 broadcasts local news bulletins hourly from 6a.m. to 7p.m. on weekdays and from 7a.m. to 1p.m. at weekends. Headlines are broadcast on
1836-430: Is that of a verse and a chorus, the chorus serving as the portion of the track that is designed to stick in the ear through simple repetition both musically and lyrically. The chorus is often where the music builds towards and is often preceded by "the drop" where the bass and drum parts "drop out". Common variants include the verse-chorus form and the thirty-two-bar form , with a focus on melodies and catchy hooks , and
1904-434: The barbershop quartet-style harmony (i.e. ii – V – I) and blues scale -influenced harmony. There was a lessening of the influence of traditional views of the circle of fifths between the mid-1950s and the late 1970s, including less predominance for the dominant function . In October 2023, Billboard compiled a list of "the 500 best pop songs". In doing so, they noted the difficulty of defining "pop songs": One of
1972-531: The urban contemporary format; urban stations will often play R&B and soul songs that CHR/rhythmic stations will not, and CHR/rhythmic stations, despite playlists heavy with urban product, sometimes have white disc jockeys and will include EDM and rhythmic pop music that urban outlets will not play. WQHT in New York , and KPWR in Los Angeles are among the most successful CHR/rhythmic stations in
2040-1822: The 1950s. Examples of CHR/pop stations in the United States, Canada, and Brazil include WHTZ in New York (NY), KIIS-FM in Los Angeles (CA), KYLD and KMVQ-FM in San Francisco (CA), KHKS in Dallas (TX), KRBE in Houston (TX), CFBT-FM in Vancouver (BC), CKFM-FM and CKIS-FM in Toronto (ON), KSMG in San Antonio (TX), WIOQ in Philadelphia (PA), WPRO-FM in Providence (RI), WXKS-FM in Boston (MA), WIFC in Wausau (WI), WWPW and WWWQ in Atlanta (GA), WKSC-FM in Chicago (IL), WFLZ in Tampa / St. Petersburg (FL), WHYI-FM in Miami (FL), KLUC in Las Vegas (NV), WNCI in Columbus, Ohio (OH), WZPL (IN) in Indianapolis , KDWB in Minneapolis / St. Paul (MN), and Jovem Pan FM (with language) in Brazil . The stations generally gain large popularity with this format. These stations typically are hybrids of
2108-435: The American and (from the mid-1960s) British music industries , whose influence has made pop music something of an international monoculture, but most regions and countries have their own form of pop music, sometimes producing local versions of wider trends, and lending them local characteristics. Some of these trends (for example Europop ) have had a significant impact on the development of the genre. The story of pop music
Contemporary hit radio - Misplaced Pages Continue
2176-552: The Midwest and Great Plains, converted it to an all-hits format, and dubbed the result "top 40". Shortly thereafter WHB debuted the first "top 40 countdown", a reverse-order playing of the station's ranking of hit singles for that week. Within a few years, top 40 stations appeared all over the country to great success, spurred by the burgeoning popularity of rock and roll music, especially that of Elvis Presley . A 1950s employee at WHB, Ruth Meyer, went on to have tremendous success in
2244-1193: The U.S. and among the pioneers of the format. Bilingual Spanish CHRs (such as WPOW in Miami, KHHM in Shingle Springs, California, KKPS and KBFM in Brownsville, Texas, WKAQ and WXYX in San Juan, Puerto Rico, KBHH in Fresno, California, WRUM -HD2 in Orlando, Florida and KLLI (FM) in Los Angeles) combine current and recent mainstream and rhythmic CHR hits with recent Latin pop hits, targeting young Latina listeners. Similarly, bilingual French CHRs (such as CKOI-FM in Montreal) are common in some Canadian markets, and combine anglophone and French pop hits. Filipino-based CHR stations (such as DWFO , DWTM , DWRX , DWRT-FM , DWCZ , and DYIO ) are also common in major Philippine market areas, which feature current mainstream and rhythmic CHR hits with recent OPM and P-Pop hits. Gold-based CHRs combine
2312-731: The UK government to come up with a station to replace the pirates, and so in 1967 BBC Radio 1 started broadcasting, employing many of the DJ's from the pirate stations ( Tony Blackburn , Kenny Everett and John Peel etc.) and obtaining re-sings of the PAMS jingles. In fact it was Tony Blackburn who played the first pop record on Radio 1, the Move's "Flowers In The Rain". National public / state-owned radio networks in bold . Metro Manila : Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area : Pop music Pop music
2380-558: The air at all, had to be worked in between these segments. Storz noted the great response certain songs got from the record-buying public and compared it to the way certain selections on jukeboxes were played over and over. He expanded his domain of radio stations, purchasing WTIX-AM in New Orleans , Louisiana, gradually converted his stations to an all-hits format, and pioneered the practice of surveying record stores to determine which singles were popular each week. Storz found that
2448-492: The birth of the modern pop music industry, including in country , blues , and hillbilly music . According to the website of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , the term "pop music" "originated in Britain in the mid-1950s as a description for rock and roll and the new youth music styles that it influenced". The Oxford Dictionary of Music states that while pop's "earlier meaning meant concerts appealing to
2516-407: The contemporary hit radio (CHR/pop) and Hot AC formats. This format contains a strong focus on current charts, contemporary and recurrent hits as well as placing a minority of older, classic hits from the 2000s and early to mid 2010s onto the playlist. Adult CHR stations play pop-friendly rhythmic, dance and hip hop titles alongside standard mainstream pop and pop rock fare, and often shying away from
2584-481: The dance charts. Pure dance-music radio stations (as opposed to CHR/rhythmic and rhythmic AC formats such as MOViN) are not very common but tend to have loyal audiences in the markets where they do exist. Examples include WPTY on Long Island, NY and KNHC in Seattle . This format is very popular on internet radio stations such as KVPN Digital Broadcasting (VPN Digital 1) Los Angeles . Stations with this format,
2652-775: The decade, it was common for pop producers, songwriters, and engineers to freely experiment with musical form, orchestration , unnatural reverb , and other sound effects. Some of the best known examples are Phil Spector 's Wall of Sound and Joe Meek 's use of homemade electronic sound effects for acts like the Tornados . At the same time, pop music on radio and in both American and British film moved away from refined Tin Pan Alley to more eccentric songwriting and incorporated reverb-drenched electric guitar, symphonic strings, and horns played by groups of properly arranged and rehearsed studio musicians. A 2019 study held by New York University in which 643 participants had to rank how familiar
2720-499: The development in that same city of PAMS jingles. McLendon's successful Mighty 1190 KLIF in Dallas, along with his two other Texas Triangle stations, 610 KILT (AM) Houston and 550 KTSA San Antonio, which went top 40 during the mid to late 1950s, soon became perhaps the most imitated radio stations in America. With careful attention to programming, McLendon presented his stations as packages to advertisers and listeners alike. It
2788-497: The early 2010s and later inspiring other highly influential artists including Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift , it gave space to a more sad and moody tone within pop music. Clyde 1 Clyde 1 is an Independent Local Radio station based in Glasgow , Scotland, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Glasgow and West Central Scotland . As of September 2024,
Contemporary hit radio - Misplaced Pages Continue
2856-423: The early to mid-60's as program director of New York's premiere top 40 station at that time, WMCA. Storz Broadcasting Company consisted of six AM radio stations, all featuring top 40 in the sixties. Although Todd Storz is regarded as the father of the top 100 format, Gordon McLendon of Dallas , Texas, is regarded as the person who took an idea and turned it into a mass media marketing success in combination with
2924-578: The genre evolved more influences ranging from classical , folk , rock , country , electronic music , and other popular genres became more prominent. In 2016, a Scientific Reports study that examined over 464,000 recordings of popular music recorded between 1955 and 2010 found that, compared to 1960s pop music, contemporary pop music uses a smaller variety of pitch progressions, greater average volume, less diverse instrumentation and recording techniques, and less timbral variety. Scientific American ' s John Matson reported that this "seems to support
2992-516: The half hour during weekday breakfast and drivetime shows, alongside sport and traffic bulletins. The Clydebank newsroom also produces bespoke national Scottish bulletins at weekends with Sky News Radio bulletins carried overnight. Radio Clyde's head of news and sport is Lorraine Herbison, who is also Bauer's head of news for its Scottish stations. Sports coverage airs under the Superscoreboard banner and includes live match reports during
3060-409: The home. By the early 1980s, the promotion of pop music had been greatly affected by the rise of music television channels like MTV , which "favoured those artists such as Michael Jackson and Madonna who had a strong visual appeal". Multi-track recording (from the 1960s) and digital sampling (from the 1980s) have also been used as methods for the creation and elaboration of pop music. During
3128-544: The late 1970s and early 1980s attempted to revitalize the format by refocusing listeners' attention on current, active "box-office" music. Thus, hot hits stations played only current hit songs—no oldies unless they were on current chart albums—in a fast, furious and repetitive fashion, with fast-talking personalities and loud, pounding jingles. In 1977, WTIC-FM in Hartford, CT, dropped its long-running classical format for Joseph's format as "96 Tics" and immediately became one of
3196-414: The late 1970s and would not reemerge until the rise of Internet stars. Indie pop , which developed in the late 1970s, marked another departure from the glamour of contemporary pop music, with guitar bands formed on the then-novel premise that one could record and release their own music without having to procure a record contract from a major label. The 1980s are commonly remembered for an increase in
3264-401: The late 20th century that became global superstars include Whitney Houston , Michael Jackson , Madonna , George Michael , and Prince . At the beginning of the 2000s, the trends that dominated during the late 1990s still continued, but the music industry started to change as people began to download music from the internet. People were able to discover genres and artists that were outside of
3332-683: The main offering." The adult CHR format is sometimes utilized by stations which are heritage Top 40/CHR outlets in their respective markets which have been in the format since the 1970s or 1980s or FM successors to former AM top 40s, with examples in the UK including the Hits Radio Network compiled of heritage radio stations including Clyde 1 in Glasgow and Radio City in Liverpool . Also known as CHR/rhythmic, rhythmic crossover, or CHR/urban. These stations focus on hip-hop and dance-pop . There are differences between CHR/rhythmic and
3400-501: The main purpose of pop music is to create revenue. It is not a medium of free articulation of the people. Instead, pop music seeks to supply the nature of personal desire and achieve the instant empathy with cliche personalities, stereotypes, and melodrama that appeals to listeners. It is mostly about how much revenue pop music makes for record companies. Music scholar Timothy Warner said pop music typically has an emphasis on recording, production, and technology, rather than live performance;
3468-514: The mainstream and propel them to fame, but at the same time smaller artists had a harder time making a living because their music was being pirated. Popular artists were Avril Lavigne , Justin Timberlake , NSYNC , Christina Aguilera , Destiny's Child , and Britney Spears . Pop music often came from many different genres, with each genre in turn influencing the next one, blurring the lines between them and making them less distinct. This change
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#17327833013283536-448: The manner in which pop has been disseminated", which helped to move pop music to "a record/radio/film star system". Another technological change was the widespread availability of television in the 1950s with televised performances, which meant that "pop stars had to have a visual presence". In the 1960s, the introduction of inexpensive, portable transistor radios meant that teenagers in the developed world could listen to music outside of
3604-403: The mid-1960s, pop music made repeated forays into new sounds, styles, and techniques that inspired public discourse among its listeners. The word "progressive" was frequently used, and it was thought that every song and single was to be a "progression" from the last. Music critic Simon Reynolds writes that beginning with 1967, a divide would exist between "progressive" pop and "mass/chart" pop,
3672-433: The mid-sixties as radio stations constrained disc jockeys to numbered play lists in the wake of the payola scandal. Also known as CHR/pop or teen CHR. Plays pop , and dance , and sometimes urban , alternative , rock , and country crossover as well. Often referred as " Top 40 "; in terms of incorporating a variety of genres of music, CHR/pop is the successor to the original concept of top 40 radio which originated in
3740-569: The more people heard a given song on the radio or from the jukebox, the more likely they were to buy a copy; a conclusion not obvious in the industry at the time. In 1952 he purchased what was then WLAF-AM in Lafayette, Indiana and constructed WAZY-AM/FM which is still the longest running top 40 FM station in existence to this day. In 1954, Storz purchased WHB -AM, a high-powered station in Kansas City, Missouri , which could be heard throughout
3808-511: The most rhythmic CHR titles until they are established hits on the format. Examples in the U.S. include WIXX in Green Bay, WKRQ in Cincinnati and KZZO in Sacramento. United Kingdom (UK) media regulator Ofcom states: "where a format requires a contemporary and chart music service, the main diet must be of modern music, reflecting the charts of today and recent months. Older, classic tracks would not be out of place, but only as spice to
3876-421: The music that appears on record charts is considered to be pop music, the genre is distinguished from chart music . David Hatch and Stephen Millward describe pop music as "a body of music which is distinguishable from popular, jazz, and folk music". David Boyle, a music researcher, states pop music as any type of music that a person has been exposed to by the mass media. Most individuals think that pop music
3944-802: The pop music styles that developed alongside other music styles is Latin pop , which rose in popularity in the US during the 1950s with early rock and roll success Ritchie Valens . Later, Los Lobos and Chicano rock gained in popularity during the 1970s and 1980s, and musician Selena saw large-scale popularity in the 1980s and 1990s, along with crossover appeal with fans of Tejano musicians Lydia Mendoza and Little Joe . With later Hispanic and Latino Americans seeing success within pop music charts, 1990s pop successes stayed popular in both their original genres and in broader pop music. Latin pop hit singles, such as " Macarena " by Los del Río and " Despacito " by Luis Fonsi , have seen record-breaking success on worldwide pop music charts. Notable pop artists of
4012-400: The popular anecdotal observation that pop music of yore was "better", or at least more varied, than today's top-40 stuff". However, he also noted that the study may not have been entirely representative of pop in each generation. In the 1960s, the majority of mainstream pop music fell in two categories: guitar, drum and bass groups or singers backed by a traditional orchestra. Since early in
4080-503: The reasons pop can be hard to summarize is because there’s no real sonic or musical definition to it. There are common elements to a lot of the biggest pop songs, but at the end of the day, "pop" means "popular" first and foremost, and just about any song that becomes popular enough...can be considered a pop song. In the 1940s, improved microphone design allowed a more intimate singing style and, ten or twenty years later, inexpensive and more durable 45 rpm records for singles "revolutionized
4148-609: The station has a weekly audience of 747,000 listeners according to RAJAR . Clyde 1 was born out of the compulsory transmission splitting enforced by the UK regulators in the 1990s, developing the FM frequency into Radio Clyde into a Top-40 format radio station. The development of live-streaming and digital radio led to a widening of the station's potential audience through carriage on the station's website and Bauer Radio 's DAB multiplex in Glasgow. The station's Freeview carriage came as
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#17327833013284216-399: The term "pop music" was increasingly used in opposition to the term rock music, a division that gave generic significance to both terms. While rock aspired to authenticity and an expansion of the possibilities of popular music, pop was more commercial, ephemeral, and accessible. According to British musicologist Simon Frith , pop music is produced "as a matter of enterprise not art", and
4284-419: The term's definition. According to music writer Bill Lamb, popular music is defined as "the music since industrialization in the 1800s that is most in line with the tastes and interests of the urban middle class." The term "pop song" was first used in 1926, in the sense of a piece of music "having popular appeal". Hatch and Millward indicate that many events in the history of recording in the 1920s can be seen as
4352-568: The top radio stations in the market. The first Joseph station to use the term "hot hits" on the air was WFBL ("Fire 14", which played its top 14 hits in very tight rotation) in Syracuse, NY, in 1979. Then WCAU-FM in Philadelphia switched to hot hits as "98 Now" in the fall of 1981 and was instantly successful. Other major-market stations which adopted the hot hits format in the early 1980s included WBBM-FM Chicago , WHYT (now WDVD ) Detroit , WMAR-FM (now WWMX ) Baltimore , which we might add
4420-629: The use of digital recording , associated with the usage of synthesizers , with synth-pop music and other electronic genres featuring non-traditional instruments increasing in popularity. By 2014, pop music worldwide had been permeated by electronic dance music . In 2018, researchers at the University of California, Irvine , concluded that pop music has become 'sadder' since the 1980s. The elements of happiness and brightness have eventually been replaced with electronic beats making pop music more 'sad yet danceable'. Pop music has been dominated by
4488-457: Was epitomized in Spears' highly influential 2007 album Blackout , which under the influence of producer Danja , mixed the sounds of EDM , avant-funk , R&B , dance music , and hip hop . By 2010, pop music impacted by dance music came to be dominant on the charts. Instead of radio setting the trends, it was now the club. At the beginning of the 2010s, Will.i.am stated, "The new bubble
4556-470: Was not successful against market leader WBSB B104, KITS San Francisco, and WNVZ Norfolk . Don Pierson took the formats of Gordon McLendon, boss radio and PAMS jingles to the UK in the form of Wonderful Radio London , (a pirate radio ship) and subsequently revolutionized the popular music format. On 14 August 1967 The Marine Offences Act was introduced in the UK and the pirate stations were shut down. The British Broadcasting Corporation were chosen by
4624-540: Was the combination of top 40 and PAMS jingles which became the key to the success of the radio format itself. Not only were the same records played on different stations across America, but so were the same jingle music beds whose lyrics were resung repetitively for each station to create individual station identity. To this basic mix were added contests, games and disc jockey patter. Various groups (including Bartell Broadcasters ) emphasized local variations on their top 40 stations. Gordon McLendon would operate approximately
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