History of the Pop genre Pop music is a music genre that developed from the mid- 1950s as a softer alternative to rock 'n' roll and later to rock music. It has a focus on commercial recording, often oriented towards a youth market. Pop music has absorbed influences from most other forms of popular music, particularly borrowing from the development of rock music, and utilizing key technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.

Starting in the 1950s the term "pop music" has been used to describe a distinct genre, aimed at a youth market, often characterized as a softer alternative to rock and roll. In the aftermath of the British Invasion, from about 1967, it was increasingly used in opposition to the term rock music, to describe a form that was more commercial, ephemeral and accessible. Although pop music is often seen as oriented towards the singles charts, as a genre it is not the sum of all chart music, which have always contained songs from a variety of sources, including classical, jazz, rock, and novelty songs, while pop music as a genre is usually seen as existing and developing separately. History

Key artists in the development of Pop In the late 1950s, there was many active bands in major urban centres in the UK like Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and London often playing in ballrooms, concert halls and clubs. Beat bands were heavily influenced by American bands of the era, such as Buddy Holly and the Crickets (from which group The Beatles derived their name), as well as earlier British groups such as The Shadows. After the national success of the Beatles in Britain from 1962, a number of Liverpool performers were able to follow them into the singles charts, including Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Searchers, and Cilla Black. Among the most successful beat acts from Birmingham were The Spencer Davis Group and the The Moody Blues. From London, the term “Tottenham Sound” was largely based around The Dave Clark Five, but other London bands that benefited from the beat boom of this era included the Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds.

Key artists in the development The British Invasion of America led by the Beatles in 1964 saw them, uniquely, hold the top 5 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart simultaneously. During the next two years, Peter and Gordon, The Animals, Manfred Mann, Petula Clark, Freddie and the Dreamers, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, Herman’s Hermits, The Rolling Stones, The Troggs, and Donovan would have one or more number one singles. Other acts that were part of the invasion included The Who, The Kinks, and The Dave Clark Five. At this point most of the British Invasion bands did not distinguish their rock 'n' roll or blues based music from pop music. However, around 1967 as blues-rock acts, emerging folk rock and some beat bands, including the Beatles, veered towards a more serious forms of music, the term pop music began to be applied to rock and roll based music with more commercial aims, often with inconsequential lyrics, particularly simple love songs, and orientated towards the singles chart, continuing the path of traditional pop. the Pop genre in the late 60s would be dominated by individual singers like Engelbert Humperdinck and Sandie Shaw, who both had number one single hits in 1967.

Key Pop artists nowadays Nowadays some of the most famous Pop artists include: Aaron Carter, Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson, Hilary Duff, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Natalie Imbruglia, Kylie Minogue, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Lady Gaga, Back Street Boys, Avril Lavigne, Rihanna, Coldplay, Sugababes, Michael Jackson, Cheryl Cole, Lily Allen, Take That, Amy Winehouse & many more.

Pop music - Characteristics as a subgenre Pop music is generally described as very commercial friendly, marketable and memorable, with either vocals, lyrics, instruments, or a combination of all three creating catchy choruses or verses. Pop music is also known for its ability to attract listeners through its versatile sound since it pulls from a plethora of musical influences. It can be also fair to say that pop music is predominantly image driven, especially through the subject matter of the lyrics, live performances, music videos, and other forms of exposure which makes it favorable and unfavorable to whoever is the listener.

Characteristics as a subgenre In modern times, this genre's immense success as a commercial product has, ironically, led to even more commercialization within the music itself, with "artists" being drawn in by companies for their appearance, dancing ability and vocal competence; and being provided with an image, choreography, and most importantly complete songs by veterans working for the record company. Some notable examples include Swedish songwriter Max Martin's having crafted most hit songs by pop acts such as Britney Spears and The Backstreet Boys, and the pop boy band O-Town having been created as an MTV show. This technique for creating music is massively effective commercially for several apparent reasons. It is adept at targeting specific demographics among young people, since songs are written with that purpose in mind by talented professionals, and images crafted similarly.

Pop record labels Some of the top pop record labels are the following 10: 1.Epitaph 6. Rap-a-Lot 2.TVT 7. Saddle Creek 3. Victory 8. Fueled By Ramen 4.Matador 9. Sub Pop 5.Koch 10. Rykodisc

Competition Some of the magazines covering the pop genre are: Q, Rolling Stone, Entertainment weekly, Billboard, Blender, Alternative Press, Paste, Vibe, NME, Spin, etc. Most of these coming out on a monthly period and they talk about news and artists mainly.

Cross Media Other media that covers the genre are: Internet websites like: popdirt.com / mtv.com / launch.com/ launch.yahoo.com / billboard.com / rollingstone.com / muchmusic.com / getmusic.com / rick.com, ect. Radio Stations like: Capital FM, Kiss100, Virgin Radio, Hitz radio uk, BBC radio 1, etc. Newspapers featuring pop artists in their press like: the London Lite, the Metro, The London Paper, etc. Music Channels like: MTV, NME TV, Channel Q, Channel U, VH-1, The Box, etc.

Predictions The pop genre is now expected to carry on expanding and making more and more artists for the future. It is also possible that other artists from other genres will change their music genre to pop like it has already happened with other artists like Chris Cornell and others.