Pop music 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.
65-751: Mia Isobel Wray-McCann (born 28 October 1995), known professionally as Mia Wray , is an Australian pop singer, songwriter and musician from Noosa , Queensland . Born and raised in Noosa before later relocating to Melbourne , Wray rose to prominence after winning the 2011 iteration of Telstra 's Road to Discovery Program. She independently released two extended plays, Mia Wray (2014) and Send Me Your Love (2016), before releasing her debut single "Work for Me" in 2020. Wray began her career performing soul , blues and folk music , with her musical style later shifting to encompass genres such as pop and bedroom pop whilst retaining soul influences. She has toured with
130-470: A backing vocalist on the song "Blue Bird" from Something for Kate 's seventh studio album The Modern Medieval (2020). On 20 January 2021, Ivy League Records announced that they had signed Wray to their roster. The same day, she released the single "Never Gonna Be the Same". "Never Gonna Be the Same" was added to rotation by Triple J on 25 January 2021. On 27 February, Wray supported Something for Kate at
195-473: 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
260-469: A soul , blues and folk musician. Wray has listed Gabrielle Aplin, Coldplay , Paul Kelly, and Bob Dylan as being several of her favourite musicians. Wray has since shifted to more pop -oriented music, drawing influence from Florence and the Machine , Lana Del Rey and Maggie Rogers . Her music has been additionally described as bedroom pop , blues , folk-pop, indie pop , and soul . Wray can play
325-399: 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
390-407: 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 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,
455-498: A new single titled "Tell Her". In October 2024, Wray announced the forthcoming release of her debut album, Hi, It's Nice to Meet Me , scheduled for release in 14 March 2025. Wray currently resides in Melbourne , Victoria, Wray (alongside fellow Sunshine Coast resident Andrew Redford), was named as one of ten finalists for the 2012 Telstra Road to Discovery talent development program on 3 December 2011, before being announced as
520-498: 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
585-501: A recording contract, and an advance from A&M Records . Ayers Rock were the first Mushroom artist to sign an international recording contract. Mushroom struggled to survive for its first two years and reportedly came close to folding on several occasions. However, the label was dramatically pushed to the forefront of the Australian music scene in early 1975 following the massive success of Skyhooks , whose debut album, Living in
650-460: 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,
715-416: 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
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#1732783137251780-475: 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
845-488: 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
910-425: 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
975-652: Is essentially conservative". It is, "provided from on high (by record companies, radio programmers, and concert promoters) rather than being made from below (...) Pop 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
1040-597: 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
1105-462: 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 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 ,
1170-430: 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
1235-434: 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
1300-558: The opening act for former Powderfinger guitarist Darren Middleton at Red Hot Music, in Devonport, Tasmania . On 17 February 2017, Wray featured on French producer Aslove's cover of Corinne Bailey Rae 's song " Put Your Records On ". On 9 May 2020, Wray appeared as part of online music initiative The State of Music , where she performed Helen Reddy 's " I Am Woman " alongside Kate Miller-Heidke , Mahalia Barnes , and Missy Higgins . On 13 September, Wray's debut single "Work for Me"
1365-402: The piano , guitar , the harmonica and the foot drum . Wray's music has received favourable comparisons to that of Lorde , Meg Mac , Vera Blue , Florence and the Machine, and Adele . On 3 December 2011, Wray was announced as the joint finalist of the 2011 Telstra Road to Discovery talent development program, alongside Andrew Redford from Maroochydore , Queensland. On 24 January 2012,
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#17327831372511430-422: The 70's , became the biggest-selling Australian LP ever released up to that time. Around the same time, Gudinski was convinced to sign expatriate New Zealand band Split Enz , who had recently relocated to Australia. Although they had only moderate success for the first few years, Split Enz scored huge success in 1980 with the release of their album True Colours and the hit single " I Got You ", which marked
1495-435: 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
1560-564: The Kitchen and The Stems . In the 1990s, remixer Gavin Campbell 's Razor Records became a subsidiary of Mushroom. Mushroom entered the international scene by setting up an International division in London headed by Gary Ashley (deceased 2017). The Australian label had some international success before then by signing The Saints , Dannii Minogue , Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan in
1625-803: The Rubens and the Teskey Brothers , and is scheduled to support Vance Joy on his Long Way Home Tour in 2022. Wray signed to Ivy League Records in January 2021 and received nominations for Breakthrough Independent Artist of the Year at the 2021 AIR Awards , Best Solo Artist at the 2021 Music Victoria Awards , and placed second in the Performance category at the International Songwriting Competition . Wray
1690-894: The Summer Sounds Festival at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl . On 9 March, Wray announced her debut headline tour, a four-date residency at the Northcote Social Club, in Northcote, Victoria . On 9 April, Wray was announced as a support act for the Teskey Brothers ' concert at the Forum Theatre in Melbourne, held in support of the band's live album named after the venue . The one-off concert took place on 21 April 2021. On 22 April, Wray announced her first east coast tour, in support of
1755-775: 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
1820-459: 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, 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
1885-401: 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. Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label , founded in 1972 in Melbourne . It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it
1950-440: The eighties. However the last two were released internationally through PWL . After selling 49% of the company to News Corporation in 1993, Garbage signed to the label via Koda Marshall 's UK operation , followed by Pop Will Eat Itself , Ash , The Paradise Motel and Peter André . Gudinski sold the remaining 51% share of the label to News Corporation in 1998 for a sum reported to have been around A$ 40 million. However,
2015-499: The emergence of Neil Finn . In 1978, Gudinski started Suicide, a subsidiary label to Mushroom, to release punk music. Unlike Mushroom, Suicide was distributed by RCA . Its first release was a cover version of " These Boots Are Made For Walking " by The Boys Next Door . In 1981, Gudinski started another subsidiary, White Label Records, to release what might now be called post-punk music, with signings such as Hunters & Collectors , Machinations , Painters and Dockers , Kids in
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2080-428: The former more accurately describes all music that is targeted for mass appeal (compare art music ) and includes many disparate styles. Although much of 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,
2145-578: 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
2210-526: The guitar through video lessons on YouTube . Wray completed her senior secondary education at St Andrew's Anglican College in Peregian Springs, Queensland . Wray began her career in 2011 as a folk-pop and acoustic artist, citing the Beatles , Paul Kelly , Bob Dylan , Pete Murray , Laura Marling , and Gabrielle Aplin among her sonic influences. Wray described herself at the time as
2275-409: 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
2340-414: 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
2405-401: 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
2470-501: 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;
2535-514: 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
2600-448: 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
2665-403: 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,
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2730-578: The name Mushroom Records. When Mushroom was merged with News Corporation's record label Festival Records to form Festival Mushroom Records in 1998, Gudinski relaunched Liberation Music . In October 2005, Festival Mushroom Records was wound up and its trademarks and assets (including its large archive of master recordings) were sold to the Australian division of the Warner Music Group in a deal reported to be worth around A$ 10 million. The company's other major asset, Festival Music Publishing,
2795-538: The pair competed in the final of the quest, held during the 40th Tamworth Country Music Festival . On 13 February, Wray was announced as the recipient of the Telstra Road to Discovery People's Choice Award. Wray signed with Mushroom Records following her People's Choice Award win. On 2 July 2014, Wray released her debut extended play Mia Wray . Mia Wray was recorded in Gippsland , Victoria over five days and
2860-802: 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
2925-400: 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
2990-448: 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 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
3055-503: 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
3120-471: The recipient of the award on 5 August. On 3 June, Wray released the single "Needs". On 13 September, "Work for Me" was shortlisted for Best Song at the 2021 Music Victoria Awards . On 4 November, Wray was announced as a support act for the Oceanian leg of Melbourne musician Vance Joy 's 2022 Long Way Home Tour , alongside the Rubens , Thelma Plum , Middle Kids and Budjerah . On 19 January 2022, Wray
3185-474: The reorganisation into Festival Mushroom Records , a number of international operations and joint ventures were either shut down or sold. In the United Kingdom, the British arm of the company (including Infectious and Perfecto Records ) was reorganised as A&E Records and sold on to the Warner Music Group when Korda Marshall took a position within that company. Below are all the artists that were on
3250-478: The sale of Australia's last major independent label to a multinational engendered some adverse publicity, with Gudinski controversially claiming that he had sold the label as a protest at the federal government's changes to the regulations governing the parallel importation of recordings. Gudinski maintained control of most other Mushroom Group companies (including interests in music publishing , film production, band booking, national touring and venue management) and
3315-524: The single "Never Gonna Be the Same". Throughout April and May, Wray supported the Rubens alongside Alice Ivy on their national Live in Life Tour. On 4 May, "Work for Me" placed second in the Performance category at the 2021 iteration of the International Songwriting Competition . On 2 June, Wray was announced as a nominee for Breakthrough Independent Artist of the Year at the 2021 AIR Awards ; alternative rock band Spacey Jane were later announced as
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#17327831372513380-578: 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 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
3445-409: 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 the term's definition. According to music writer Bill Lamb, popular music is defined as "the music since industrialization in the 1800s that
3510-629: 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
3575-559: The winner of the People's Choice Award on 13 February 2012. Pop music Identifying factors of pop music usually include repeated choruses and hooks , short to medium-length songs written in 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
3640-463: Was premiered on Triple J 's 2020 program with Richard Kingsmill . "Work for Me" was officially released on 16 September, alongside an accompanying music video. Triple J described the song as having "stomping percussion , electrifying brass and empowering AF songwriting". On 28 September, Wray was announced as the Triple J Unearthed Feature Artist on Triple J for that week. On 24 October, Wray
3705-461: Was an Australian record label formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. Its inaugural release was an ambitious triple live album of the 1973 Sunbury Pop Festival , and over the first few years of its existence Mushroom signed a number of important Australian acts including Madder Lake , Ayers Rock , and MacKenzie Theory . In December 1974, Gudinski flew to the US to promote his recording artists, with Ayers Rock securing
3770-516: Was announced as one of the acts scheduled to perform on the premiere of the second season of Australian live music program The Sound . On 31 October, Wray performed on the 32nd edition of Isol-Aid , an Instagram live music festival created during the COVID-19 pandemic . On 1 November, Wray performed an a cappella version of "Work for Me" from Athenaeum Theatre , Melbourne for The Sound ' s season two premiere. On 20 November, Wray featured as
3835-603: Was announced as one of the performers at the 2022 Australian Open . On 30 March, Wray premiered the single "Rerun" on Triple J 's Good Nights program with Bridget Hustwaite . "Rerun" was released later the same day. Alongside the release, Wray announced a four-date residency at the Gem, in Collingwood, Victoria , which were scheduled to take place on 14, 21, and 28 April, before they were ultimately cancelled due to "unforeseen circumstances". On 10 August, Wray's single "Evidence"
3900-484: Was born Mia Isobel Wray-McCann in Sunrise Beach , Noosa , Queensland , on 28 October 1995, the daughter of Carolyn. At the age of 11, Wray's parents inherited her late grandfather's piano , and moved it into Mia's bedroom upon discovering it was the only room of the house big enough for it. Wray learnt to play it from that age onwards, and began to write songs in her adolescent years. She would later learn to play
3965-457: 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
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#17327831372514030-520: Was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival Mushroom Records was later acquired by Warner Bros. Records , which operated the label from 2005 to 2010 until it folded to Warner. Founder Michael Gudinski went on to become the leader of the Mushroom Group , the largest independent music and entertainment company in Australia, with divisions such as Frontier Touring . Mushroom Records
4095-520: Was premiered on Good Nights with Bridget Hustwaite, before being released the same evening. In November 2022, Wray announced the forthcoming release of EP Stay Awake , scheduled for release on 10 February 2023. On 19 April 2023, Wray released her single Monster Brain . In May 2023, Wray accompanied Maisie Peters on tour as a support act. During this tour, she performed in Antwerp, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and Cologne. In October 2023, Wray released
4160-588: Was produced by Greg Walker. A track from the EP, "Where I Stand", was featured on the soundtrack for the film Midnight Sun (2018). On 5 October 2015, Wray performed at the Caloundra Music Festival. On 22 April 2016, Wray released her second extended play Send Me Your Love . Send Me Your Love was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee , with production from Brad Jones. The same day, Wray performed as
4225-439: Was sold to Gudinski's Mushroom Music a month later for an undisclosed sum. In December 2009, Gudinski announced that he bought the remaining 50% he did not own from Warner Bros. In 2010, it became fully independent again. In 2021, Gudinski died in Melbourne at the age of 68. Throughout 2023, the company celebrated their fiftieth anniversary with a yearlong celebration titled, Mushroom: Fifty Years of Making Noise . With
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